I'm just about to start up a game with 7 higher level players. I have a fair bit of experience running for high level groups, as I've run high level games in the past and they had some very crazy moments.
However, all that being said, I feel there are few resources out there discussing successful high level campaigns. This is where you come in!
I'd really like to hear about high level games that you've experienced. Memorable moments that really made you have fun during a high level campaign.
I'm fully aware of the balance concerns and issues that can arise with high level Pathfinder, but putting all that aside, what are your favorite stories from characters that eventually were the big fish in the pond?
Thank you in advance to anyone offering me a bit of inspiration, it's greatly appreciated.
I have not had that many high level encounters, except for a Beholder, an Adult Copper Dragon, a Proto Shoggoth, a horde of undead champions.
I suggest you, high levels let you experiment, for example i'm planning in a CR 18 encounter with 2 lvl 13 characters and 1 lvl 17 character. is so much better than 1 lvl 18 character. you can also try with swarms and traps in the room of the encounter.
Oh and how can i forget the lich with a fire elemental slave and a barbed devil slave. at the end we killed him, only to know he revived later.
In general, best advise is don't start at high level, work up to it.
That said, it appears that both you and your PCs are aware of the challenges and rewards of meaningful high level play, so ... as always, know when to ignore advice :)
Fair warning: most of my higher level play experience was in 2E.
As a PC:
Engineering the fall of paladins.
Repeated castings of earthquake on a svirfneblin city, completely destroying it and wiping out their presence in the area. Following it up with earth elementals to make sure that there were no survivors and to retrieve the bodies so that they could be animated and sent against their kin.
First casting of wish.
Interrupting some lower-level combats to give advise to up-and-coming adventurers with some fun meta of "if he's around, why are we doing this?"
Giving advise to up & coming adventurers or reminding old battle-scarred ones of "why we do what we do".
Redeeming the fallen.
Extreme lair building & minion recruiting.
Crafted spells (much harder to do in PF).
Quality of life at epic levels - when I really needed another decanter of endless water because myplumbing system had to expand when I added another adamantium tower.
As a GM:
In role-playing moments, having lower level NPC allies use the PCs as a dramatic reveal to scare off agressive NPCs.
Putting the PCs in a position where a single, painful choice is the answer to the continuation or destruction of a people.
Having respectable NPCs do a bit of hero-worship / fanboy factor on the PCs.
Having the PCs sitting and listening to a popular new song, only to realize about half way through it's about them (and getting most of the details wrong, of course).
Spotlight world changes which occured due to PC actions / inactions which were not a direct part of their encounters.
-TimD
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I think we must have been 15th level or so. Our GM had pit us against a depowered Norgorber who had been cut off from his followers. I think he was supposed to be the equivalent of like a CR 20 encounter. In the first turn he disappears entirely.
I was a Stormborn sorcerer. I casted Glitterdust. The GM's face upon realizing the stealth penalty couldn't be saved against was priceless.
@Zilfrel: Classic stuff to throw in. Traps and swarms definitely adjust the tactics of the party, I agree. What sort of traps do you feel work against high level parties?
@TimD: I agree, working up to it is normally how I prefer to have things happen. However, the abrupt end of our other campaign, where they had earned their way to higher levels, left many of them still wanting to try high level game play.
I love the idea of interaction between lower power adventurers and the higher level PCs that you've mentioned. That sounds like an excellent dynamic to have the players be the ones with the power giving out wisdom. Lair building also is intriguing to many of my players, I'll definitely include that.
You mentioned "Putting the PCs in a position where a single, painful choice is the answer to the continuation or destruction of a people", which sounds like a very memorable situation for the players. What was the painful choice they had to make? What was the result for the players?
@Human Diversion: Were the mounted trolls with drow backup an encounter the players could prepare for, or an ambush? I'm assuming it was out in the open where the trolls could charge? What was the end result of the encounter?
@Rarednaw: Excellent stuff to work with, thank you! In particular, I'm curious about the story of the endangered species that is Balor. Were there any consequences for removing that "species" from existence? Or did the players attempt to save some of them? What happened there?
@Bacon666: Subtle disguise shift sounds like an excellent way to tweak with some of the more well read members of my group, thank you for the idea. What was the result of the dragon fight? A narrow victory? You mentioned that the goal is to make encounters hard pressed, what makes you as a player feel pressured at high level? Being low on spells, using up consumables, almost dying, etc?
@aceDiamond: Brilliant. I greatly enjoy when my players come up with some unexpected plans, though I suspect I'd have been just as alarmed as your GM. Was finding a unique vulnerability the most memorable part for you, or just the fact that you found a unique use for a lower level spell against a higher level foe?
@everybody: Thank you again for your responses. It's definitely helping me expand upon the ideas I already have in place. Keep 'em coming if you've got 'em!
A 3.5 game that was epic level and involved plane shifting.
We found a plane where the Terrasque was a somewhat common creature (herds of them), and had to confront a beast that actually preys on Terrasques. There's always a bigger fish/beast.
3000 goblin warriors, standing in densely packed formation.
Let the blasters blast, the archers rain arrows, the fighter cleave 12 in half at once, the rogue play frontline badass, the monk gets to one hit kill everything, the Wizard's horrid wilting turns them to dust, let the PCs feel like gods! Have fun with AoE spells that often get neglected at higher levels.
Blades in the ground, hidden holes with spines, fire or cold cones from the walls, as the spell burning hands or cone of cold. or something that makes the area difficult terrain, like an entangle trap.
you could also put a glyph of disintegraton xD
or these:
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/traps-hazards-and-special-terrains/tr aps/dungeon-deathtraps
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My favorite high level encounter was with a supposidly friendly kings court. We were permitted to speak to the king, so long as we supported the court by wearing fanciful suits and dresses provided by his majesty. We found that the clothing we were wearing could be remotely activated to act like an anti-magic field, which happened inside the kings court with 30 archers and 50 footmen ready to pour in. It was kind of fun trying to avoid death while stripping... We barely made it out alive! Interesting what happens when you take all of a PC's magic away.
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My ex-wife began a five year campaign with a young 1st level monk named Triko who had an exotic back-story. She was the sole surviving member of the royal family of the former Duchy of Urnst. Her entire family was slain in a coup d'etat by a villainous archmage. Chance spared Triko when she was but a wee babe. The villain now ruled Urnst as dictator-for-life. She dedicated her life to ridding the land of this villain, and possibly re-claiming the throne of Urnst. This was 1st Edition AD&D in The World of Greyhawk.
The villain was an unaging archmage/master monk with about 32 total levels. He would mostly use (9th level) spells. His special trick was to sometimes win or escape by casting an Anti-Magic Shell. Any foe he could not defeat in melee combat he could escape from, even without magic. Except another monk of equal or higher level.
Triko devised a plan to defeat him, where all before had failed. She would make strong allies, and they would travel the world for years gathering strength. She would become a master monk able to match the BBEG villain in combat. Magical allies would lure him into an anti-magic monk duel.
The group played for over five years and perhaps 100 sessions. Finally, after literally years of setup, the high level PCs, now about 14th level, fought the villainous usurper of Urnst and defeated him in a series of epic confrontations. Triko reclaimed her family inheritance and governed the land well for years of retirement.
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@Human Diversion: Were the mounted trolls with drow backup an encounter the players could prepare for, or an ambush? I'm assuming it was out in the open where the trolls could charge? What was the end result of the encounter?
It was an ambush in a massive cavern in the Underdark. The Trike mounts had horseshoes of flying and they all had haste cast on them, so there were few places the PCs could go to get away from the charging. It would have been a TPK had it not been for the Atomie sorcerer who was too small to be seen by the trolls dim-dooring the PCs back to the cave mouth after 2 of them had dropped, but the trolls were doing 100+ points of damage easily on a non-crit.
Most memorable. Phenomenal DM that ran us through "The Quicksilver Hourglass". The whole thing was just mind-blowing!
@TimD: You mentioned "Putting the PCs in a position where a single, painful choice is the answer to the continuation or destruction of a people", which sounds like a very memorable situation for the players. What was the painful choice they had to make? What was the result for the players?
It was about 15 or so years ago, so my memory is a bit sketchy on it.
I know that theme to that encounter was "sometimes there are no good answers" and the players had to choose whether or not to kill "the Last Innocent" in order to get her patron deity to pay attention to the fact that their people were all but extinct, but many of the details elude me (other than my ex-g/f crying after they decided to do the deed).Fortunately, I just remembered I'm playing PFS with one of the players in that game tonight, so I'll see what he remembers and follow-up tomorrow with a bit more detail.
-TimD