Running high level for the first time in a while

[Douglas Muir 406]

It's been years, and now suddenly I'm GMing a group that's 15th level with one mythic tier each. Everyone has darkvision, everyone can fly, quickened spells are going to be common, teleportation is a thing. And so forth.

Does anyone have tips or comments, in a general way, for GMing parties at this level?

thanks in advance,

Doug M.

[Arbane the Terrible]

Don't make any plans that rely on an enemy NOT being one-shotted when the fight starts.

[Charon's Little Helper]

Start smaller?

[Douglas Muir 406]

I guess I'm particularly interested in the tactical issues that can arise. Like, everyone is going to be flying. That right there is going to make combat very different. The number of buffs is going to be an issue (it was already a big issue at 10th-11th level). Things like that.

Doug M.

[kadance]

Are you the smartest person in the room?

You'll need to be to kep the encounters challenging.

Every encounter needs to be thought about from every angle.

Every bad guy needs to fight to his full potential (as dictated by his Int/Wis/motivation).

Mythic players at that level have a lot of options. The champions will likely be taking an extra attack that ignores normal protections (DR, concealment, cover, etc). The archmages won't be restricted to just the spells they have prepared.

BUT, intelligent enemies at that level know what to expect for the most part. A few dispel magics can send flying character crashing down. Armies of 1st level warrior shooting longbows will still roll 20s.

Focus on disabling the party rather than just stabbing them. Trip em, grapple em, wall-of-force them, etc.

[Onyxlion]

Douglas Muir 406 wrote:

I guess I'm particularly interested in the tactical issues that can arise. Like, everyone is going to be flying. That right there is going to make combat very different. The number of buffs is going to be an issue (it was already a big issue at 10th-11th level). Things like that.

Doug M.

Like kadance said use wall spells, terrain, influence, and power to the max. I'd say don't hold back in design, if you think an encounter is tough add another guy. It's much easier to tone down on the fly than up.

Also use templates they provide good boosts at low cr bumps. One of my favorites is the mighty template, the trick though is not to apply it to the boss guy but to the mooks. This template does a great job of making dangerous small guys that go down with a hit or 2, they'll be able to be effective versus the PCs but go down quick if focused. This works really well with mythic because it can give a lot of dangerous for them to cleave through.

What are the players playing? We could give specific advice if know the group.

[Douglas Muir 406]

Walls are good. Lots of dispel magics are good. Adding more mooks is always good. As to what the players are playing...

My players, stay out. Seriously dudes.:

We're starting halfway through Fire Mountain Games _The Devil My Only Master_ -- specifically the bit where they enter the cairn to search for Cardinal Thorn's phylactery. They're supposed to be 16th level for this, but I think 15th plus the mythic tier works much as well. Encounters include undead, some constructs, a colossal ooze, and a bunch of ropers, with a CR 18 cairn linnorm at the end.

The PCs are all 15th level: an antipaladin, a magus, a bard, an alchemist and an Oracle of the Dark Tapestry. Everyone has one mythic tier and the bard is also a vampire. They're all experienced players. About the only weak-ish spot is that they don't have a cleric or a full caster, but they're rocking enough gear that the lack of 7th and 8th level spells isn't likely to weaken them too much.

If you're familiar with that module... well, I'm thinking that only the last encounter is likely to be more than a speed bump. I'm actually okay with that, since this is really a shakedown cruise. But I'm interested in hearing other folks' thoughts on tactics going forward.

[LazarX]

Be extremely sparing about granting further mythic tiers.

Mythic tiers are force multipliers... the higher level the campaign, the more impact they have.

[Douglas Muir 406]

Good point about force multiplication! But, no mythic tiers planned for a while.

[Onyxlion]

Oracle is a full spellcaster so they'll have level 7 spells now and 8 in one level.

Also as much as I love mythic it is a force multiplier, so until your comfortable I'd let it ride at 1 tier.

Also you should consider banning mythic cloudkill if you plan to increase tiers.

I'm not familiar with the mod but if the last guy is solo he will be crunched, 4 actions to one is deadly. Look at the mythic template agile if you want him cchallenging.