Finished It! (Contains Spoilers and a Recap of the Finale)

[Krathanos]

After a year of weekly play, my group defeated Karzoug and saved Varisia from the Rise of the Runelord. This has been the 10th Adventure Path I ran from start to finish, and once again I have to thank the mighty Hivemind for providing me (and countless other DMs) with cool ideas, hints, clarifications, and general awesomeness. Keep being amazing, you guys!

Since I love reading those stories myself, I'll give you a short recap of the final battle:

In the early going, Karzoug put up his defenses, including a Prismatic Wall. Then, he took the dangerous fighter and the EXTREMELY dangerous brawler out of the equation via Forcecage and Maze, respectively.

Meanwhile, the party's arcanist was busy taking over the storm giants with Dominate Person und the hunter did some respectable damage with his bow (which was a first, but better late than never). The arcanist also managed to telekinetically disarm Karzoug and Teleport (Any Object) his glaive away. Ship got real when the cleric got snatched by a Crushing Hand spell. The hunter dispelled the hand just in time for the cleric to save the arcanist with Breath of Life (she got shot by a storm giant). The brawler came out of the Maze and together with the rogue tried to attack Karzoug. Too bad Karzoug had Repulsion on him.

Karzoug cast Wail of the Banshee and killed the hunter's animal companion. Enraged, the hunter cast Greater Dispel Magic twice and shattered most of Big K's defenses. At the same time, the brawler and rogue freed the fighter from his Forcecage. The fighter, after being imprisoned for a good while (about two hours of real time - that poor player!) put all of his frustration in one mighty blow - a critical hit with Power Attack and Greater Vital Strike! Karzoug was hurt ("how is this possible...you are merely insects...") and used Limited Wish and Dimension Door to heal and regroup.

The arcanist delivered the finishing move - and what a finish it was! Here's the transcript (disclaimer: rules-wise, this might not be kosher):

Player: "I'll cast Mass Charm Person on Karzoug."

Me: "Okay"

(player overcomes SR, Karzoug bombs his will save)

Me: "Oh, well, he's charmed, not a big deal..."

Player: "I'll use a hero point for another action!"

Me: "Uhm, okay..."

Player: "Since he views me as an ally now, I'll cast Telekinetic Charge on him..."

Me: "I guess you're right, he won't resist that now..."

Player: "...so I'll send him charging through his own Prismatic Wall."

(insert sound of record needle coming to a screeching halt)

Long story short, Karzoug got turned to stone by his own spell and fell OF COURSE directly into his own Runewell, his stony eyes full of hatred while he sank.

So that was fun. Campaign's wrapped up and my group will lose some players and get some new ones. Hell's Rebels is up next, see you in Kintargo.

[Green Eyed Liar]

Thanks for sharing!

[Leandro 'Verbal' Garvel]

That ending... Man, that's beautiful.

[Tinalles]

Quote:

disclaimer: rules-wise, this might not be kosher)

You're right, technically that shouldn't have worked -- prismatic wall has no effect on its own caster.

But! This is a classic villainous end -- defeated by a clever trick that turned his own power against him. Seems to me that's a textbook case of the Rule of Cool, which trumps the normal rules out of sheer awesome.