Tot12: So my group will face Panelliar and Tahomen together... TPK incoming?

[White Direwolf]

My group has reached the finale of book two. When they encountered Panelliar, they felt that he was a) pretty powerful and b) they didn't want to hurt him because he was under the command spell. They had no way to lift the spell but they did not attack him and stayed outside of the veil.

Then, clever as PCs tend to be, they scaled the southern wall of the temple and entered through a window, thereby bypassing the Panelliar fight for now.

Now it would make sense that they will face Tahomen when he descends from the mountain and Panalliar (who still keeps watch in front of the temple) *together* as soon as they leave the temple. And that worries me some.

The group's combat performance has been all over the place. Salask was challenging but reasonable for them. The mountain eel nearly killed two characters (due to bad positioning and abysmal rolling on their part), but they mopped up Avissa, the two culstists and the lore guardians inside the temple with relative ease.

So, should I just let it happen? Or should I somehow separate the encounters? Maybe Tahomen could send Panelliar inside the temple to hunt the PCs down while he is waiting outside?

[pauljathome]

White Direwolf wrote:

My group has reached the finale of book two. When they encountered Panelliar,

Don't forget that Panelliar "has been convinced to strike down those who would enter the temple"

So, it seems unlikely to me that the two will combine into one group.

I certainly played him as somewhat realizing that he is controlled so he won't VOLUNTEER information.

Tahomen comes down the mountain
Tahomen : "Are the intruders inside?"
Panelliar : "No".

Tahomen goes in and gets attacked. Panelliar listens.

Or the PCs just sneak out and encounter Tahomen outside the temple.

You have lots of good in character reasons to NOT combine the two groups.

And yeah, its quite possibly a TPK if you DO combine them

[White Direwolf]

pauljathome wrote:

Tahomen comes down the mountain
Tahomen : "Are the intruders inside?"
Panelliar : "No".

Tahomen goes in and gets attacked. Panelliar listens.

Well, Avissa detonated the explosives so he will have heard that and know that something has happened. But I like the notion of Panelliar resisting within his possibilities.

Thanks for your thoughts! :)

[SirShua]

If a cultist throws a grenade and happens to hit Panelliar, would that break the enchantment? It's a hostile act against him by Tahomen's allies.