Does it have to be funny?
The high level NPCs can push their squires into some kind of hiding place and all they hear are grotesque noises. The actual enemy is not even seen, but the PCs have sounds or smells to follow.
There's the classics. A sculpted demon face whose mouth leads into a dark passage. The L20s walk into the darkness and disappear. The passage is dark because it's filled with a sphere of annihilation.
Or, a bunch of ninjas jump out and take the PCs hostage. The L20s heroically offer to take the PCs places. That happens. Then stabstabstab with thinaun weapons from D&D 3.x. (this may require a little more suspension of disbelief)
"Woefully unprepared? Who cares? We're RICH! I am *totally* selling Sir Slavedriver's +5 Vorpal fauchard, then buying a palatial spread to retire!"
(I.e., better make sure that all the dope L20 gear disappears with them.)
*Lever labeled 'Super Happy Fun Slide'.
Does it really drop them onto a sphere of annihilation?
The rules for suffocation care little about such things as hit points and bonuses to saving throws.
Maybe the low-level PC's are the tough, brawny ones and their level 20 employees are relatively frail.
Could it be shockingly gruesome? During the adventure into the dungeon on their way to the BBEG, have the L20's one by one step in different One-shot-killing-traps that are "almost" undetectable. And yes, you can make the PC trigger the traps that kill the L20 NPCs.
For example, the first L20 steps on a trap that instantly crushes him/her between two giant pillars, one coming below and one from the ceiling. The squire was """just""" out of reach of the trap, but fully within reach of the gore splatter of the crushed L20 hero (and items likewise crushed). In between traps, have the L20s have epic fights with demons/devils/whatever the world ending threat is in your game. Than, after a combat, the next L20 triggers a trap that opens a giant bottemless pit. So a different L20 quickely casts Featherfall and succeeds, only to see the side of the pit quickly close in and crush the slowely descending L20. Again, guts and gore everywhere. Eventually, have the last L20 teleport the terrefied squires to safety before the gets killed in the final battle with the BBEG. No items from the L20s, just bits and pieces of their actual body.
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The L20 party plane shifted to a private Demiplane called "The Tavern" or "The Temple" (created with the spell Create Demiplane, Greater) to get some private R&R*, only to find that the tuning fork the PCs packed in the Wizard Spell Component Pouch was actually the one for the OTHER Demi-Plan, the (dead magic) one created by them to Trap enemies in. So, the L20s have ended up in an Anti Magic Plane, with a bunch of monsters they have (over the years) plane shifted here to dispose of.
Heck, the target Demi-Plane could even be Time-Stopped, giving the PCs a long range goal - to ultimately free the L20s from the time pocket... along with a BUNCH of monsters for the FINAL FIGHT SCENE...
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I can see this being even funnier if the PCs were actually "Body Doubles" hired to stand in for the L20 NPCs at a function the high level guys didn't want to bother with. You know, got to go the the opening ceremony for the new charity wing of the Old Adventurers Hall.
So they LOOK LIKE the L20 gang, and most people around them treat them as the L20 gang. So when a Mummy suddenly attacks out of nowhere and all the PCs freeze in terror (failed their save), and the "low level guards" take out the threat, the Guard Captain thanks the PCs for "holding back so my crew can get some experience in". The Captain could even offer to help them with "any light work" they encounter during their investigation in town. "No need to trouble yourself handling monsters that are so low level you don't even get any XP for..."
Heck, you could even add in a "guide" or "coach" for the PCs by having the L20 Wizards familiar still around. Say a Raven so it can speak, and at 20 level it has more HP then the players, has an INT of 15, and a real reason to drive the players to "get the boss back!". It would provide the GM with a 'voice' to guide the action in the game. Insuring that the PCs KNOW what happened... and can constantly update the PCs on how to "keep up the act" and "play their part"...
you know what? I'm really liking this idea for a game.
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Well, back in the day (ADD 2nd Edition) our PCs were adventuring in the Forgotten Realms and there was this portal that presumably (so we thought as PCs) took you to someplace that you needed to get to continue the adventure. Turns out anyone who entered the portal was disintegrated (or something along those lines). Technically, our entire group committed unintentional suicide and our GM was left wondering what to do. Our GM ended up NOT killing us all and having us transported somewhere innocuous from which we could return and continue adventuring as he didn't want to have everyone roll up new characters and/or end the adventure. We were not 20th level, but it wouldn't have mattered if we were.
A group of lvl 20's have so many contingencies and counters to any possible effect the GM can throw at them that a TPK *should* theoretically be impossible at that point. A level 10 can influence a continent, a level 20 can influence an entire planet. A level 20 is basically a Superman-level character in terms of influential impact. You can survive and even threaten deities. Tbh, if a GROUP of 20's gets TPKed, you were either so ill-prepared that you deserve it, or your GM was so fed up with you that he sent Thanos while the party was split up.
One possibly funny way to do it is to have the PC's find some sort of activation rune that transports the level 20's to the 9th circle of Hell, where Asmodeus and a few of his Archdevils are having a meeting. Archdevils are 10th-rank mythic creatures, not counting their boss. That would do it.
J
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Win Initiative.
epic level time travel quest.
"Don't touch ANYTHING! and we mean it!"
3 cut scenes later a lone goblin attack. the (low level) party , they kill it. turns out it was the missing xp for the (level 20, still level 1 in this time line) others to level 2, before the big bad boss fight.
"but..but i remember Lord Finn saying the hobgoblin leader was a push over... how can they loose?"
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The lvl 20 party is very talented. The lvl 1 PCs are obviously not. Make something with a failed skill check, like a stealth roll. Make it in a spot where the lvls 20s managed to move around in full gear stealthily enough, but the PCs in barely tunics and tabards keep making enough noise to wake the dead.
Someone above mentioned suffocation.
Perhaps in the opening scene the lvl 20s JUST fought off a big bad guy, and their spellcasters have been exhausted.
As someone pointed out, environmental hazards can be devastating at all levels. While lvl20 characters could theoretically afford all kinds of contingencies, in my experience players are largely less prepared than their characters could be expected to be. Just because a hazard is trivial to overcome with low level magic doesnt mean they have it on habd at all times.
A bunch of low level wizards with scrolls of Mage's Disjunction. XD
The most effective way of killing high level characters is to drown them. Most players don't think to equip their characters with an (item) of water breathing, most casters won't have a spell that allows breathing underwater prepared, and only a few races can naturally breathe underwater. Water is one of those things players usually don't think to prepare for unless they're playing in a nautical/aquatic campaign.
My idea: Make a huge thing of the Level20's getting prepared to take down the villain, several times stating that with proper preparation they can take on anything. The overconfident Level20's swagger into the villain's lair, tell a PC apprentice to pull that lever, and then are sealed in an anti-magic chamber that rapidly fills with water. The PCs watch as the heroes flail about for a few minutes before drowning, brought down by their own sense of superiority.
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Have you ever seen 'Mystery Men'?
BBEG traps the level 20s in some sort of insidious death trap. The PCs are the only ones who can save them, since they're not trapped. But instead, they trigger the death trap, which kills the level 20s, maybe trapping their souls or something.
The BBEG shows up, the PCs hear them coming and flee, knowing they're no match for the BBEG. Or, if you'd prefer to remove the chance that the PCs try to attack a BBEG that took out level 20 characters, have the trap drop them into the dungeon or teleport them away to somewhere they have to start over. The BBEG finds that their level 20 prisoners are already dead, which tips them off that someone was there, and have some minions go looking for the PCs to kick off their adventures.
An Ancient Solar Dragon and 6 Iron Golem Archers?
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20th level characters are larger than life demi-gods, and should act like it, maybe instead of killing them, have a divine avatar come to them, calling them to help save one of the outer planes.
Them being the big heroes that they are, they jump at the oppertunity to go have a mythic adventure.
They leave their (Somewhat unwanted and forced upon them by the kingdom) frail and mortal apprentices to look after the slightly enchanted fortress that serves as a glorified gate house and contact point to the heroes personal Demi-Plane.
The apprentices have never been inside the Demi-Plane, but the place is rumored to rival Elysium in it´s splendor.
A week after the heroes leave, not expecting to return for at least a year, the BBEG starts invading with his goblin army and evil McGuffin that will enable him to control the kingdom in an iron appendage.
Time to half-elf up and act like actual soon-to-be heroes.
Adopt the Movie Zemo method, and make them destroy themselves...
What classes did you plan for the L20s?
I'd suggest they simply split up after a massive conflict of personalities, each going their own direction.
The rogue secretly loved the cleric, but when she started seeing the fighter, he ended up brooding over it until eventually drawing his blade on the fighter, getting badly beaten for his trouble. The cleric, realizing that the fighter wasn't actually who she really wanted, broke it off with him, but the fighter took it badly. The wizard was completely disgusted with all of them over being so childish, and after the bad blood, the four broke up their band, seeking to get as far away from each other as possible.
What classes did you plan for the L20s?
I'd suggest they simply split up after a massive conflict of personalities, each going their own direction.
The rogue secretly loved the cleric, but when she started seeing the fighter, he ended up brooding over it until eventually drawing his blade on the fighter, getting badly beaten for his trouble. The cleric, realizing that the fighter wasn't actually who she really wanted, broke it off with him, but the fighter took it badly. The wizard was completely disgusted with all of them over being so childish, and after the bad blood, the four broke up their band, seeking to get as far away from each other as possible.
This sounds like something that ended a campaign I was in. Except it was players/GM relationships...
The GM liked the Cleric, but the Cleric liked the Ranger. When the Cleric and the Ranger started dating in real life, the GM got butthurt and ended the campaign.
That is probably an oversimplification of what all happened, but that's it in a nutshell.
Dot.