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View Full Version : Help giving my Campaign a Big Finish!



BRC
2009-02-04, 09:31 PM
NOTE: I don't think any of my group reads this forum, but just in case...If your group meets in Saint Louis, and the party includes a Gnomish Barbarian who wields a flaming briefcase, stop reading now!

So, my campaign is winding down, and I know generally whats going to happen for the final adventure. The Conspiracywill be revealed, and the PC's will have a series of encounters as they head across the city, as they fight these encounters, various allies they have made during the campaign will show up to help against that foe, and then hold them Back for the PC's.

Eventually, the PC's will meet the BBEG, a wizard performing a big evil ritual, not a summoning though.

Now, my party has gotten pretty good at dishing out damage, and I'd rather not resort to SoDing the main damage dealers. Throw in flimsy wizard HD, a good strategist of a player, and a large group (Usually around 8 people) ,and it looks like my BBEG will end up as a bloody pulp after only a round or two. Not that I object to my BBEG being a bloody pulp, I would just prefer he takes a while getting to that point because, well, this IS the end of the campaign.

However, if I make him high level enough to have the HP needed to survive a few rounds of smackdown, then I would have to intentionally play him REALLY poorly in order to avoid smashing the party with a few spells.

So far, I've thought of a few solutions

1. Suck it up, optimize my BBEG for survivability, my players are fond of using Flaming weapons for extra damage, and due to the nature of the ritual in question, the BBEG has very good reason to have buffed himself with Fire resistance beforehand, but things can still go fairly wrong.
2. Minions! Give the BBEG a wall of protective mooks to soak up the damage. Unfortunetly, between the Bard and the Beguiler, they are likely to have some of those mooks working for them, and the others chasing illusions within a round.
3. The Wizard says: TRANSFORM! Pick a monster I like the looks of, have the wizard start the fight by transforming into it with some ubermagic, re fluff as necessary.

What do you guys think I should do?

Olo Demonsbane
2009-02-04, 09:52 PM
Multiclass. How high a level wizard are we talking?

For example, Fighter 1/Wizard 8/Abjurent Champion 5 would improve his survivalbility a ton if he can buff a little bit.

Buff. Figure out some way to keep the characters off his back for a few rounds, then use greater mage armor/spiderskin/Cats Grace/Bears Endurance...

I had a dragon that was a very powerful spellcaster, but weak in melee (relativly). So I added bell traps: Traps that set off a bell as they approach the lair. She got 11 rounds of buffing before they arrived. It was a good fight, though if you can access a 7th level cleric, get spell immunity (dispel magic and greater dispel magic). That would have helped a lot...

Molant
2009-02-04, 09:54 PM
Cheat a li'l. You want to make it a good fight, so don't let it have a lame ending. If the numbers are saying that he's dead three rounds in, tell the stupid numbers where to go and keep goin'.

Minions are also fun, but make sure they're strong enough to defeat/overcome illusions and mind-effecting trash. It's also reasonable that they have similar buffs to the big boy.

zakk2to2
2009-02-04, 09:54 PM
go for a combo of 2 and 3. have the minions fight it out until they get beat preaty badly and then have the wizard morph the surviving ones into something memorable.

playswithfire
2009-02-04, 09:54 PM
For more HP, give him the Faerie Mysteries Initiate feat from Dragon 319. Let's him use INT instead of CON to determine HP.

For absorbing damage, I'd say definitely give him some fire resistance and he may want to invest in a set of Deathguardian Bracers (Magic Item Compendium page 93). Expend a spell as an immediate action to gain DR 2*spell level/- for 1 round.

Other than that, use wizard tricks like greater invisibility, etc to avoid getting hit, I guess. I don't play casters very often.

Dyllan
2009-02-04, 09:56 PM
First off, if you haven't statted the BBEG yet, it's time for cheese.

Give him high base stats. Want to be fair and use the same point buy system the party used, fine. If the party rolled stats - fudge the rolls in his favor. But if he can cast wish, I see no reason he wouldn't have wished all his stats up by 5... or if he can't, he may have come across books to raise them.

Second, optimize his build for survivability here. Find a good PRC or two that he can take that'll give him better HP than straight wizard, without massive caster level loss. If you need to bump his current level a bit to get him into those, that's not a big deal. But there are a few classes that allow for wizards with higher hit dice.

Third, cheat on this HP rolls. Max them all if you want, or if you want to make it look fair, use 3/4 of max. That'll just look like you rolled well.

Fourth, equip him out the wazoo. This is the last fight of the campaign, so loot is irrelevant. Any equipment you haven't had bad guys use before, because you think it's too powerful for the hands of the party, use now. Especially focus on elemental resistances, miss chances, damage reduction and regeneration. Be sure to throw in multiple ioun stones - those things just scream "powerful wizard."

Fifth - he DOES need minions. A one on 8 fight has only two results. Either the One guy (your BBEG) is too tough for the party to hurt, and he kills everyone, or the party is able to hurt him and wipes the floor with him easily due to the fact that they get 8 actions for his one. Try to make his minions match the strengths and weaknesses of the party. One minion for each party member - not quite as powerful as that party member, but along similar lines, should be enough to balance the fight.

And finally - Buff, buff, buff. The wizard should buff himself, and every minion who can should also buff him. If it isn't reasonable for him to be pre-buffed, throw some cannon fodder at the party to distract them while the BBEG and his closest minions buff... and make sure there's a reason the party can't just run past the cannon fodder and fight the BBEG. Something as simple as a wall spell (wall of force is especially nice, as the party can watch their enemy prepare while they fight the little guys), that the party COULD get through, but it would require actions spent on destroying the wall while the cannon fodder is attacking them.

Throw all that together, and you'll have a very memorable last fight... one that SEEMS harder than it is.

Also, if you expect dispel magic, make sure the BBEG has a ring of counterspells ready for it.

Sonar009
2009-02-04, 10:04 PM
A... flaming briefcase?
...
That's AWESOME!

Anyway, you could always weaken them with some minions before they even think to look up, only to see him performing the ritual on the ceiling with spider climb. :smallbiggrin:

PinkysBrain
2009-02-04, 10:07 PM
Minions are a given regardless of what you make of him, the fact that the Bard and Beguiler are good at crowd control is all the more reason to put them in! There are plenty of ways to make sure that if they are turned their attacks are less efficient against the BBEG (because they can't reach him, because their weapons aren't very effective against him, because their available spells aren't effective against him etc). So the bard and beguiler get to shine without making the BBEG die faster, win/win.

If you just want to give him a lot of hitpoints and high saves you can always just use a monstrous race. Also you could give him a Cube of Force (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#cubeofForce). That gives him some breathing room.

BRC
2009-02-04, 10:10 PM
I just had an idea for the minions, Clerics.
Allow me to explain, with a spoiler in case any of my Players are looking.

This setting takes place After a standard DnD setting. Evil conquered the world (That was our last campaign) and burned all the good temples to the ground, or desecrated them, whichever. A new good aligned diety arose and their followers were able to beat up evil, during which time they went Inquisition, erasing any knowledge of evil OR the other good deities. People know other good deities existed at some point, but everything else, even the names of said deities, has been forgotten, almost.

The BBEG is the head of a group that's trying to bring Pelor worship back, his plan involves using this super artifact, combined with a spell that the PC's found for him awhile ago (He Is an inquisitor, the PC's don't know that he's the head of the conspiracy) to destroy the holy city, and with it the inquisition headquarters. Then revitalize pelor worship in the ensuing chaos. The campaign has taken place in a city that said artifact is housed in, and the conspiracy has already secretly converted a decent number of the cities priesthood to Pelor worship. The PC's have already met the BBEG, though they don't know he's the BBEG yet, but he is already established as an Elf, though I can stat him as a Human.

Anyway, I have the BBEG surrounded by Clerics. Theyve got good will saves, meaning the bard and beguiler will have their work cut out trying to remove them from the equation, and the PC's can't simply go around them because what they mainly do is buff and heal the BBEG. Plus they have decent hit die and wear heavy armor, so they lack squishiness.

wadledo
2009-02-04, 10:16 PM
Also, constructs.
Perhaps a bunch of old Stone golems in the shape of Pelor that he found and is using to help with the ritual

BRC
2009-02-04, 10:25 PM
A... flaming briefcase?
...
That's AWESOME!

Anyway, you could always weaken them with some minions before they even think to look up, only to see him performing the ritual on the ceiling with spider climb. :smallbiggrin:
Yeah, said character was a bank manager whose mind snapped, she wields a flaming briefcase and throws pens.

Oddly enough, this is my groups SECOND small-sized barbarian that always dresses in suits. Though the other is going more for a "Creepily polite serial killer" thing, rogue/barbarian/avenging executioner. Last session the two of them had a CMoA
A Vampire monk with improved grapple (Grapple modifier of +11 or so) tried to grapple the Serial-killer barbarian (Grapple modifier of +4). The Halfling barbarian rolled a 20 on his grapple check, pinning the vampire, and then the other barbarian smacked the monkpire in the face with her briefcase. The mental image of a half ling pinning a vampire, and then a gnome smacking it in the face with a magically flaming briefcase will stay with me forever.