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View Full Version : What's the highest challenge rating disparity your party has won?



ken-do-nim
2009-07-01, 10:42 PM
I'm curious to hear what parties were successful in really beating the odds. Have a 4th level party defeat a CR10 encounter? That's 6 over even, that's pretty tough. I think at the end of Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil we had a 14th level party defeat a CR19 encounter.

d13
2009-07-01, 10:48 PM
Me (second level rogue) and a friend (second level barbarian) defeated a 12th level I-don't-know-what-class with a little "out of the box" thinking xD.

The DM actually said us that, for that encounter, we were supposed to use player knowledge, not character knowledge xD.

Dairun Cates
2009-07-01, 10:50 PM
Solo character. Fatigued. 8th level. Beat 3 Level 12 characters only 1 of which had sustained any damage by the rest of the party.

Zeta Kai
2009-07-01, 10:50 PM
I've heard of 6th-level parties whittling down a Tarrasque, but I can't remember how they got around the wish thing.

Djinn_in_Tonic
2009-07-01, 10:56 PM
1st level, d20 Modern.

We beat a CR 19 or 20 Medusa Assassin NPC due to some good planning and some lucky rolls.

1 round combat, actually. A successful grapple check, a lucky critical with a Glock, and a failed Massive Damage save.

AslanCross
2009-07-01, 11:01 PM
6th level party of 5 PCs beat an 11th-level warblade, though with significant tactical advantages.

quick_comment
2009-07-02, 12:11 AM
Non cheesy ECL 25 party killed an ECL 40 wizard.

A similar party also ECL 25, and we killed some sort of advanced fang dragon that had levels of bloodscaled fury. In his lair, with him knowing we are coming.

Starscream
2009-07-02, 12:33 AM
My players (6 of them, average level 4) just took down a CR 11 villain thanks to good luck.

He flubbed a few rolls in a row, they got a few natural 20s, that sort of thing. By round 4 he had failed a couple of saves that should have been lay-ups and was now under the effect of multiple Save-Or-Sucks, while they were dealing out twice as much damage per round as should have been probable.

Just the dice playing silly buggers. They weren't even supposed to actually face him. He was just going to show up, make some villainous boasts, sic a few minions on the PCs and depart laughing while they dealt with them.

Instead he was getting his butt kicked and I was wondering if it would mess up the story too much to cheat and have him spontaneously develop the ability to teleport, so they could face him when they were supposed to.

I ended up playing fair, letting him get whacked (NICE treasure and XP for the odds-breaking players), and demoted his boss, who wasn't even supposed to show up this session, to fill his stated spot in the story.

The moral of the story is that even terrible odds crop up occasionally. I recommended my players buy lotto tickets on the way home.

TheCountAlucard
2009-07-02, 12:41 AM
For my 3.5 Friday game, the second-level Warlock took on an ogre and two orcs in an arena. With no healing permitted. First round of combat, he took a hit from the ogre that dropped him down to two hit points. Three rounds and several natural twenties later, he had wiped out all three of his opponents.

Laughingcarp
2009-07-02, 01:28 AM
First level rogue and first level warblade beat an EL 8 situation.

We were supposed to sneak into this manor, assassinate a bandit lord, and gtfo before anyone was the wiser. Due to me missing the central guard with a sneak attack, he yelled the alarm and we had to fight the entire entourage at once. What should have been a CR 1 encounter defeated with a sneak attack and then a coup de grace ended up with the two of us fighting our way out of a group of 6 simple guards, a 4th level fighter and a 6th level cleric, with plot-summoned demonic support.

Draz74
2009-07-02, 01:34 AM
First level solo character, beat an Adult White Dragon ...

Yeah ... it was 2e, so the rules were much more relaxed. And the DM was pretty ridiculously! generous ... the character found and took the dragon's horde while it was away, then used its most powerful magic items to kill it when it returned.

That was back when I was a munchkin ... I didn't mind. :smallamused:

CockroachTeaParty
2009-07-02, 02:44 AM
In my Eberron game, my ECL... 14 (?) party of five characters took on a heavily re-statted and more optimized Lord of Blades, who was something like a fighter 2 warblade 4 warforged juggernaut 5 bloodstorm blade 10... I don't remember exactly, but he was supposedly CR 21. He also had a couple of major artifact warforged components, perhaps boosting his CR even more. It was a tough fight, but they certainly won that one, and that was after fighting two high level lich clerics.

Enguhl
2009-07-02, 10:07 AM
I (6th level... fighter?) and my friend (5th rogue) managed to kill a 20th level fighter with the phattest of phat lewt (though he vanished when he died :smallfurious: ) and we also did it without getting hit!

mostlyharmful
2009-07-02, 11:38 AM
I once had a party wizard open up on a quest giving NPC with colour spray with no warning, 16th level fighter, rolled a 1.... then got CdGed with a scythe....:smallannoyed:

That was a campaign that rapidly decended into farce and backstabbing... good times.

Douglas
2009-07-02, 11:42 AM
I once had a party wizard open up on a quest giving NPC with colour spray with no warning, 16th level fighter, rolled a 1.... then got CdGed with a scythe....:smallannoyed:

That was a campaign that rapidly decended into farce and backstabbing... good times.
That one's a bit of mistaken rules in addition to the bad luck. Stunned is not the same thing as helpless and is not sufficient to allow a coup de grace.

mostlyharmful
2009-07-02, 11:47 AM
That one's a bit of mistaken rules in addition to the bad luck. Stunned is not the same thing as helpless and is not sufficient to allow a coup de grace.

It is when the entire rest of the team then grapples and assists each other with summons and Animal companion as well... no of that would have happened had he not dropped his weapons and stood around like a gormless idiot.

kjones
2009-07-02, 11:50 AM
Sure, but he's only stunned for a round.

EDIT: Even then, I don't think a grappled character is helpless. Even a pinned one, though I might rule that pinned is close enough... the rules say "held", but I always parsed that as hold person.

I think those of you posting stories of how you overcame outlandish odds are obligated to provide a bit of background - "We defeated the Tarrasque at 1st level! Well, sure, he was asleep, and we had this pit of infinite acid at our disposal..."

Sissyphus
2009-07-02, 12:10 PM
The best wev'e done in my party is 4 level 7's taking on two Aboleths and a huge water elemental, we did some real tricks with the wizards 22 intelligence and a Bowl of commanding water elementals that had been modified for use with huge elemntals

JeenLeen
2009-07-02, 12:14 PM
My DM told me that our group regularly fights ECL + 3-4 for the minions we fight, and +6-8 for the bosses. But we're a rather optimized party of all casters (wizard, Cleric skillmonkey/healbot (almost untouchable, at least +30 to all saves at lv 20), Clerizilla, Druidzilla) with 36-point buy, so it's reasonable.

evisiron
2009-07-02, 12:38 PM
A level 20 party of 4 with some pretty tooled up kit, taking on an encounter that a player later worked out to be around ECL 690.

The fight was the final battle of the campaign, took place inside a volcano, and took around 5 hours to run. :smallbiggrin:

Here are some of the combatants:

Around 800 misc minions
40 Airborne half fiends
3 Omnimentals
1 Pyrolastic dragon (dragon made of lava)
1 Undead tarrasque (hehehe - homebrew spell involved)
80 Half giant/Half elemental things
30 or so mid level casters
1 Col red dragon, later turning into a demonic dracolich

They won, with 1 character killed in the very last round of combat. Fun times. :smallbiggrin:

ken-do-nim
2009-07-02, 01:03 PM
Mighty impressive, folks. With the exception of a few posts above, it does seem easier to win a fight against one high CR foe than a high CR fight with multiple.

shadow_archmagi
2009-07-02, 01:15 PM
Thirty 1st level commoners, one gestalt fourth level PC for an ally, myself (also a gestalt 4th level PC) and one Kracken.

I was the only survivor.

Sinfire Titan
2009-07-02, 01:41 PM
Read about it here. My favorite character, by far. (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=1010567)


Granted, errors were made. If the DM had let the Dust of Choking and Sneezing by though, I would have taken no damage that entire fight.

Thrawn183
2009-07-02, 01:51 PM
Party of level 10's took on a CR 15 dragon and killed it in one round. Both the paladins crit on charge smites. Though it actually died from the soul knife's wounding weapon.

I didn't even get to go.

Epinephrine
2009-07-02, 02:31 PM
Level 8 party took on a CR15 mindflayer with his two CR6 bodyguards and won.

Belial_the_Leveler
2009-07-02, 03:26 PM
My parties have never defeated a creature beyond their assumed ability (CR 4 higher than the party or more). Ever.

MissK
2009-07-02, 03:29 PM
In my last game (Ravenloft) our level 9 party took out Strahd frikking-Von Zarovich by being in the right place at the right time and creatively utilizing Otiluke's Resilient Sphere. Which is now my favorite spell.

arguskos
2009-07-02, 03:31 PM
My parties routinely die to equal CR or LOWER challenges. :smallfrown: I mean, a party of level 6 characters were taken out by a single Chraal (CR 6)! There were no survivors. I wasn't even fighting smart, I just had it spread it's attacks around, and when it's death throes went off (cause they killed it), everyone failed their saves and died.

I've had a party of level 5's die to a single CR 3. Total TPK. Once again, I don't know if my dice hate them, their dice hate them, or they're just stupid, but whatever. I've been tossing low CR challenges at them.

Flickerdart
2009-07-02, 03:33 PM
5 battle-weary gestalt 3rd levels taking down 4 Drow: 2 unimportant dudes with rapiers, and two Wizard 5/Fighter 2 guys with spiked chains. In a narrow corridor. No casualties, though two people were unconscious at one point or another.

PrismaticPIA
2009-07-02, 03:49 PM
1st level tier 4 or 5 cleric solo kills an ogre using Magic Stone dm cries.

Same cleric 2 levels later, saves the dying party's ass by summoning celestial monkeys, who then proceed to nat 20 their way through a pack of 4 dire wolves. DM cries. Celestial monkeys are henceforth, banned from the table.

Same unoptimised cleric level 11. Somehow managed to knockback a Marillith into a lava pit.

Different tier 4 or 5 cleric, level 7. With the help of a homebrew feat that let's her down potions as a free action, solos a Balor. Clerics are henceforth, banned from the table.

And my personal favorite: level 11 Rogue/wizard with a Gate scroll. Wizard has surprise round. Wizard makes UMD check to cast Gate, summoning a noble djinni. Wizard asks dijinni to cast Wish, wishing for a $25,000gp block of iron to appear above to the head of the pit fiend. A 250,000lbs block of iron appears above the head of the pit fiend. Wizard ends turn.

Random832
2009-07-02, 04:16 PM
Same cleric 2 levels later, saves the dying party's ass by summoning celestial monkeys, who then proceed to nat 20 their way through a pack of 4 dire wolves. DM cries. Celestial monkeys are henceforth, banned from the table.

Why not ban the die that got all those nat 20s?


Same unoptimised cleric level 11. Somehow managed to knockback a Marillith into a lava pit.

Ban lava pits? Heck, say it doesn't count as total immersion, DR 10, Fire resistance 10, bam!


Different tier 4 or 5 cleric, level 7. With the help of a homebrew feat that let's her down potions as a free action, solos a Balor. Clerics are henceforth, banned from the table.

Um, why not ban the homebrew feat in question?

Gamgee
2009-07-02, 04:28 PM
My party of level 6 went up against a Sith Lords Apprentice of level 12.... and won spectacularly with a lucky critical hit and rolling max damage on the roll.

Alteran
2009-07-10, 08:01 PM
Our level 26 party killed a level 25 solo dragon...in 3 activations. Not rounds, activations. All it got to do was use its bloodied breath, and since it was stunned it technically shouldn't have been able to do that.

Jalor
2009-07-10, 08:15 PM
Level 21 character in a game I'm in managed to drop a CR43 Force dragon in a surprise round. Then again, he was a Wizard/Incantatrix/Halruaan Elder.