Lord Ruby34
2011-04-21, 02:34 PM
So, I'm DMing a Saturday game for a group of my friends, and they screwed up. They got an important NPC killed in the last encounter. Accidentally or course but it was still their fault that they failed tactics for about half the battle. That's fine, they learned from the mistake and they're thinking more. But now they have to deal with the repercussions of getting someone who has a vindictive, powerful family killed under mysterious circumstances.
A high ranking officer in the military, one of the king's advisers in fact, has taken their side and covered up the mission. So legal action is out of the question. So I decided on assassination. I just need help with not making it too lethal.
I have planned an attack at night when the PC's are asleep. They all share the fighter's house, a three room wooden shack with a thatched roof in one of the town's... shadier areas, with his heavily pregnant but high level wife and two small children. There is one door and two windows. The assassin's plan to throw alchemist's fire threw the windows and use Hold Portal on the door, while a psion or wilder increases the size of the flames. Two goons will be standing by the windows with hammer's, bashing anyone who tries to go out that way back in. A fifth enemy, the encounter's "boss", will be standing outside in case the barbarian decides to break the walls. He'll be throwing an ever smoking bottle in on the surprise round to heighten confusion. I intend for him to be a sixth level ranger or two weapon fighter.
My PC's are a home-brewed Jedi 3/ranger 1, which is basically a psionic class with a medium BaB, an insanely strong Barb 4, an elf wilder 4 with the powers Mind Thrust, Matter Agitation, Control Flame, and Swarm of Crystals. The last two are a human Fighter 4 with some house rules that make crossbows not suck, and an insane Dwarf Cleric with spontaneous casting rules. They all have a special power for being the "chosen" of the gods to a +5 to their best stat.
Is the planned encounter too deadly, is it impossible to save the kids? Or is it too easy? I like encounters to push them right to the edge where they have to be smart to survive. I can see a few ways out for them but would they?
A high ranking officer in the military, one of the king's advisers in fact, has taken their side and covered up the mission. So legal action is out of the question. So I decided on assassination. I just need help with not making it too lethal.
I have planned an attack at night when the PC's are asleep. They all share the fighter's house, a three room wooden shack with a thatched roof in one of the town's... shadier areas, with his heavily pregnant but high level wife and two small children. There is one door and two windows. The assassin's plan to throw alchemist's fire threw the windows and use Hold Portal on the door, while a psion or wilder increases the size of the flames. Two goons will be standing by the windows with hammer's, bashing anyone who tries to go out that way back in. A fifth enemy, the encounter's "boss", will be standing outside in case the barbarian decides to break the walls. He'll be throwing an ever smoking bottle in on the surprise round to heighten confusion. I intend for him to be a sixth level ranger or two weapon fighter.
My PC's are a home-brewed Jedi 3/ranger 1, which is basically a psionic class with a medium BaB, an insanely strong Barb 4, an elf wilder 4 with the powers Mind Thrust, Matter Agitation, Control Flame, and Swarm of Crystals. The last two are a human Fighter 4 with some house rules that make crossbows not suck, and an insane Dwarf Cleric with spontaneous casting rules. They all have a special power for being the "chosen" of the gods to a +5 to their best stat.
Is the planned encounter too deadly, is it impossible to save the kids? Or is it too easy? I like encounters to push them right to the edge where they have to be smart to survive. I can see a few ways out for them but would they?