Arena Combat! My experience and ideas!

[Rossebay]

So, I had my players get captured by the Drow at level 1. They were made to be slaves, thrown into an Arena, facing in total 5 or 6 Grimlocks before leveling up.

So, there's 2 players. Essentially, a Psychic Warrior and an Ubercharger, level 2. This is done with Gnorman's E6 Classes (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=215986). They are a Bruiser Brawler, and a Warden Aspirant.

The Warden is an Elan with Hidden Talent, so he ended up with more power points than I expected. He was shrugging off damage like no other. The Bruiser has PA and Powerful Charge, and Flying Kick is soon to come.

So, I gave the Warden Full Plate at his second level (granted by his owner, as he was now a slave of the Drow), and a Masterwork Great-Axe (2d6, 20 x3 crit).

I granted the Bruiser a Masterwork Chain Shirt and 10 platinum, and a few more freedoms.

So, then I kill off my DMPC with another DMPC they'd never met before, as he was in an Arena Battle. The level 1 Pyromancer falls to the level 2 Templar.

So then, the level 2 party, I decide, is ready to take on a Half-Dragon by themselves. I put the Half-Dragon on high ground that they couldn't charge up without an Acrobatics Check (House Rule on Balance and Tumble) DC of 15.

The Templar takes a ready action to toss his hammer in case the half-dragon tries his breath weapon. The Warden begins closing the gap, and the Bruiser begins charging up the high ground. As the Bruiser charges, the Half-Dragon begins to release his Acid Breath. Templar rolls natural 20, the dragon's breath attack is delayed another turn as his jaw is nearly dislocated. Bruiser rolls 17 natural on his Acrobatics check, so... he makes it. He charges for a bull rush. Rolls a natural 20. The half-dragon? Rolls like 5.

So, the thing goes flying back 15 feet, taking 30 feet of fall damage on top of the crit. Now, it's getting ready to go down. The Warden charges and misses. The Half-Dragon stands up, hits the Warden, and deals quite a bit of damage, which the Warden uses Elan powers to negate completely.

The Templar continues his movement, now grabbing his hammer and booking it towards the party. The Bruiser follows through with his momentum, jumping down onto the Half-Dragon. He hits on a touch attack, he passes the miss-chance for jumping into melee, and he rolls 3 below AC. So, the Half-Dragon takes 1/4 damage, and tosses the Bruiser. The Bruiser takes full fall damage.
The Templar is around 10 feet away with a ready action to shield the party if the dragon breathes.

The Dragon beings to use its breath weapon, so he shields them all from it. The Warden charges and misses again, and the Bruiser ends up snapping its neck.

So, they level up. Again. Ridiculous, but awesome!

I'm thinking that for our second session, I'll use a pack of Swift-Hunter Werewolves, or maybe just a pack of werewolves with Scout 1 and Dodge-Mobility-Spring Attack line of feats. Either way, I think it'll be interesting.

I also want to test out Hill Giant on them...

[Flickerdart]

Dragonfire Adepts with Entangling Exhalation.

Also, at this level, Nets are pretty good, and Disarming is nice.

[Rossebay]

Dragonfire Adepts with Entangling Exhalation.

Also, at this level, Nets are pretty good, and Disarming is nice.

Oooh... That could be cool.

And nets. Disarms are always pretty cool. Normal Classes tend to be slightly underpowered, comparatively, so I'll definitely have fun mixing and matching a few levels above them.

Maybe DFA/Warblade or DFA/Swordsage, total level of 5, leading a few level 2 or 3 DFA's?

[Flickerdart]

Nah, you don't need to outlevel them. DFA + EE works fine at level one, and it's not that hard to jack up Disarm checks.

[Rossebay]

Nah, you don't need to outlevel them. DFA + EE works fine at level one, and it's not that hard to jack up Disarm checks.

Hmm...

Well, I out-leveled them in the Half-Dragon. 3 level 2's vs. a level 4 Fighter with 3 LA.

But, alright. Twin DFA's trading turns using EE and Invocations? Definite possibility.

List:
-Swift Hunter Werewolves
- Hill Giant
- EE DFA's.
- Nets/Disarms.

[NineThePuma]

Level 3 DFA Kobolds with Dragon Wings and Entangling Exhalation are mighty fierce, and flavorful to boot. The entangle is worth more than the damage, really, but the damage is also pretty solid.

[Rossebay]

Level 3 DFA Kobolds with Dragon Wings and Entangling Exhalation are mighty fierce, and flavorful to boot. The entangle is worth more than the damage, really, but the damage is also pretty solid.

Right! And because we're in the Underdark, they could easily be Scouts or Skirmishers that have been captured by the drow.

[NineThePuma]

Exactly! Give them a terrain advantage (Maybe 'stalagmites' and lots of difficult terrain? so the kobolds can climb up one and glide away over terrain that the party might have an issue dealing with) and the encounter comes out feeling like a boss encounter with just one of the kobolds. Especially if he throws something like Darkness on himself, to give himself a miss chance.

[Rossebay]

Exactly! Give them a terrain advantage (Maybe 'stalagmites' and lots of difficult terrain? so the kobolds can climb up one and glide away over terrain that the party might have an issue dealing with) and the encounter comes out feeling like a boss encounter with just one of the kobolds. Especially if he throws something like Darkness on himself, to give himself a miss chance.

Oooh. And, since I made the Arena modular, I can definitely give the Kobolds some beneficial terrain to use.

It's supposed to be interesting for the Drow, remember.

[Chronos]

Be careful, here: Yes, they slaughtered an encounter two+ levels above them, and I understand you wanting to challenge them more because of that... But it sounds like they pulled that off largely by luck, and they might not get so lucky again. Especially at low levels, there can be a fine line between "challenging" and "TPK", and a TPK isn't fun for anyone.

[Rossebay]

Be careful, here: Yes, they slaughtered an encounter two+ levels above them, and I understand you wanting to challenge them more because of that... But it sounds like they pulled that off largely by luck, and they might not get so lucky again. Especially at low levels, there can be a fine line between "challenging" and "TPK", and a TPK isn't fun for anyone.

Oh, I know. A few Kobolds who cast spells and use (Su) abilities against a Templar (spell resistance), a bruiser (Evasion, heavy hitting ubercharger), and a Warden (Power-Attacky and nigh impossible to hit via AC) won't be a problem for them. It'll be an interesting battle, that's for sure, but I won't throw more than 3 of them at 'em at a time.