Am I being too cruel?

[legomaster00156]

I'm DM'ing a Pathfinder (well, Ponyfinder) campaign, and I'm worried I may be stacking the odds too far in the enemies' favor. Some backstory:

The party has been searching for 6 stolen artifacts throughout the world, each of them guarded by at least 1 of the thieves who stole them. The enemy party is significantly more experienced than the PC party (level 10 vs. level 6). The PC's are an Alchemist, a Fighter, a Rogue (focused on Acrobatics instead of combat), a Bard, and, potentially, a second Alchemist.
A few sessions ago, one of the thieves (a Cleric) escaped by teleporting away with a scroll. I'm considering bringing him back in a big way: he'll be prepared to battle the PC's, personally. He will come in pre-buffed. What's more, he'll be teleporting in to get a surprise round, WHILE the party is already fighting another difficult member of the party.

Please let me know if this fight sounds excessive for this party.

Boldwing
CR 9 | XP: 6,400
Half-Dragon Pegasus Antipaladin 8
CE Medium dragon (pegasus)
Initiative: +0 | Senses: low-light vision; darkvision 60 ft. | Perception: +0
Aura: Aura of Cowardice, Aura of Despair

AC: 24; Flat-footed 24; Touch 10 (+7 armor, +3 shield, +4 natural)
HP: 100 (8d10+40)
Saves: +13 FORT; +6 REF; +10 WILL
Defenses: Immunity to acid, paralysis, and sleep
Weaknesses: Vulnerability vs. holder of Element of Kindness

Speed: 40 ft.; fly 80 ft. (average)
Melee: bite +18 (1d6+13) and 2 claws +12 (1d4+9)
Spells prepared (Antipaladin; CL 5; L0 save 14):
L1: Cause Fear, Protection from Good
L2: Bull's Strength, Hold Pony

Stats: 28 STR; 10 DEX; 16 CON; 12 INT; 11 WIS; 18 CHA
BAB: +8/+3 | CMB: +19 | CMD: 29
Feats: Toughness, Weapon Focus: bite, Intimidating Prowess, Skill Focus: Intimidate
Skills: +11 Fly, +28 Intimidate, +7 Profession (Lunar Guard), +7 Spellcraft, +5 Survival
Languages: Equine, Draconic
SQ: Smite Good 3x/day, Touch of Corruption 4d6 9x/day, Cruelties (Shaken, Diseased) Fiendish Boon (weapon)

Environment: Will fight him in Haven.
Organization: With the Elements of Chaos.
Treasure: +1 Light Fortification Breastplate, +1 Heavy Steel Shield, 5,300 gp, Element of Cruelty

Poker Face
CR 9 | XP: 6,400
Earth-pony Cleric 10
NE Medium equine (Earth-pony)
Initiative: +1 | Perception: +13
Aura: Aura of Evil

AC: 18; Flat-footed 17; Touch 11 (+7 armor, +1 DEX)
HP: 100 (10d8+50)
Saves: +10 FORT; +4 REF; +12 WILL
Weaknesses: Vulnerability vs. holder of Element of Honesty

Speed: 40 ft.
Melee: +1 Longspear +12 (1d8+6 | 20/x3)
Spells prepared (Cleric; CL 10; L0 save DC 15):
L0: Create Water, Detect Magic, Light, Read Magic
L1: Disguise Self (D), Compel Hostility x2, Cure Light Wounds x2, Detect Good, Protection from Good
L2: Bull's Strength (D), Admonishing Ray, Bear's Endurance, Darkness, Eagle's Splendor, Owl's Wisdom
L3: Magic Vestment (D), Dispel Magic, Invisibility Purge, Protection from Fire, Searing Light
L4: Spell Immunity (D), Cure Critical Wounds, Freedom of Movement, Greater Magic Weapon, Unholy Blight
L5: Righteous Might (D), Dispel Good, Pillar of Life, Summon Monster V

Stats: 18 STR; 13 DEX; 16 CON; 14 INT; 20 WIS; 18 CHA
BAB: +7/+2 | CMB: +11 | CMD: 22
Feats: Stone-Faced, Skill Focus: Bluff, Deceitful, Channel Smite, Toughness
Skills: +32 Bluff, +26 Disguise, +13 Heal, +10 Knowledge (history), +10 Knowledge (religion), +13 Perception, +10 Spellcraft
Languages: Equine, Canine, Zebra
SQ: Domains (Trickery (Deception), Strength (Resolve)), Negative Energy Channeling 3d6 7x/day (Will DC 19), Strength Surge 8x/day, Bestow Resolve 1x/day, Sudden Shift 8x/day, Master's Illusion 10 rnds./day

Environment:
Organization: With the Elements of Chaos.
Treasure: +1 Chainmail armor, Lesser Extend Metamagic Rod, Headband of Alluring Charisma, 350 gp, Bag of Holding

Battle against the party
The battle will start off as a plain and simple battle against Boldwing, who will gleefully use the first round to buff himself with Bull's Strength and take to the air, flying 40 ft. above their heads. He will use the next round to swoop down and attack whoever dealt him the most damage, using Smite Good and Touch of Corruption (Cruelty: Shaken). After this round concludes it's initiative order, the party will be surprised by Poker Face teleporting into it.
Poker Face will come in pre-buffed with the following spells: Bull's Strength, Bear's Endurance, Eagle's Splendor, Owl's Wisdom, Magic Vestment, Protection from Fire, Spell Immunity, Freedom of Movement, Greater Magic Weapon, Righteous Might, Dispel Good. He will make use of the surprise round to cast Compel Hostility on a melee combatant.
(Total changes: Large; +5 AC vs. good enemies (+1 vs. non-good enemies); DR 5/good; +4 temp. CON (+20 temp. HP); +4 temp. STR; +4 temp. WIS; +4 size bonus to STR & CON; -2 size penalty to DEX (AC already counted); absorb 120 fire damage; immune to 2 spells (must decide); immune to restricted movement; Greater Magic Weapon +2
Total attack bonuses w/ longspear: 15-foot reach; +18 attack bonus; 2d6+14 damage roll)
If at all possible, Poker Face will maintain proximity to any ranged combatants to prevent them from firing. However, if they escape his reach, he will cast Admonishing Ray at them. If he reaches 40 or less health, he will cast Cure Critical Wounds on himself. He will keep distance from Boldwing, letting the swifter pegasus handle those who try to escape.

This battle will not be easy. Before the battle, I distribute 1 Potion of Cure Critical Wounds per character. They already have a Wand of CLW, in case of emergency, and the Bard is focused on healing and buffing. Is it still too much, though?

[Eakin]

My guess is that you're setting up an encounter that's going to completely stomp your players into the ground, unless you're giving them some kind of environmental factor or tactical advantage they can set up ahead of time. They don't sound like a group that's optimized for combat and I don't see how they would win this fight at all, certainly not without casualties.

[legomaster00156]

Well, I know at the very least the Bard intends to buff these players as far as she's capable of at level 6. In addition, the Alchemist has the Dispelling Bomb discovery, which will aid at least some with good rolls. She certainly won't be dealing fire damage.
If a TPK seems imminent, the villains will leave at least 2 of the PC's alive to send back to Celestia for gloating purposes. They're nothing if not conceited.

[tyckspoon]

I'm pretty sure Poker Face is going to stomp them into the dirt with that buff suite, never mind the mauling Boldwing is liable to put on at least one of them.

[legomaster00156]

I see. Well, like I said, he's prepared specifically against the party, since he escaped last time. Are there any suggestions for bones I could throw to the party to even the odds a bit?

[Eakin]

Maybe toss them something they can use to dispel some/all of Poker Face's buffs, or something in the environment they can make collapse onto Boldwing to force him onto the ground? That's the first thing that comes to my mind anyway.

[legomaster00156]

1. As said, the Alchemist has Dispelling Bombs. Perhaps an item that boosts dispel checks would be in order, though.
2. I'm not sure I can manage this one. I have the fight planned for the outskirts of a populated cloud city. It'll see what I can do about bringing Boldwing to the ground, though. If nothing else, a clever called shot to the wings will bring him down.

[Waker]

Dispelling Bomb will certainly help trim off a spell or two from the enemies. In dealing with the pegasus, one of the alchemists should make use of Tanglefoot Bags, since he's got a bad reflex save and it will keep him from flying. Should the party manage to tie up Boldwing, they should keep their distance from him due to his lack of ranged attacks and focus on Pokerface.
I don't know what kind of builds your characters have, so I can't give any other advice.

[Callous]

..Are you seriously playing a my little pony campaign? :mitd:

[legomaster00156]

No, I am not. I'm DM'ing one. If you must know, it's for a group of bronies who wanted to play, but formerly had an inexperienced DM volunteer.

[Waker]

Two small corrections to make: Boldwing should have a Reflex save of +6 (+2 from being an Antipaladin +4 Charisma from Unholy Resilience) and his Weapon Focus feat has to specify one of his natural attacks, either Bite or Claws.

[Tvtyrant]

No, I am not. I'm DM'ing one. If you must know, it's for a group of bronies who wanted to play, but formerly had an inexperienced DM volunteer.

Good on you!

Anyways, does your group have the capacity to fly or is particularly good at ranged combat? Because otherwise the flyer is going to strafe the heck out of them, and maybe kill them.

[legomaster00156]

Good on you!

Anyways, does your group have the capacity to fly or is particularly good at ranged combat? Because otherwise the flyer is going to strafe the heck out of them, and maybe kill them.

Yes, they have plenty of ranged attackers, aided by a "DEX to Damage" houserule.

[Callous]

...you have a group of.. bronies? who want to play.. my little pony?

What is a brony? is that some kind of new slang for.. I'm to afraid to even guess.

[tyckspoon]

1. As said, the Alchemist has Dispelling Bombs. Perhaps an item that boosts dispel checks would be in order, though.


If you want him to do something useful with those Dispelling Bombs, yes, he'll absolutely need something to buff his checks. He's got 2 things weighted against him pretty strongly: He needs to hit an attack to have the dispel go off at all (ranged touch, so this should be doable, but it's still a chance for failure and there's some reasonable Touch AC buffs on Poker Face.. although you should probably note that Shield of Faith, Dispel Good, and Prot. From Good all provide Deflection bonuses. The AC bonuses of those effects won't stack.) The worse problem is he's 4 points down in a contested check that's weighted in favor of the defendant already; he needs to beat 21 on his Dispel check to do anything, so without any help those bombs need him to roll 15 or better... and that'll only remove 1 spell. (Pathfinder took a huge nerfbat to targeted Dispels.)

[nyarlathotep]

...you have a group of.. bronies? who want to play.. my little pony?

What is a brony? is that some kind of new slang for.. I'm to afraid to even guess.

It's a rather simple contraction of bro and pony. You're new to the internet aren't you? It's about the same sort of thing as a bunch of people making a game based off of Adventure Time, just with less random wackiness and more people hurling homophobic insults there way. Also if you haven't watched Adventure Time or the newest series of MLP correct at least one of those deficiencies.

[Gavinfoxx]

Yea, the new series of My Little Pony is basically set in a D&D world. They end up in melee combat with a Manticore at level one like the first episode! You should watch it.

[legomaster00156]

If you want him to do something useful with those Dispelling Bombs, yes, he'll absolutely need something to buff his checks. He's got 2 things weighted against him pretty strongly: He needs to hit an attack to have the dispel go off at all (ranged touch, so this should be doable, but it's still a chance for failure and there's some reasonable Touch AC buffs on Poker Face.. although you should probably note that Shield of Faith, Dispel Good, and Prot. From Good all provide Deflection bonuses. The AC bonuses of those effects won't stack.) The worse problem is he's 4 points down in a contested check that's weighted in favor of the defendant already; he needs to beat 21 on his Dispel check to do anything, so without any help those bombs need him to roll 15 or better... and that'll only remove 1 spell. (Pathfinder took a huge nerfbat to targeted Dispels.)

How does a homebrew Elixir of Dispelling sound? Upon consumption, for one hour, the drinker has +5 to dispel checks, and dispel checks have a CL limit 5 levels higher.

[Dairuga]

No, I am not. I'm DM'ing one. If you must know, it's for a group of bronies who wanted to play, but formerly had an inexperienced DM volunteer.

Best. Retort. Eveeer.

And you make it sound as if you are doing it alll for them.
How nice of you 8D

You my good sir, win a post.

[sol_kanar]

...do you have statistics for Earth Ponies, Pegasi and Unicorns as PF PC races? Or, can they be found somewhere on the Internet, done in a reasonable way?

The combat looks really tough. What about making the Cleric teleport in, buffed, AFTER the PCs dispose of the Half-Dragon, without giving the PCs time to rest? It would still be difficult, but not as the current idea.

It even makes sense: suppose that the Cleric is Scrying on the PCs. When he notices that they start fighting against the Half-Dragon, then he starts buffing. But it will take him several rounds to cast everything, all the while the PCs will end the fight with the Half-Dragon.

As for plot reasons, maybe the Cleric secretly dislikes the Half-Dragon and wants to see him beaten before helping him, just to gloat in his face?

[Madcrafter]

I'm guessing he's using these: 1 (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-unW80qnxYk0/TZDRsMRXp0I/AAAAAAAACtA/KClSRhRKY6E/s1600/Ponyfinder+Pegasus+%252826%2529.jpg) 2 (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nieL-7CivO4/TZDR-ULqtrI/AAAAAAAACtE/j8Va1GHxsZY/s1600/Ponyfinder+Unicorn+%252827%2529+text+fix.jpg) 3 (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4vHD31vO4DQ/TZDR_MbF81I/AAAAAAAACtI/PU-g-QuscJc/s1600/Ponyfinder+Earth+Pony+text+fix+%252824%2529+%2528f o+reals%2529+balanced.jpg)

They were a Paizo april fools joke, but I think they are balanced against each other (never looked that closely at them).

And unless Pokerface knows the party is about to fight Boldwing ahead of time, he would have to take numerous rounds to buff himself that much. Which either means he is going to arrive later, or just with less prebuffing, either of which works ok for you. I'm inclined to agree with sol_kanar that you could put some sort of conflict between the two to hinder them in fighting effectively as a team as well (since they seem to be partially representative of corrupted elements of harmony).

[legomaster00156]

Yes, I am using those races.

I agree that it will take Poker Face several rounds to buff. Maybe I'll have him come in several rounds later than anticipated. 5 rounds into the battle sounds fair, which is more than enough to put some hurt on Boldwings.