[PF] Capturing a magic-heavy party with a 12th level witch?

[OverdrivePrime]

TL;DR - How can I capture - not kill - my party (lvl 9 archivist, lvl 10 duskblade, lvl 9 ranger, lvl 9 wizard) with a 12th level witch, her magus 9 first mate, and her fighter 9 bodyguard? I don't want it to seem like I've unfairly stacked the deck against them, but I want it to be fairly unlikely for them to prevail without amazing luck or tactics.
- - -

I've got a sea encounter coming up where my players are going to run afoul of a hobgoblin sea witch and her crew. The sea witch captains a hobgoblin corsair crew and a magically enhanced pirate ship (ogres and goblins chained to the sweeps, fire resistant decking and sails, patchwork iron hull plating. She's on a mission to capture the party, kill their elven allies and either capture or sink their ship. Thanks to a distinct lack of wind, the hobgoblin corsairs will catch up with the party's graceful elven caravel.

The party, if I know them at all, will take the fight to the hobgoblin ship while it's at least a half mile away in a valiant attempt to save their elven friends and their priceless ship (in the game, it's a 1,200 year old ship, and a national treasure of the elven nation they've allied themselves with.

The ranking elven crew of their ship (sea-singer bard 11, sorceress 10, ranger 10, rogue 9, oracle 8) will be preoccupied fighting off some sea monsters and a scrag boarding party, and so will not be a factor in the fight on the Hobgoblin ship.

The hobgoblin ship itself is a large, broad-decked galley, built to impress with power, and armed with a heavy ballista, two light ballistae and a light catapult. I'll be surprised if those are a factor in the fight, unless the PCs turn the ballista against the ship. They'd be more effective using spells or engaging in melee, so I'm not too worried about it.

The party just finished The Harrowing module and is suddenly flush with new loot from the dragon's horde. Aside from a scarf that functions as a Robe of Scintillating colors, they don't have any individual pieces gear worth more than 20,000 gp, but I imagine they're going to be swaggering more than a bit as they head into battle. Their strongest weapon is a +2 keen longsword, best armor is a Slick Breastplate +2, and in my opinion, their biggest wildcard item is a pair of lesser boots of teleportation which allow the wearer to teleport once a week.

Anyway, to truncate what is already a long story, my hope is that the Sea Witch and her crew can capture the party without killing them. Do you have an tactical recommendations? I'm happy to rework the NPCs spells and feats and such, but am set on them as concepts.

The pirate captain is a fearsome 12th level Sea Witch (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=371690). Her first mate - and otherwise most dangerous NPC is a 9th level Magus (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=533924), and her bodyguard is a 9th level fighter (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=534410), sword and board style with bodyguard feats.
These three are backed up about 25 hobgoblin pirate warriors (barbarian/rogues, with cutlasses, javelins and light armor) of levels 1-4, who I expect to be neutralized quickly by the party's wizard and archivist.

My players are:
Level 9 Wizard whose favorite spells are Black Tentacles, Fireball and Major Image
Level 9 Archivist whose favorite spells are Slay Living, Holy Smite and Spiritual Weapon
Level 10 Duskblade whose favorite tactic is to hide, dimension hop behind a foe, and then use his kusarigama to channel Vampiric Touch and try to grapple and choke his target. In a multi-foe battle, he tends toward more straightforward tactics, just bashing away, channeling energy spells through his axe until the peoples fall down.
Level 9 Ranger, who's recently finding his groove as a fairly formidable archer. He has the ability to be dangerous in melee, but hasn't really focused in it.

How would you defeat and capture the party without making it feel like they didn't have a chance?

[winter92]

A few thoughts, some taken from having the group I played in get captured during Vessel of Stars.

First, someone needs to dimensional anchor the party. It's entirely reasonable, and between the boots, the wizard, and the archivist, they will try to teleport out of any seriously losing fight (even if only back to the elven ship).

Second, dispelling is a good early move if they buff or put down AOE spells like Black Tentacles. It's a relatively quick way to cut down on their ability to run the fight.

Beyond that, crowd control and non-lethal stat damage are good. Massive strength or dex drain is a quick way to incapacitate people, and something like a judicious cloudkill can get them low rapidly.

Finally, a suggestion for your hobgoblin horde. Given that you expect the PCs to attack, you can send them out from below decks in groups of 5ish so that one battlefield control spell won't ruin them all. Assuming some get out, run their levels up to 4-5 (if this doesn't ruin plot) and make them use nonlethal attacks. It makes sense fluff-wise since they're out to capture, and it lets you ramp them up to a more effective level without seriously endangering or overpowering your party. Maybe even throw in some nets seeing as they're corsairs in role, if not in class.

I hope any or all of that helps!

[Theprettiestorc]

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/i/icy-prison

With a CL12, that would be a foot of ice in all directions, and needs a DC 27 Str. to break. Needs a highish reflex save, too - I would suggest this, after you do Dimensional Anchor, so spellcasters can't teleport out of the ice.

There's also spells to limit mobility, and make the ground slick. The Fighter can be specced to deflect arrows, and go after the ranger.

Otherwise...well, spells are your greatest friend. Keep them in place, capture them quickly, and hope you have a lot of luck.

[OverdrivePrime]

Hugely helpful suggestions - thanks you two!

You reminded me that aside from the ranger, the PCs are the pits at reflex saves, and there are plenty of immobilizing spells with reflex saves. It's my plan with the magus to use his Frostbite (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/f/frostbite) spell to keep anyone in melee with him fatigued.
I just gave the witch a wand of Dimensional Anchor (Inquisitor version of the spell, CL 7) with 4 charges left on it. Using it on anyone means that it's pretty unlikely that anyone in the party will teleport away. They're all very loyal to one another.

I love the icy prison spell, but it doesn't make the Witch spell list, and I can't think of how to get on there. She can, however, use the Ice Tomb hex, which is pretty outstanding:
Ice Tomb (Su): A storm of ice and freezing wind envelops the target, which takes 3d8 points of cold damage (Fortitude half). If the target fails its save, it is paralyzed and unconscious but does not need to eat or breathe while the ice lasts. The ice has 20 hit points; destroying the ice frees the creature, which is staggered for 1d4 rounds after being released. Whether or not the target’s saving throw is successful, it cannot be the target of this hex again for 1 day.
It's got a fortitude save, but that means that she'll just use it on the wizard first. (No metagaming there, the dude looks like a wizard, right down to the pointy hat. He's just asking to get walloped with effects that target his fortitude.)

Hmmm... assuming that works, I imagine she'd next hit the ranger with her Slumber hex, since he's the only one not slinging around spells, so he'd look like the one with the lowest will.

I think if I can get two of the party to a helpless state, the rest of the party will either a) surrender, or b) go into berserker mode. They might be alert enough to try to dispel magic on the hexes, but the Archivist is the only one with Dispel Magic normally prepared, and she tends to go with direct damage effects when caught off-guard.

In any case, this is a great place for the teams of hobgoblins pirates with nets to come in. 4 person aid-another combined with a ranged-touch attack? Shouldn't be too bad.

Okay, I'm pretty excited - any other sharp ideas out there?



If option b, then it's going to be really important to have those guys wit nets.

[Saidoro]

Slumber Hexes. They target a worse save for this party, but they can be used with the split hex feat(and arguably the accursed hex feat) when Ice Tomb can't. Don't forget to pick up ability focus.

[Barmoz]

I ran a game where I had a similar situation and wanted to set up a capture scenario. I found it useful to deprive them of necessary supplies, prior to showing up with an overwhelming force, it gave them a sense of desperation and created a situation where even trying to fight their way out no matter how long the odds, they weren't going to survive. I admit it was railroading by any definition, but I don't think they felt cheated by it, it came off as a pretty tense and pivotal session.

This was darksun and it was lower level so it was easier, but put a hole in their boat so they know they're not getting away and then bring on the nonlethal tactics.

[Arbane]

Slumber and Ice Tomb are good save-or-cry hexes. (Annnd...ninja'ed.) The Lipstitch spell can shut up (and down) casters pretty effectively.

6th level spells include:
Animate Objects - when the PCs get on the witch's ship, have them assailed by... the sail. And the anchor chain, and the ropes...
Eyebite - gives the witch a free attempt to panic and sicken 1 character a round.
Summon Monster VI - Hello, Succubus. Hello, at-will Charms. Hello, TOO MANY WILL SAVES.

Level 5 gets Cloudkill, Dominate Person, Feeblemind, and Magic Jar. Lots of potential for pain, there. (At that level, Cloudkill's unlikely to KILL anyone, but it will leave them low on HP. And it mucks up their Fortitude save before the Ice Tomb.)

Stinking Cloud is low-level and can cripple people pretty effectively if they blow the save.

[OverdrivePrime]

Muahahaha! This is awesome stuff. The party already hates succubi. Summoning another one in would be too much fun.
And I forgot about the joy of feeblemind.

And I'm planning on having the witch cast Cloak of Dreams (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/c/cloak-of-dreams) if any of the party manage to get past her bodyguard. If the party starts clumped together, I might have her cast Cloak of Dreams first, and then dimension door into the midst of the party, bringing up Call the Void (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/c/call-the-void) instead, if they somehow manage to outlast that duration.