Final encounter - patrols and temple of the Baddies

[Balor01]

Hey guys,

The current campaign I am DM-ing is coming to an end and there are basically two more obstacles in front of PCs:
- chance of being met by a Baddie patrol
- attack upon temple full of Baddies

I do not want to specify things too much, but baddies are sentient humanoids and what I'd like from playground is mostly advice on how to shape patrol encounters and final temple encounter.

Party consists of four lvl 4 PCs (two casters) and:

- lvl 6 NPC with CR 3 cohort (caster)
- lvl 3 NPC
- lvl 5 NPC (caster)

Now the first thing is - Baddies are patrolling the surroundings of the temple. How should I shape up the chances of them stumbling upon this party? How strong should a patrol be?

And as for temple ... I was thinking of three Baddies groups that can swarm in with small periods of time (5 rounds) between them. I want for this to make it a really hard fight. What should be their CRS? Baddies will be mostly some augmented melee fighters with small number of caster support.

thanks

[Balor01]

Anyone? :P

[NoACWarrior]

If you want the fight to be really hard, send all 3 baddie groups at them due to an alarm spell ward the party triggered. Make the capstone for each group a CR6 monster like some kind of construct / golem, and the accompaniment 3-4 CR 4 monsters which are basic monsters.

If the party didn't know they set off the alarm, all three enemy groups would get the surprise round. If the party can avoid setting off alarms until closer to the temple, the groups would be spaced likely 1 minute apart - the likely hood of a group mobilizing any sooner than that is really small.

I wouldn't set the baddies up with caster support - instead use supernatural and spell like abilities in combat - this means no buffs, and at the same time less overhead for you to keep track of.

For the group composition (as an example, this may kill your party even as a single group) - capstone Fang Golem (MMIV), 4x minotaur/ogre/owlbear/troll, 3-4x mephits (of varying types)

The Fang golem is the entity which plows into the group, and the minotaurs/ogres/owlbears/trolls follow. The mephits hang back and cast their SLAs.

[Kol Korran]

Ok, so if I get it right there might be an encounter with a patrol, a big battle with 3 groups of enemies in the temple itself, and... I assume some sort of a fight with the BBEG, right? Lets break it down, shall we?

Patrol
All in all, as a straight up combat encounter the patrol is wasted. Instead, let it be a tactical/ stealth/ skills encounter: The party should know that if a patrol notices them, then they can alert the main temple, and thus attacking the main temple owuld become much more difficult. Arrange a patrol routine, a watch post or two, perhaps some hidden trap, trip wire or such. Don't make it perfect, leave some ?(not that glaring/00 flaws in the patrol routine. Make it feasible for the party to notice the different elements by observation/ scouting/ info gathering. Then let them execute an infiltration plan. Now, if the party does trip the alram, they may have some complications in the temple itself (I'll get to that), but it shouldn't stop them.

I suggest having the patrol itself be quite weak (CR 2-3 or such) but with decent (Not excellent) ability to notice infiltrators (Decent spot/ listen, perhaps some extra senses such as dark vision, perhaps dogs or other aiding animals). If the patrol is attacked, it should be taken in 1 round or someone blows a horn, and the temple is alerted.

Temple groups
This is really hard to judge without knowing what the story, temple, and enemies are about, but here are some general thoughts: The 3 different groups should pose different challenges, and give different game experiences. They should be quite different. Also, They should not tax the party's entire resources before the BBEG, or otherwise the party might come too depleted. Ideally, the 3 supporting NPCs should be taken out somehow, or play a more minor role in the final conflict, but I can't advise as to how to do that.

1st group- worshipers:
The first group is a swarm of minute CR individuals- commoners, warriors, and other low level rubble that came to worship the god here. They attack the "insolent infidels", outrageous for their god and religious leaders. I'm thinking abotu a CR 6 made of CR 1/2-1 creatures. Perhaps with a single "Leader" or such of CR 2 or 3 (Perhaps a junior cleric that bolsters them).

The idea is to let the PCs have fun and feel powerful at the end of the campaign of dealing with loads of enemies. They can also land a few hits (perhaps with "Aid another") on the PCs. and some warriors with long arms can try to trip or disarm at a distance. Good PCs might be confronted by the fact that these may have been good people turned bad. Not sure of your group.

If the party might have tripped the alarm there might be additional defenses: The rabble might have some sort of a communal spell cast upon them, or a moral effect by some bard. Mainly large groups minor buffs. Select members might have been handed some alchemical items such as alchemist fire, tanglefoot bags or thunderstones (Against casters) and such. And of course the defenders will all be poised to defend from strategical points of view.

If not that the other groups use this group's "Distraction" to prepare themselves.

2nd group- Elite temple defenders:
These are higher level PC classed defenders. I suggest if you can give them something to make them feel a bit more... special, like some signature special ability, a template, or even a unique piece of equipment. Anything that will scream more. "Elite" Then the rest. These guys should fight from better defended positions: BEhind covers, behind traps, choke points and the like. I suggest mostly 2nd level Fighter/ Barbarian or 2nd level rangers (For ranged attack), with maybe a 3rd level healer buffer at the back. Around CR 5/6. Tougher fight but not unwinnable.

You can have this elite group get into the previous battle at it's ending point, not giving the PCs a time to breath, and suddenly upscaling the battle. You might have some ready positions for them in the temple (Small Ballistas/ wand turrets, perhaps defensible locations near the alter, which gives them some sort of bonuses)

If the party tripped an alarm they may be able to send 1 guy (perhaps with a small beastie?) down a hidden corridor to come behind the party to attack the casters from behind. 1 or two might also be at the special posts discussed above.

3rd Group:
Now this group should basically alert the party of the end battle. These are either the BBEG's body guards, or something that signifies the BBEG in other ways (Undead for a death themed temple for example. Fire beings for something to do with dragons or the like). I suggest up to 2 creatures, CR 5-6, but with an emphasis on special abilities and working in synergism. I suggest NOT to pull them in the big battle before (Give the party a small time to reccuperate). These guys main purpose is preparing the party for the big battle ahead, and proving an unknown battle element, making your BBEG more grandiose looking.


Yes, I know these are 3 CR 6 encounters. You got the NPCs helping, and this shouldleave the PCs with some resources in my experiences. But you know your group better and what they can deal with. So upscale or down scale accordingly.

[Balor01]

Amazing work Kol Korran. You nailed it all correctly, except for the BBEG - BBEGs will be priests, incorporated into three main groups.

Do you want me to name something in my campaign after you? You really explained things in detail.

[Kol Korran]

Lol, no need to name anything for me.I was just glad to help. Next time, you help me, Ok?

[Balor01]

Ok :) Nice.

[Shining Wrath]

Kol Korran wins one Internet. Use it wisely.

Some minor tweaks:

The patrol will probably engage the party if not obviously outnumbered, but send someone to alert the Temple. Being able to "stop the runner" should be simple in a party with so many casters, but maybe the NPC casters don't have Hold Person / Sleep / ? prepared. Make the player casters do it. After one round, when it becomes obvious that the high level party is going to (metaphorically) eat the CR 2 patrol for lunch and use their weapons for toothpicks, the whole patrol may panic. How fanatical are they? And would their fanaticism express itself as "fight to the death" or "I must warn the priests!"?

Would the Temple be trapped? A place where lots of people roam about is unlikely to have traps, except magical traps that trigger based on alignment / deity, e.g., "If anyone not a worshiper of Thallu the Flaccid comes down this hall, trigger Fireball".

As an excuse for staggered arrival of groups, remember that donning armor takes time. Clerics will want to put on their armor before engaging the infidels in close combat.

If this temple is of Evil alignment, they may have built defenses right into the building - portcullises, arrow slits, even murder holes. And for certain they have a place where the services can be spied upon unobserved, which place is a great place for a sniper or spellcaster to rain death upon the party.