5-man, semi-high power 3.PF group. Is ~lv11-12 too late for the 3.5 Tomb of Horrors?

[AnonymousPepper]

I've been trying to hit all the bases for the D&D classics - hence the owlbears last time I asked about anything - as these guys go planehopping and it's occurred to me that they haven't experienced the joy and wonder that is the Tomb of Horrors. I've not yet run it as a DM, but the thought came to me this morning and I was feeling like enough of a **** to seriously entertain the thought.

I anticipate that by the time they finish the current thread of this adventure and move on to the next, they'll be ballpark level 11 or 12. There's five of them, a Warder, an Artificer, a Rogue, an Alchemist, and a Paladin, with a sixth, an Oracle that shows up sporadically.

If I run them through the Tomb at that stage, will it still be at least reasonably challenging? Or will I have to modify it some?

[Grod_The_Giant]

Don't do it. I've played the 3.5 version of the Tomb; it's just not fun. Not because of the danger, but because it combines "spend hours poking everything to make sure it isn't trapped" with "solve these puzzles" to give results of "good session, everyone, you've almost solved this room. See you all next week for the eighteenth session of creeping boredom."

[Eldan]

Yeah. Especially given that 3.5 trap finding rules just aren't very fun. Either the players power through with methods like summoned creatures or etherealness and teleporting, or they go "advance five feet, poke ground with 12 ft. stick, poke wall with 12 ft. stick, poke ceiling with 12 ft. stick, advance five feet" for three hours every corridor.

[Nibbens]

I ran a 6 man group of lvl 10 PF characters through the 3.5 ToH for a one-off. They had a good time. ToH is a game that focuses on player knowledge rather than character knowledge, and my guys got this early on, dropped all sense of RP, and waylaid it. There's not a lot of combat, so I wouldn't worry too much about that - it's the skill check DC's that you need to worry about. Just double check that all the DC's are the appropriate level for your group and you'll be fine - the traps and shenanigans are still relevant, regardless.

Also, just as a side note, I'd actually tell them when they get to the "trap door corridor" (the one where they have to open the doors a certain way in order to proceed 5 feet to another door that opens a different way) I'd just read to the PC's instead of making them attempt to "push on the left side, pull from the bottom, spin the door sideways, etc etc." that one part could take hours. The rest, can be managed reasonably, I think.