Final encounter needed!

[Aleolus]

Ok, I have my Survival campaign almost done (finally!), but there is one last thing I need some suggestions with. Namely, a good closing encounter.

The party finds a scroll they can't decipher (even with Read Magic or similar), finds a Shaman who can read and use it, and the spell opens up basically a corridor through the Astral plane to where the group is being sent. The other exit is guarded by something. What would be some. good options to have guarding it that would be challenging, but not overwhelming to a group of 3-6 characters at about level 6? I haven't started the game yet, so I don't have a party makeup I can provide, unfortunately

[critfumbles]

Well, since this encounter happens in the Astral Plane...

Four githyanki guards (LE githyanki fighter 3, Monster Manual 127) are tasked with preventing access to the final exit. Each equipped with a silver sword (+1 silvered greatsword), the githyanki are tasked with destroying the astral cords of travelers with Improved Sunder. They use Dodge, Mobility, and their racial blur spell-like ability to protect them as they harry non-martial PCs.

They are supported by a 6th-level iridescent serpent astral construct (Complete Psionic 120, 128), which engages martial characters with grab. It should have resist 10 to an energy type spellcaster PCs prefer.

With an encounter level of 10, this should be a very difficult encounter for 6th level PCs.

[Zancloufer]

critfumbles has a pretty good idea. Githyanki Warriors backed up by either constructs and/or a higher level Psion would be interesting and challenging. The basic tactics are solid though.

Just not 4 3rd level fighters and a "6th level" astral construct. That is a little weak to be a challenge to 4+ level 6 PCs, ESPECIALLY if you are going for a boss fight.

Personally I would use Psychic Warriors (Githyanki), probably 4th level as that's when they get a 2nd level power. Have as many of them as there are PCs. They serve as a sort of chaff/mooks. They are tough enough to be a threat but will drop if focused on enough. You'd want a Psion, probably level 7-8 in the back. If there are enough PCs or you figure the warriors won't last long enough an astral construct or two (probably 8-10 HD ones) would work well as backup.


Size/Type: Medium Psionic Humanoid
Hit Dice: Psychic Warrior 4 (4d8+4 30 HP)
Initiative: +6
Speed: 30ft (6 Squares)
Armour Class: 17 (+1 Deflection, +2 Dex, +4 Armour,), touch 13, flat-footed 15
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+6
Attack: Great Sword +8 2d6+4 19-20x2
Space/Reach: 5ft/5ft
Special Attacks: Psionics, At-Will Mage Hand SLA
Special Qualities: Dark-vision 60ft, SR/PR 5
Saves: Fort 7 Ref 4 Will 5
Abilities: 15 Str 13 Con 14 Dex 10 Int 16 Wis 8 Cha.
Skills: [ 14 Skill points, max 7 ranks ]
Feats: Improved Initiative, Weapon Focus[ +2 others]
Challenge Rating: 4
Items: +1 Silver Great Sword, Mstwk Chain Shirt, Basic +1 Save/AC rings
Psionics: Effective Level 4, Base DC 13, PP 11, 4 Known
1] Vigor, Force Screen,[ +1]
2] [Hustle or Dimensional Swap]

[critfumbles]

Just not 4 3rd level fighters and a "6th level" astral construct. That is a little weak to be a challenge to 4+ level 6 PCs, ESPECIALLY if you are going for a boss fight.

You're right, Zancloufer. I play Pathfinder, so my sense of a 3.5e encounter's difficulty is a little off.

It's a shame if the PCs' final fight in the Astral Plane feels like they're fighting Astral Plane stuff on the Material Plane, though. How might we make use of the Astral Plane's subjective directional gravity and the free Quicken Spell planar traits? And how difficult should it be for the githyanki to sever a PC's silver cord?

[Zancloufer]

I think there was a durability for the cord listed somewhere, but I can't recall off the top of my head. Probably make it immune to anything except the Githyanki Silver swords (one of the few things that can hurt it). AC of 18+ Character's Dex mod (it's very small, so Diminutive AC bonus) with a hardness of 15 and 30 HP sounds solid (about 1 inch of mytheral in relative hardness). It would be something to worry about, but not an instant win for the Githyanki.

Free quicked for all Spells/Psioncs/SLAs etc sounds interesting. For subjective gravity why not make the corridor a 40ft radius square or cylinder with the gravity being the edges? Give it like DR 10 and 50 HP so if anyone blows a hole in it people can fall through it and get lost in the astral plane. Maybe add a hole or two along the way that a wondering monster falls through to clue in the PCs on the odd trait. Also should be 100% translucent so they get a nice view.

[ATHATH]

Maybe one of the enemies could take the Astral Dancer (I think that's what it's called) PrC?

[ATHATH]

Ooh, what if you set it up like one of those battles from Ender's game, where there are objects floating around in the corridor, and the PC's just need to get to the open portal on the other side? The corridor would have to be less of a corridor and more of a rectangular room for that, though. Maybe you could change the melee fighters to some creatures with ranged line of effect beams (a type of Beholder variant, perhaps?), so that the PC's have to use the provided cover to not get blasted to pieces.

I like the idea of being able to break through the walls of the room/corridor to be able to open a hole to the Astral Plane proper. Maybe that's how all of the obstacles got in the room? If so, the objects could be random pieces of furniture, earth, ordinary objects, and loot (like a magical grenade that can destroy cover or a jetpack).

[ATHATH]

Could there be quite a bit of loot in the room? Maybe the enemies are also trying to grab it, and will use it against the PC's.

Loot Ideas:

Scroll of Haste or Expeditious Retreat (Jetpack)
Belt of Battle (another kind of Jetpack)
Scroll of Fireball or Disintegrate (Grenade)
Power Stone of Astral Construct
Spell Turret (filled with battlefield control spells, fires on anything it can see)
Scroll of Planar Adaptation
Scroll of Invisibilty
Scroll of Obscuring Mist
Wand of Cure Light Wounds (if you want a longer battle)
Rod of Wonder (3 charges)
Scroll of Dimension Door

Looking back at this list, a lot of the items seem to be scrolls. Maybe a fragments of a Wizard's Library are in the center of the battlefield (the Wand of CLW would have to be almost right outside of the PC's entry point to be effective, though)?

[Eisfalken]

I like the githyanki; they are pretty mean folks. But let's really mix it up.

By the book, a 5th-level githyanki duskblade and a very young red dragon measure up to a CR 8 encounter. That should pretty good; that gives them flight, a strong breath weapon, and the githyanki can do okay in melee combat. Use the githyanki to tie up the melee, while the dragon provides fire support while flying.

Here's the setup: the corridor comes out at a githyanki watchtower floating in astral space. If you can, have the dragon discover that there are intruders in the tower (trap, magic, etc.); while the PCs are flying up, have the dragon start strafing gaps in the tower wall where flame shoots through, while the githyanki uses any buffs he can before battle. When they get up there, he engages them in combat, while the dragon keeps strafing them with fire. Tactically, the PCs need to close in on the githyanki so the dragon can't breath on them; if so, he' land, allowing them to fight the dragon on the ground. If the githyanki dies, dragon should start breathing on them but stays on the ground; his hoard (and the githyanki's treasure) should be nearby, making it important to kill the PCs even at the risk of his own life.

If the fight turns against the PCs from bad rolls or whatnot, arrange accidents. Have the tower roof collapse in places to drop the gith and/or the dragon down a bit, do some damage, then have them race back up to keep fighting. If the dragon flying around is a problem, throw in a fun little complication: a strong psychic wind blows a large cloud of stones that drive the dragon inside (scare the PCs by describing how the stones occasionally shoot through the tower walls and the big ones make the whole tower shake for a moment as if it is going to fall in).

That should provide a relatively exciting little combat there. When it's over, let the PCs mull around and find the treasure there. Draconomicon's appendix has a CR 5 dragon hoard. For the githyanki, buy out his gear and stuff; consider adding the githcraft template (DMG2) to both his weapons and armor. If he has a silver sword, calculate the value of it first, then determine his other treasure.

FYI, you don't have an astral cord unless you projected there. If you actually portal to there, you have your body. So there is no silver cord to cut, rendering that a useless tactic. I'd stick to that myself; this fight promises to be interesting enough.

[Kol Korran]

A final encounter should grant some closure to tthe campaign, and building upon major themes and NPCs / enemies and concepts within it, not just be a tough battle. If possible, various actions.through out the campaign should have consequences in it- an escaped enemy joins/ bilateral the final challenge, an ally joins/ provides advice or an important resource, and so on...
So, for the end of the campaign, please tell us of the major themes and points of your campaign.

Bring closure, tie it all together, make the end echo the entire process...

Also, be well aware that you WILL probably change the encounter as the PCs mess up the campaign's structure, do the unexpected, shift it's focus, and grant you far better ideas. Be open to it, accept it. Still, a generalwould be Cool.

[ThisIsZen]

I suspect that the OP meant adventure where they said campaign; this doesn't sound like game-concluding material to me, more just the capstone of a particular segment of adventuring.

I like the idea of the githyanki and the red dragon, but I feel like tying it to a tower isn't quite emphasizing the weird, floaty nature of the astral enough. Perhaps this corridor resembles a cluttered asteroid field in miniature - the players leap from stone outcrop to stone outcrop as they battle with the dragon and the githyanki. This would allow them to, for instance, get some cover from the dragon's breath weapon if they're quick, and there could be a sufficiently large chunk of land in the centre to serve as a flat arena if/when the dragon lands. Alternately, have the PCs engage it in the air - this is one place where they actually can theoretically fight the dragon even if it's flying around.

[DarkSoul]

Movement in the Astral plane is accomplishing by thinking yourself in a particular direction. Everyone can effectively fly with perfect maneuverability and a speed equal to 10 feet per point of Intelligence. If they double move, maneuverability is average, and if they 'run' it's clumsy.

Have any structures they encounter be more spherical or at the very least have buildings on multiple sides of whatever solid surface the structure is built on.

Also, the Astral plane is where the bodies of gods go when they die... have them pass by or fight on a massive petrified corpse, as big as you want to make it. Some are miles long.

As far as encounters go, with spells being quickened casters are doubly dangerous, and anything without spells, ranged attacks or an exceptional intelligence is likely at a pretty significant disadvantage. Githyanki are the obvious choice, but Kol Korran's recommendation to have the encounter tied to what the party has done so far is a good idea. You could also have the encounter foreshadow what's to come for the party if they've already had some sort of climactic encounter.

[Aleolus]

I suspect that the OP meant adventure where they said campaign; this doesn't sound like game-concluding material to me, more just the capstone of a particular segment of adventuring.

Its actually both. This is a standalone adventure I will be running to help myself get a little more dmming experience while in a more controlled setting than a full length campaign could be.

As for the major points, the group wakes up on an island with none of their normal gear, a handful of supplies and has to teach themselves how to survive on this island, while solving challenges sent to them by way of a note in a bottle by the person responsible for them being there. Those include going through a shipwreck, an ancient temple full of traps and illusions, gaining information from a huge tribe of goblins, and gathering resources for a shaman to cast the spell relevant in my first post