Yet Another Red Hand Of Doom Campaign Journal

[kjones]

I agree, to an extent, with the danger of allowing ToB classes and the potential they have for an upset in the balance of power. However, in my experience, a character is only as powerful as the player who runs it. For example, in the hydra encounter, the swordsage spent the first 3/4 of the battle teleporting around with Shadow Jaunt, trying to get close enough to attack without provoking. This was kind of foolish on his part, of course, and he probably won't do it again, but it just goes to show that when Batman prepares Hold Portal in every spell slot, he's not so über anymore.

Thus far, the most powerful character has proven to be... the straight fighter. With Adamantine Body and ~60 HP, he's nigh invulnerable to straight-up hitting. With 18 Str, PA, and a greatsword, he's death on roller skates. I know this won't last, and that he won't seem so powerful once he fails a Will save, and that lots of encounters can bring out his weaknesses (such as, again, the hydra... he spent most of it wading around in the bog provoking AoO's) but when it comes to bashing hobgoblins, there's no better.

So, I'm worried about ToB, but it's not the most of my worries as far as balancing these encounters.

EDIT: I know I can just tweak Koth's save DCs, but I'd rather do so within the rules. I boosted his Charisma to 18, which helped, but beyond that I'd have to start giving him various magic items, and I'd rather not run the risk of having those items fall into the hands of the party.

The real problem with Koth was that he got cornered, because the minotaur fell so quickly (next time I'll probably give him armor and class levels) and didn't have any ranks in Concentration, so he couldn't cast defensively. As I said above, next time I'll probably have him stand on top of the tower and cast spells down, while the minotaur holds them off the base of the tower. Also, it will be easier for him to fly away.

But this brings up another issue that I've been having. These encounters become a lot more challenging when I run each monster as a veritable Sun Tzu, but that's not terribly realistic. I mean, Koth has an Int of 8 - he's not going to be coming up with brilliant or complicated plans. With stuff like the hydra and the wargs - I play them like the unintelligent beasts they are. So playing the battles "realistically" is another challenge, though it's a fun one.