Need ideas for awesome BBEG fight! - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Need ideas for awesome BBEG fight!

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
Valien
May 08, 2011 20:43:01 My players just reached level 10, and my idea for turning them Paragon is having them disrupt Kalak's plan of defiling everyone in Tyr as part of the ascension ritual (no Rikus stuff in my homegame). They'll probably be fighting waves and waves of monsters while trying to disrupt the ritual (probably by destroying four magic pillars or something).

Tithian will be in the background, using all his power to protect the players from the worst of Kalak's act of defilement (the SK will be so focused on the ritual that he will not be able to properly kill the PCs...). When the ritual is ruined, Kalak will turn his rage against the PCs and rip their souls from their bodies, and they will almost be completely destroyed... until an artifact that one of the players is carrying releases the soul that it has been containing unbestknown to the players: the soul of a dead dwarf PC whose "Focus" was killing arcane defilers. This former PC will strike Kalak, and then an explosion of raw magic power happens, destroying all of the Ziggurat and making the players believe the characters are dead (following session, they will find out that they have been sent back through time, to the Green Age, and the focus of the Paragon campaign arc will be "finding out why Athas is what it is right now"). I will also give the chance to the player of the former Dwarf PC to come back as a Revenant, to continue the mission it had in life.

What do you guys think about my idea? I would like some tips and thoughts on what else I could do to spice it up. I plan on having at least one (possibly two) more combat encounters previous to the Kalak one, but not sure on what would they be (probably "Fight you way up the Ziggurat, which is swarmed by Kalak guards" will be one of them).

Also, do you have any other good idea for the climatic battle? I am pretty good at coming up with interesting monsters and monster combinations, but would like some help in imagining an interesting terrain with lots of distinctive features and terrain powers, and maybe something else to keep the combat lively. The best I could come up with so far is some sort of automatic necrotic damage (due to the constant defiling) unless the players do something specific during their turns, but not sure on what.

I'd also be very glad if someone could suggest a musical background for the epic battle. I'm thinking of something Heavy-Metal with a little dip of classical music into it... you know, like Sonata Arctica meets Bach... but couldn't find anything of worth in my YouTube searches. I do want something that helps me putting my players on their toes, and keeping them there for as long as the fight goes on.

--------------------

tl;dr: Any ideas for climatic battle against Kalak's minions?
#2
claytoniantomb
May 09, 2011 1:41:53 Terrain powers. For instance, an arcane defiling vortext. Any character standing next to it can make an arcane check to make it shoot a bolt of necrotic energy at a foe.

Blood-slick Stair Push: a successful strength vs. fortitude attack can knock an enemy prone, slide them down the stairs 3 squares, and do 1d10 damage.

Let the Pillar Take It: While standing next to an arcane pillar, make a bluff check vs. a foe's insight. If you succeed, they are goded to attacking the pillar in a futile attempt to hit you, doing 2d10 damage to it.

As for music, look up "D&D snarf" on Youtube for a bitchin' playlist.
#3
Valien
May 09, 2011 5:38:18 Hum, these are nice, specially the defiling vortex one. Thanks!

And now I've come up with other idea: Is there a "1001 Terrain Features and Powers" thread somewhere around these foruns? 'Cause there ought to be, so we could have a nice compilation of ideas.
#4
Bera
May 09, 2011 19:19:58 I did my Ziggurat stuff under/inside it. So they were in obsidian-coated tunnels. Difficult terrain came from shattered obsidian, so anyone falling prone took damage in difficult terrain. Force bursts/blasts moved difficult terrain around, thunder powers created more difficult terrain.

If you have some Arcane classes among your players and they're opposed to defiling, you might make a zone that affects their Arcane Defiling powers. Like a zone around the center of the ritual space that makes Kalak's powers stronger, and lets at-will or encounter powers trigger Arcane Defiling just like dailies do. I wouldn't use that for a pro-defiling game though.

But I'd second dynamic terrain, terrain powers, and traps/hazards. Also, Kalak is the main villian, but don't be afraid to include minions and underlings in the battle. Or, you could barely use Kalak at all. If he's in the midst of metamorphosis, they probably have to kill his loyal high templar guards and/or created golems in order to get to him in the final battle. He might not pay any attention to them until he's attacked or even bloodied.
#5
Valien
May 09, 2011 21:23:32
But I'd second dynamic terrain, terrain powers, and traps/hazards. Also, Kalak is the main villian, but don't be afraid to include minions and underlings in the battle. Or, you could barely use Kalak at all. If he's in the midst of metamorphosis, they probably have to kill his loyal high templar guards and/or created golems in order to get to him in the final battle. He might not pay any attention to them until he's attacked or even bloodied.

That's the idea. I imagine Kalak is much too strong to be a real match for five 10th-level adventurers, and I don't want to "tune him down", wouldnt make sense in the campaign world (since all SKs are epic-level quasi-gods). He will be fully commited to his ritual... and the "real" fight will be against his guards and maybe a monster that he keeps hidden just for this particular occasion (not Tithian, though, since he will be helping the players).

I'm all for terrain powers and features, but not so much into traps and hazards. Don't know why, but these things always bugged me.

I did my Ziggurat stuff under/inside it. So they were in obsidian-coated tunnels. Difficult terrain came from shattered obsidian, so anyone falling prone took damage in difficult terrain. Force bursts/blasts moved difficult terrain around, thunder powers created more difficult terrain.

Goods ideas, will write them down.

If you have some Arcane classes among your players and they're opposed to defiling, you might make a zone that affects their Arcane Defiling powers. Like a zone around the center of the ritual space that makes Kalak's powers stronger, and lets at-will or encounter powers trigger Arcane Defiling just like dailies do. I wouldn't use that for a pro-defiling game though.

That would actually be a pretty fricken' good idea, if not for the fact that the only arcane caster in my group is a Templar for Andropinis and not afraid of defiling at the slightest.

-------------------

And, by the way, claytoniantomb, thanks for that tip about the playlist! It's excellent!

#6
Bera
May 09, 2011 21:53:45

If you have some Arcane classes among your players and they're opposed to defiling, you might make a zone that affects their Arcane Defiling powers. Like a zone around the center of the ritual space that makes Kalak's powers stronger, and lets at-will or encounter powers trigger Arcane Defiling just like dailies do. I wouldn't use that for a pro-defiling game though.

That would actually be a pretty fricken' good idea, if not for the fact that the only arcane caster in my group is a Templar for Andropinis and not afraid of defiling at the slightest.

My players were all Veiled Alliance, so I loved tempting them to defile. You could still use the temptation to power idea, just make it more dangerous. Arcane magic in the zone is supercharged, but the zone itself is dangerous. Either because Kalak will be able to attack there or being in the zone just has damaging or debilitating effects (like dazing for ending your turn in the zone). So, free reroll on any arcane power (double rerolls for daily powers) while you're in the zone, but you open yourself up to more damage/danger.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Valien May 08, 2011 20:43:01	My players just reached level 10, and my idea for turning them Paragon is having them disrupt Kalak's plan of defiling everyone in Tyr as part of the ascension ritual (no Rikus stuff in my homegame). They'll probably be fighting waves and waves of monsters while trying to disrupt the ritual (probably by destroying four magic pillars or something). Tithian will be in the background, using all his power to protect the players from the worst of Kalak's act of defilement (the SK will be so focused on the ritual that he will not be able to properly kill the PCs...). When the ritual is ruined, Kalak will turn his rage against the PCs and rip their souls from their bodies, and they will almost be completely destroyed... until an artifact that one of the players is carrying releases the soul that it has been containing unbestknown to the players: the soul of a dead dwarf PC whose "Focus" was killing arcane defilers. This former PC will strike Kalak, and then an explosion of raw magic power happens, destroying all of the Ziggurat and making the players believe the characters are dead (following session, they will find out that they have been sent back through time, to the Green Age, and the focus of the Paragon campaign arc will be "finding out why Athas is what it is right now"). I will also give the chance to the player of the former Dwarf PC to come back as a Revenant, to continue the mission it had in life. What do you guys think about my idea? I would like some tips and thoughts on what else I could do to spice it up. I plan on having at least one (possibly two) more combat encounters previous to the Kalak one, but not sure on what would they be (probably "Fight you way up the Ziggurat, which is swarmed by Kalak guards" will be one of them). Also, do you have any other good idea for the climatic battle? I am pretty good at coming up with interesting monsters and monster combinations, but would like some help in imagining an interesting terrain with lots of distinctive features and terrain powers, and maybe something else to keep the combat lively. The best I could come up with so far is some sort of automatic necrotic damage (due to the constant defiling) unless the players do something specific during their turns, but not sure on what. I'd also be very glad if someone could suggest a musical background for the epic battle. I'm thinking of something Heavy-Metal with a little dip of classical music into it... you know, like Sonata Arctica meets Bach... but couldn't find anything of worth in my YouTube searches. I do want something that helps me putting my players on their toes, and keeping them there for as long as the fight goes on. -------------------- tl;dr: Any ideas for climatic battle against Kalak's minions?
#2 claytoniantomb May 09, 2011 1:41:53	Terrain powers. For instance, an arcane defiling vortext. Any character standing next to it can make an arcane check to make it shoot a bolt of necrotic energy at a foe. Blood-slick Stair Push: a successful strength vs. fortitude attack can knock an enemy prone, slide them down the stairs 3 squares, and do 1d10 damage. Let the Pillar Take It: While standing next to an arcane pillar, make a bluff check vs. a foe's insight. If you succeed, they are goded to attacking the pillar in a futile attempt to hit you, doing 2d10 damage to it. As for music, look up "D&D snarf" on Youtube for a bitchin' playlist.
#3 Valien May 09, 2011 5:38:18	Hum, these are nice, specially the defiling vortex one. Thanks! And now I've come up with other idea: Is there a "1001 Terrain Features and Powers" thread somewhere around these foruns? 'Cause there ought to be, so we could have a nice compilation of ideas.
#4 Bera May 09, 2011 19:19:58	I did my Ziggurat stuff under/inside it. So they were in obsidian-coated tunnels. Difficult terrain came from shattered obsidian, so anyone falling prone took damage in difficult terrain. Force bursts/blasts moved difficult terrain around, thunder powers created more difficult terrain. If you have some Arcane classes among your players and they're opposed to defiling, you might make a zone that affects their Arcane Defiling powers. Like a zone around the center of the ritual space that makes Kalak's powers stronger, and lets at-will or encounter powers trigger Arcane Defiling just like dailies do. I wouldn't use that for a pro-defiling game though. But I'd second dynamic terrain, terrain powers, and traps/hazards. Also, Kalak is the main villian, but don't be afraid to include minions and underlings in the battle. Or, you could barely use Kalak at all. If he's in the midst of metamorphosis, they probably have to kill his loyal high templar guards and/or created golems in order to get to him in the final battle. He might not pay any attention to them until he's attacked or even bloodied.
#5 Valien May 09, 2011 21:23:32	But I'd second dynamic terrain, terrain powers, and traps/hazards. Also, Kalak is the main villian, but don't be afraid to include minions and underlings in the battle. Or, you could barely use Kalak at all. If he's in the midst of metamorphosis, they probably have to kill his loyal high templar guards and/or created golems in order to get to him in the final battle. He might not pay any attention to them until he's attacked or even bloodied. That's the idea. I imagine Kalak is much too strong to be a real match for five 10th-level adventurers, and I don't want to "tune him down", wouldnt make sense in the campaign world (since all SKs are epic-level quasi-gods). He will be fully commited to his ritual... and the "real" fight will be against his guards and maybe a monster that he keeps hidden just for this particular occasion (not Tithian, though, since he will be helping the players). I'm all for terrain powers and features, but not so much into traps and hazards. Don't know why, but these things always bugged me. I did my Ziggurat stuff under/inside it. So they were in obsidian-coated tunnels. Difficult terrain came from shattered obsidian, so anyone falling prone took damage in difficult terrain. Force bursts/blasts moved difficult terrain around, thunder powers created more difficult terrain. Goods ideas, will write them down. If you have some Arcane classes among your players and they're opposed to defiling, you might make a zone that affects their Arcane Defiling powers. Like a zone around the center of the ritual space that makes Kalak's powers stronger, and lets at-will or encounter powers trigger Arcane Defiling just like dailies do. I wouldn't use that for a pro-defiling game though. That would actually be a pretty fricken' good idea, if not for the fact that the only arcane caster in my group is a Templar for Andropinis and not afraid of defiling at the slightest. ------------------- And, by the way, claytoniantomb, thanks for that tip about the playlist! It's excellent!
#6 Bera May 09, 2011 21:53:45	If you have some Arcane classes among your players and they're opposed to defiling, you might make a zone that affects their Arcane Defiling powers. Like a zone around the center of the ritual space that makes Kalak's powers stronger, and lets at-will or encounter powers trigger Arcane Defiling just like dailies do. I wouldn't use that for a pro-defiling game though. That would actually be a pretty fricken' good idea, if not for the fact that the only arcane caster in my group is a Templar for Andropinis and not afraid of defiling at the slightest. My players were all Veiled Alliance, so I loved tempting them to defile. You could still use the temptation to power idea, just make it more dangerous. Arcane magic in the zone is supercharged, but the zone itself is dangerous. Either because Kalak will be able to attack there or being in the zone just has damaging or debilitating effects (like dazing for ending your turn in the zone). So, free reroll on any arcane power (double rerolls for daily powers) while you're in the zone, but you open yourself up to more damage/danger.