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#1 sirdanile Jul 15, 2010 18:21:45

After reading the Iron Siege Thread and picking up a copy of Sandstorm I decided to create something similar except with level 20 characters. The idea is that the players hear about an unusual spot in the desert filled with epic level artifacts guarded by the living dead.(4-6 players, assuming 1-3 Melee fighters, 1 Divine caster, 1 arcane caster, and 1 "Other") So far what I have come up with: Setting: The world has 4 Main landmasses seperated by ocean, the one this will be located on is a desert wasteland where lava flows where water would and many of the denizens have an innate connection to the plane of air or fire. The land is known for its immense wealth left by a long dead civilization and many outpost towns built by inhabitants of the more hospitable islands scatter the shore line. The most advanced civilization native to the wasteland are fire elves who hold magic in the highest regard and have warforged slaves and constructs doing all their labor for them. Main Enemies: I like the idea of a Fire Elf Dry Lich with 10 levels of Walker of the Waste prestige class and 10 other levels who has many minions under his control, notably a Necropolitan Psion, several level 20 Barbarian Vampires, a Wight ur-priest, and a necropolitan True Necromancer with leadership of other True Necromancers. The Actual Adventure Area: the lich's lair First thing seen: A giant wall of black whirling sand - Game mechanics function as a 100ft tall 50ft thick walls of permanent black sand (Deals 1d4 negative on touch, functions like wall of sand spell) The only way to get in is to take damage forcing your way through the wall, tunneling under, or flying above it. The walls surround a 400x400ft clearing where the sand on the ground is all Black Sand (1d8 negative damage on touch) The whole area from now on is under the effects of an unhallow spell cast by a level 20 caster. Undead roam near Monstrous creatures turned into salt and the entrance into the lair is sealed off magically.  Some Ideas I've had for encounters or traps. The Door casts wail of the banshee when touched. Within the lair rooms filled with magma or acid with appropriately scaled undead acid/magma born Squids or other creatures with long reach that can grapple. (Dungeonscape) Fast Zombies that bull rush pcs into hazards. Traps that cast Mass Harm in the room area. Traps that prevent Teleportation and redirect the teleportees into an unsafe location. Invisible floors combined with ranged and spellcasting undead. Constructs that are appropriately scaled. Poison gas combined with undead enemies who's goal is to weaken the party. Extremely large pit traps filled with poisonous spikes and unpleasant enemies. A centrifuge trap. With all that said I still need advice as to what monsters to actually use and when? What can a party at level 20 do and how can I counter them without being cheesy? Given that the goal truly is to kill the players how can I make this "reusable" in that they will want to roll up a different group of characters and try to get farther instead of giving up and wanting to run something else? How should I incorporate previous attempts into the next try such as creating Zombies of the former party or having old gear distributed amongst loot chambers...things like that? Are there any other tips that would be useful and any other books that can help me?