Author Topic: How can I prevent an inevitable TPK?  (Read 1029 times)

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GrandLlamaQ

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How can I prevent an inevitable TPK?
« on: April 26, 2011, 12:57:42 AM »
So, I am doing a heavily modified and customized version of the Scales of War adventure. (4e) Final battle is against Tiamat, but the real villain is her Prime Exarch, a winged Purple Dragonborn who I have named Taliwrath (Modded based on Draconomicon Chromatics). After a host of fun but mostly scripted adventures, I decided to really throw them a twist and make their Epic-level adventures a Sandbox format. I've gotten quite skilled at modifying monster levels and combat difficulty on the fly, so it's not hard to adjust if they decide to do missions in any odd order they wish.
This was accomplished by a former Minion of Taliwrath's stealing a series of scrolls upon which lie all of her major plans for conquering the Elsir Vale. Troop movements, negotiations, political ploys and sneak attacks. Many of which involve establishing new garrisons past the front lines of the war and recruiting allies. This information pretty much created a series of "missions" for the PCs to go on to thwart her plans at every turn, using their intel and the advantage of surprise (these were, after all, top secret documents) to derail her plans.
Most of her plans hinged on free movement of her troops through the Elsir Vale, so after giving them the scrolls, I revealed that Taliwrath herself, acting as ambassador and flying a flag of Truce has arrived in Overlook to negotiate a cease-fire. Clearly part of a plot, but the humans and dwarves badly needed a chance to recover as it was deep winter and injuries and low supplies were causing issues. The group, named the Seven Deadly Sins (more on that in a moment), were invited to attend as the Heroes of Overlook.
Something happened in that ceasefire negotiation that caught me completely by surprise: They tipped their hand. Normally I'm good at rolling with sudden unexpected campaign changes, but this one spells a particular level of doom. They revealed what they had learned (actually the Wizard and the Ranger were primarily responsible for this blunder) to Taliwrath herself as a way of getting a leg up in the negotiation. Taliwrath immediately called for a recess and went out to share this news with her forces via a quick Sending.
Shortly thereafter, the Wizard again blundered and picked a fight with Taliwrath. As they were about ten levels too low, they were not a threat, and even though she wasn't a solo creature, she was wiping them out. (I warned them many times over the course of the campaign that I would never intentionally give them an impossible fight, but if they started something with someone out of their weight class, I'd see it through.) Then they decide to break a promise.
A Paladin of Moradin had gifted them with a minor artifact, a blade called The Lightbringer made out of a homebrewed substance called Starsteel. It was designed to kill gods, and the Paladin made them swear not to use it to spill the blood of anyone but Tiamat. Well, they decided to use it against Taliwrath, figuring she was probably a gray area in their vow. That actually saved them. The Swordmage swung and missed fully six times before the Sorcerer grabbed the blade and started critting with it, three times in a row, in fact. It was enough to make her turn tail and bolt. And now, Taliwrath knows they have it.
So, to summarize, Taliwrath knows:
- They have intel they shouldn't.
- Given that it was stolen *directly* from her personal files, it will not take her more than a few minutes to figure out exactly what intel they have.
- They intend to interfere with these plans.
- They have a secret weapon designed to kill evil gods.
- They are a serious threat. (The main reason she hadn't moved against them directly yet was she had not considered them any real hindrance to her plans yet.)
Over the course of the adventure, Taliwrath has proven again and again that she is clever and resourceful and knows how to use politics, deception and preparation to win a battle. She's not a great personal threat on the battlefield (her impending victory was based largely on the fact that she had eleven levels on the group and they just couldn't hit her) but she knows how to manipulate battles to turn them around. Now that she knows the Sins are coming, she's going to prepare accordingly with ambushes, turnarounds, traps and moreso.
In other words, Missions of "Normal" difficulty are now going to be "Hard" or "Very Hard" and one of them will be nigh-impossible as Tiamat herself will almost certainly get directly involved (it involves a five-headed wyrmling who is her first true child). I don't want to destroy the party, especially so close to the end of the campaign as this is our first 4e Campaign to reach Epic level and everyone is very excited about it, but if I play Taliwrath as she is designed, her careful preparations, given her resources, could be devastating to the party.
At this point in the plot, Bahamut himself is wounded and recovering and the group managed to completely alienate the followers of Bahamut, so their list of allies is very very small. The only sure ally they have is the Church of Moradin, but they've been reduced to a skeleton crew after a brutal attack earlier in the campaign. Everyone else is either a dangerous semi-ally or too weak or small to be of any serious help to anything.
So, help me out, do I brutalize them with Taliwrath's well-informed counterattack? If so, what can I do to help them survive it without reeking of Deus Ex Machina or DM Fiat? Or do I do nothing and face the prospect of a clever villain known for careful thought and consideration suddenly leaping out of character to make a tremendous tactical blunder?
For your consideration, the group consists of the following:
(Greed) Half-Elf Sorcerer - Son of one of the Council Members of Overlook, and while he's tempted with power constantly, he never takes it. He's got a good heart, and he's seeking redemption for the mistakes of his past.
(Gluttony) Thri-Kreen Revenant Swordmage Abomination - Looks like something from a nightmare due to some severely bad luck on the player's part, brave, and the epitome of Chaotic Good. And he likes to eat.
(Wrath) Human Wizard - The closest thing to a Barbarian I've ever seen in an arcane class. She picks fights at the slightest provocation (including picking the fight with Taliwrath just because she was there), drinks excessively, has sex at the drop of a hat, and runs her mouth which often gets the Sins into trouble.
(Envy) Changeling Ardent - A kindhearted but INCREDIBLY naive Changeling, trying to learn about society as a whole and how to function in it. Whenever she sees anyone else with the ability to change shape, she is immediately jealous. (For instance, Taliwrath can turn into a dragon.)
(Pride) Elven Ranger - Very prideful and arrogant Ranger who constantly gives the Sorcerer crap for thinking about accepting offers for power when he pretty much traded with a Fey queen for power.
(Lust) Half-Orc Seeker - I have the fewest data points on him. He's a boisterous Half-Orc who hits on everything.
(Sloth) Goliath Battlemind - Stout-hearted and fierce, but otherwise soft spoken and rather lazy.

EDIT: There, that better?
« Last Edit: April 26, 2011, 01:16:32 AM by GrandLlamaQ »

Sinfire Titan

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Re: How can I prevent an inevitable TPK?
« Reply #1 on: April 26, 2011, 01:04:53 AM »
That's a very nice block of text you've got there. Please put some more paragraph breaks in there so it's easier to read.


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nijineko

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Re: How can I prevent an inevitable TPK?
« Reply #2 on: April 26, 2011, 02:04:07 AM »
somewhat. nonetheless, i happen to like reading, so i don't mind the walls of text that others seem to.

my first thought off the top of my head would be to have her harass the party and steal from them. discredit them and put them in bad lights with everyone. make them suffer and be humiliated.

my second thought is to have her ally with them. perhaps she could figure that anyone who can pull off what they seem to have pulled off (god slaying artifact, secret intel from her stores, etc) might be worth using in her becoming the next replacement for tiamat. and subvert them or kill them in the process. nothing more dangerous or highly stimulating than a fuse burning down from both ends at the same time.
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