so the party is going to be 6 people and I'm writing my own campaign levels 1-5. My players are nostalgic so I decided to write a 5th edition campaign with a 1st edition feel. The final boss is going to be in a tall obsidian tower in the middle of a forest but all the area around the tower is withered and grey, skeletons and zombies etcetera the final boss I'm thinking is going to be a Ulitharid with some extra necromancy spells and hit points. My players are not the optimising sort there will probably be a warlock, a druid, a rogue, a paladin, a sorcerer and something else I'm not sure yet. Will this be too much? after fighting some skeletons as well? I could let them have a long rest but then I fear they will easily destroy the final boss any advice would be appreciated.
The way to prevent the players taking a long rest right before the boss fight is to make it impossible. Skeletons and zombies constantly emerge from the ground, the trees surrounding the tower become intertwined and full of deadly thorns. He is the master of this zone, so he can do fun stuff like that.
Question - You're seriously sending an Ulitharid against a lvl 4-5 party? You might want to tone back the mind blast a little. It has the potential to one-shot half the party. On the flip side, be sure he's not alone. Bad guys always have goobers in the final fight to help them.
A forest of Awakened Trees around the tower. Ready to bash the players as they walk through the area. With some leveled down Red Caps and the like. Or maybe add a Shambling Mound and lots of Stone Cursed creatures. Stone Cursed re-flavored to be in line with petrified individuals that tried to storm the tower in the long long past.
In that area. before going inside the tower throw in an Obliviax somewhere. His range is 40-50ft and can mindfully attack. Attacking an intelligent creature who isn't even in sight. Just to take away the last 24 hour of memories from the Druid, Warlock and/or Paladin in that order. Watch them freak out when they suddenly also lost all the spells they prepared that morning. Only able to use cantrips. And roleplay the loss of some memory that might be important to them.
Tons of dumb skeletons won't phase them, but sufficient (environmental) hazards will. Some bubbling smelly pits where you throw in a few intelligent opponents among skeletons and things get more interesting. Throw in some other hazards as well that can seriously harm the players. Could be brainwashed slaves that fight among skeletons and other enemies along the way.
Stack the numbers up against your players in all possible ways and see how creative they can get to find solutions or die.
And all this is before they even enter the tower. Well you wanted an old-school feel right? My lvl4 of 4 players made it through something similar in a Green Hag's lair not to long ago :)
so the party is going to be 6 people and I'm writing my own campaign levels 1-5. My players are nostalgic so I decided to write a 5th edition campaign with a 1st edition feel. The final boss is going to be in a tall obsidian tower in the middle of a forest but all the area around the tower is withered and grey, skeletons and zombies etcetera the final boss I'm thinking is going to be a Ulitharid with some extra necromancy spells and hit points. My players are not the optimising sort there will probably be a warlock, a druid, a rogue, a paladin, a sorcerer and something else I'm not sure yet. Will this be too much? after fighting some skeletons as well? I could let them have a long rest but then I fear they will easily destroy the final boss any advice would be appreciated.
An ulitharid is likely to have a mind flayer or two nearby, I recommend a mind flayer arcanist with necromancer wizard spells prepared. You can have it preparing to become an alhoon or litch.
The way to prevent the players taking a long rest right before the boss fight is to make it impossible. Skeletons and zombies constantly emerge from the ground, the trees surrounding the tower become intertwined and full of deadly thorns. He is the master of this zone, so he can do fun stuff like that.
Question - You're seriously sending an Ulitharid against a lvl 4-5 party? You might want to tone back the mind blast a little. It has the potential to one-shot half the party. On the flip side, be sure he's not alone. Bad guys always have goobers in the final fight to help them.
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A forest of Awakened Trees around the tower. Ready to bash the players as they walk through the area. With some leveled down Red Caps and the like. Or maybe add a Shambling Mound and lots of Stone Cursed creatures. Stone Cursed re-flavored to be in line with petrified individuals that tried to storm the tower in the long long past.
In that area. before going inside the tower throw in an Obliviax somewhere. His range is 40-50ft and can mindfully attack. Attacking an intelligent creature who isn't even in sight. Just to take away the last 24 hour of memories from the Druid, Warlock and/or Paladin in that order. Watch them freak out when they suddenly also lost all the spells they prepared that morning. Only able to use cantrips. And roleplay the loss of some memory that might be important to them.
Tons of dumb skeletons won't phase them, but sufficient (environmental) hazards will. Some bubbling smelly pits where you throw in a few intelligent opponents among skeletons and things get more interesting. Throw in some other hazards as well that can seriously harm the players. Could be brainwashed slaves that fight among skeletons and other enemies along the way.
Stack the numbers up against your players in all possible ways and see how creative they can get to find solutions or die.
And all this is before they even enter the tower. Well you wanted an old-school feel right? My lvl4 of 4 players made it through something similar in a Green Hag's lair not to long ago :)
thanks for the advice!