The pc will eventualy face off agianst this character, a fiend warlock. He is level 20 and bears a few magic items, but the players also have some items to aide them. So what are the chances of them surving?
Consider the number of attacks per round. How many does the party get? How many does he get? Unless he has a way of preventing the party from landing those attacks, even a party of level 6 players will chop him down in no time if he is alone.
What type of magic items does the warlock have, and how do they compare to what the party has? Does the warlock have any minions, or is he alone? What's the composition of the player's party (is it well-balanced in power-level, are certain players more min-maxy than others)?
If the warlock has normal magic items (potions, maybe a scroll, magic weapon of +1 or +2), then it probably won't matter too much. If the warlock has some higher level magic items, then it'll certainly be harder for the group. If he has minions or can summon them, it will be much harder. The best chance of them surviving would be if the warlock is alone, as they would have a better action economy. Group composition will matter a bit. A group of six min-maxers might have an easier time than a group of people who didn't really care about combat effectiveness.
How prepared is this warlock going to be? Does he know this group is on their way? Will he use his fiendish resilience to give himself resistance to their main type of damage (do the players have magic weaponry to bypass that resistance regardless)? Will he be set up to fireball them as a group when they enter? Additionally, if you're using all the warlock features, Hurl through Hell could straight up kill a level 6 character. The base hit damage + 10d10 psychic will probably incapacitate whoever it hits, if not downright killing any squishy wizards.
Warlocks still aren't the most durable, and his spell slots won't last long. Could your players kill him? Yes, but it's likely that you'll kill some of your players in the process and it could easily become a TPK.
Agreeing with other posters. There are way too many unknown variables in the scenario. Who gets surprised? Is this the Warlock's booby trapped lair? How much time did either side get to prepare specifically for this match? How much does either side know about the other? Even alone, a well-prepared 20th level caster NPC with surprise can wipe a party of six level 10 characters, esp if party weaknesses are already known and accounted for.
A Level 20 Warlock feasibly has access to several things that are going to make it hard for lvl 6 players. A level six barbarian with a CON modifier of +5 and max health rolls would have 102 Hitpoints (base calcs, not including special traits), so if the warlock had Power Word Kill as its mystic arcanum it could probably kill nearly any level 6 player outright at full health, Feeblemind can reduce a spellcaster to a non-entity, and Finger of Death has a potential to kill another player (min 18 damage, max 86) and provide an ally for the warlock. Mass Suggestion could have the whole party doing the warlocks bidding on a failed save as well. A warlock at level 20 could have one use of all of those spells, not even counting potential invocations, pact abilities, and the four level 5 spells the warlock has at its disposal + cantrips (Eldritch blast at level 20 can max at 4d10 damage, more with invocations added). My level 20 warlock character has 150+ health (with a +3 CON modifier) so they tend to be less squishy than a wizard or sorcerer, and I would guess they would have at least one to two rounds even if the party does well in initiative and dealing damage.
TLDR: They might win, but its highly likely one or more characters will die outright, and possibly the whole party if things went wrong. Initiative order would be a big deal in this fight.
This is one where who goes first matters a lot, and how prepared the parties are.
If the players manage to surprise him and go first, then they can cut him down pretty quick - the warlock won't have that much HP, and six people smacking him will do him in. Maybe the PCs need to have 2 players with counterspell ready to try and make sure he can't actually do much.
On the other hand, if the warlock goes first, then just one or two spells out of lvl8-9 spell slots can TPK the party. From a lvl20 caster, one spell can either disable most of party (assuming few make the save, since the save DC is high) OR outright kill one. E.g. first turn mass suggestion: "Run as far away from me as you can, because otherwise I'll kill you". Everyone who fails the save is out of the fight. Second turn onwards - one party member goes down per turn.
It could be a winnable capstone fight IF the players know their target and have a chance to make a detailed plan and prepare, including selecting spells and feats and balancing the party to do so and probably setting a trap. It wouldn't be winnable if the fight was sprung on them in a normal dungeon crawl setting.
Hmmm are you up to suggestions on changes from a dm POV?
I think a level 20 warlock is too much because on his own, it is boring and if you give him proper minions he would easily overpower them.
maybe a level 10-12 warlock with a legendary action fittings to his character and personality. Have it have a couple turns cool down(maybe 3 add it take depending str or value of it) or be a reaction on certain conditions met.
and then give him some company. Maybe a imp companion and 2 weak skeletons he controls.
If I knew your PCs and your story a little more I could make a much better example of a better balanced fight for a epic battle. But I don’t so these are just rough ideas and estimates.
I just imagine a high level evil warlock bad guy having minions at his disposal and don’t envision seeing the epic finale being 6 PCs vs one lonely bad guy. Bad guys like company especially when they are the boss and I don’t see how story wise the party would catch him alone and unaware of their presence.
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The pc will eventualy face off agianst this character, a fiend warlock. He is level 20 and bears a few magic items, but the players also have some items to aide them. So what are the chances of them surving?
Consider the number of attacks per round. How many does the party get? How many does he get? Unless he has a way of preventing the party from landing those attacks, even a party of level 6 players will chop him down in no time if he is alone.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
What type of magic items does the warlock have, and how do they compare to what the party has? Does the warlock have any minions, or is he alone? What's the composition of the player's party (is it well-balanced in power-level, are certain players more min-maxy than others)?
If the warlock has normal magic items (potions, maybe a scroll, magic weapon of +1 or +2), then it probably won't matter too much. If the warlock has some higher level magic items, then it'll certainly be harder for the group. If he has minions or can summon them, it will be much harder. The best chance of them surviving would be if the warlock is alone, as they would have a better action economy. Group composition will matter a bit. A group of six min-maxers might have an easier time than a group of people who didn't really care about combat effectiveness.
How prepared is this warlock going to be? Does he know this group is on their way? Will he use his fiendish resilience to give himself resistance to their main type of damage (do the players have magic weaponry to bypass that resistance regardless)? Will he be set up to fireball them as a group when they enter? Additionally, if you're using all the warlock features, Hurl through Hell could straight up kill a level 6 character. The base hit damage + 10d10 psychic will probably incapacitate whoever it hits, if not downright killing any squishy wizards.
Warlocks still aren't the most durable, and his spell slots won't last long. Could your players kill him? Yes, but it's likely that you'll kill some of your players in the process and it could easily become a TPK.
Agreeing with other posters. There are way too many unknown variables in the scenario. Who gets surprised? Is this the Warlock's booby trapped lair? How much time did either side get to prepare specifically for this match? How much does either side know about the other? Even alone, a well-prepared 20th level caster NPC with surprise can wipe a party of six level 10 characters, esp if party weaknesses are already known and accounted for.
A Level 20 Warlock feasibly has access to several things that are going to make it hard for lvl 6 players. A level six barbarian with a CON modifier of +5 and max health rolls would have 102 Hitpoints (base calcs, not including special traits), so if the warlock had Power Word Kill as its mystic arcanum it could probably kill nearly any level 6 player outright at full health, Feeblemind can reduce a spellcaster to a non-entity, and Finger of Death has a potential to kill another player (min 18 damage, max 86) and provide an ally for the warlock. Mass Suggestion could have the whole party doing the warlocks bidding on a failed save as well. A warlock at level 20 could have one use of all of those spells, not even counting potential invocations, pact abilities, and the four level 5 spells the warlock has at its disposal + cantrips (Eldritch blast at level 20 can max at 4d10 damage, more with invocations added). My level 20 warlock character has 150+ health (with a +3 CON modifier) so they tend to be less squishy than a wizard or sorcerer, and I would guess they would have at least one to two rounds even if the party does well in initiative and dealing damage.
TLDR: They might win, but its highly likely one or more characters will die outright, and possibly the whole party if things went wrong. Initiative order would be a big deal in this fight.
This is one where who goes first matters a lot, and how prepared the parties are.
If the players manage to surprise him and go first, then they can cut him down pretty quick - the warlock won't have that much HP, and six people smacking him will do him in. Maybe the PCs need to have 2 players with counterspell ready to try and make sure he can't actually do much.
On the other hand, if the warlock goes first, then just one or two spells out of lvl8-9 spell slots can TPK the party. From a lvl20 caster, one spell can either disable most of party (assuming few make the save, since the save DC is high) OR outright kill one. E.g. first turn mass suggestion: "Run as far away from me as you can, because otherwise I'll kill you". Everyone who fails the save is out of the fight. Second turn onwards - one party member goes down per turn.
It could be a winnable capstone fight IF the players know their target and have a chance to make a detailed plan and prepare, including selecting spells and feats and balancing the party to do so and probably setting a trap. It wouldn't be winnable if the fight was sprung on them in a normal dungeon crawl setting.
Hmmm are you up to suggestions on changes from a dm POV?
I think a level 20 warlock is too much because on his own, it is boring and if you give him proper minions he would easily overpower them.
maybe a level 10-12 warlock with a legendary action fittings to his character and personality. Have it have a couple turns cool down(maybe 3 add it take depending str or value of it) or be a reaction on certain conditions met.
and then give him some company. Maybe a imp companion and 2 weak skeletons he controls.
If I knew your PCs and your story a little more I could make a much better example of a better balanced fight for a epic battle. But I don’t so these are just rough ideas and estimates.
I just imagine a high level evil warlock bad guy having minions at his disposal and don’t envision seeing the epic finale being 6 PCs vs one lonely bad guy. Bad guys like company especially when they are the boss and I don’t see how story wise the party would catch him alone and unaware of their presence.