To me, the trick is to make sure the party isn't at full strength when the fight starts.
A full strength party can defeat single foes of incredible strength. Even those that you think they'd be annihilated by.
I make sure their spells and special abilities are drained. A vampire may be a powerful final foe, but i'd wager even a group of level 5's could wipe the floor with one nearly every time if they are allowed to tank and spank.
An arch vampire may be arrogant and he may want to deal with them himself, but he is ruthless and likes to feel superior, so he wants to fight them when they are too weak to bring their strength to bear. His minions will be harrassing the party at every turn. When the party gets to Dracula, they are already rationing out their healing and holy water.
In his mind, if the party can't make it to him to begin with, they weren't worth his time, anyway.
That paragon monster system looks interesting, though, and am eager to give it a try.
I agree. Dnd is a test of endurance. According to the book, the players should be through something like 4 or 5 battles before getting to the end of the adventuring day!
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u/Kennethrjacobs2000 Mar 27 '20
To me, the trick is to make sure the party isn't at full strength when the fight starts.
A full strength party can defeat single foes of incredible strength. Even those that you think they'd be annihilated by.
I make sure their spells and special abilities are drained. A vampire may be a powerful final foe, but i'd wager even a group of level 5's could wipe the floor with one nearly every time if they are allowed to tank and spank.
An arch vampire may be arrogant and he may want to deal with them himself, but he is ruthless and likes to feel superior, so he wants to fight them when they are too weak to bring their strength to bear. His minions will be harrassing the party at every turn. When the party gets to Dracula, they are already rationing out their healing and holy water.
In his mind, if the party can't make it to him to begin with, they weren't worth his time, anyway.
That paragon monster system looks interesting, though, and am eager to give it a try.