Topic: About to send 3 vampires, 1 evil mage & an elite nightblade assassin @the party

[Druss_the_Legend]

after 19 sessions, each of 3-4hrs long the party have reached the finale session of the current chapter in our campaign.

The Location: Underground in a cavern that has 4 connecting tunnels and a large lake filled with man-eating eels.
The Party: Paladin, Barbarian, Magician, Assassin, Nightblade (NPC) all level 7.
Resources: Each party member has a weapon that is slaying vs vampires. The PC assassin and allied NPC nightblade are at about 25% Hits.
Complication: The party must escape through a magical portal that is in the cavern that has a limited duration before it closes. This portal can be used by the enemy hunters if the party merely flee immediately which will place a very dangerous group inside the allies fortification which is where the portal takes them to.

Enemy Hunters
3 lesser vampires (vampire assassins)
1 evil magician/sorcerer (Boss/leader)
1 high level nightblade (assassin captain)
additionally i can also throw a barrow-wight into the fray if needed (who is in the same location and could be controlled by the evil magician)

The party are loaded with weapons to combat vampires so this should be an interesting fight but potentially a deadly one.


What tactics would they use?

• The vampires could transform into wolves or vampire bats perhaps
  All enemies would have spells to make them harder to hit.
  Since this group have been hunting the PCs and tracked them down to a dungeon in the mountains they might have had time to set an ambush for the party as they go to leave the location.
  The evil magician is a recurring villain the party have faced before and they thought he had been killed but they merely defeated a dobbleganger look-a-like.
  The nightblade captain is an NPC villain who has been hunting her mark (one of the PCs) for quite sometime... he was a spy working undercover for her boss in the past and he is now a wanted man.

[Spectre771]

One devious idea that came to me is to have one or more of the vampires in bat form hanging from the cavern.  As you stated, they've been tracking the party and will have ample time to set an ambush.  When the party feels they are making progress, or have engaged the other NPC members, have the bats transform into vampires behind the PCs.  Flank and back attacks and a surrounded party.  This is no battle I want to be a part of!  What a challenge the PCs have as it is.

I love the idea of timing the escape through the portal.  Too late, no gets out; too soon, the evil follows them.  Fantastic.

[Hurin]

One of the most powerful techniques in RM is simply the 'go invisible, sneak up, stab in back'. My PCs use it a lot, but I don't have the heart to use it often against them, as it seems a little unfair, especially if it results in a character death.

[Jengada]

If they have time and opportunity to set the ambush, does that mean they can place the nightblade or someone near the portal? Or have the majority of the ambush at the portal, blocking them, while just enough of the enemies are elsewhere to sort of drive them towards the portal.
If the evil magician/sorcerer has Dispel XX, you should figure out in advance whether, in your game, that will suppress the slaying properties of the weapons. The spell itself isn't clear (in RM2 at least) on whether it affects magic weapon properties, and I've seen back-and-forth in earlier forum threads on this.
One very effective tactic I've used against my players is getting enemies airborne (Fly) and then separated by more than 10'. This really reduces the value of ball attacks spells, or other spells requiring targets within 10'. Getting them airborne will also mean the paladin, nightblade, and barbarian are much less effective against those enemies. Leave someone on the ground for them to confront, but then the magician is largely responsible for taking out anyone flying.
Don't forget, either, that vampires can take mist-form, too. That's going to be harder to locate or detect, than bat or wolf form.

[Druss_the_Legend]

One devious idea that came to me is to have one or more of the vampires in bat form hanging from the cavern.  As you stated, they've been tracking the party and will have ample time to set an ambush.  When the party feels they are making progress, or have engaged the other NPC members, have the bats transform into vampires behind the PCs.  Flank and back attacks and a surrounded party.  This is no battle I want to be a part of!  What a challenge the PCs have as it is.

I love the idea of timing the escape through the portal.  Too late, no gets out; too soon, the evil follows them.  Fantastic.

Love the bat ambush. Will use it! was already thinking ill hold a vamp in reserve but now i think ill hold two in reserve and drop 1-2 from the roof on the unsuspecting party

[Druss_the_Legend]

If they have time and opportunity to set the ambush, does that mean they can place the nightblade or someone near the portal? Or have the majority of the ambush at the portal, blocking them, while just enough of the enemies are elsewhere to sort of drive them towards the portal.
If the evil magician/sorcerer has Dispel XX, you should figure out in advance whether, in your game, that will suppress the slaying properties of the weapons. The spell itself isn't clear (in RM2 at least) on whether it affects magic weapon properties, and I've seen back-and-forth in earlier forum threads on this.
One very effective tactic I've used against my players is getting enemies airborne (Fly) and then separated by more than 10'. This really reduces the value of ball attacks spells, or other spells requiring targets within 10'. Getting them airborne will also mean the paladin, nightblade, and barbarian are much less effective against those enemies. Leave someone on the ground for them to confront, but then the magician is largely responsible for taking out anyone flying.
Don't forget, either, that vampires can take mist-form, too. That's going to be harder to locate or detect, than bat or wolf form.

great suggestions. one vamp in mist form and the rest waiting to ambush as bats or flying. The party have two archers but the strongest fighter is the barbarian and hes hand-to-hand specialist.

[Druss_the_Legend]

I think flooding the cavern in mist would be a nice touch and allow for some terrifying surprise attacks.
Simple spell that cloaks the area and prevents line of sight. Va,mpires want to get in close anyway and if they can fly as well they will be able to use hit-and-run tactics out of the mist.
The assassin capt can be invisible until she strikes her mark.
That leaves the sorcerer to disable the most dangerous threat... the barbarian... transporting him somehow into the lake would work nicely... its full on man-eating eels.
blinding him with a bright flash could also work... if he is blind he will be far less effective and even a liability to his allies.

[Jengada]

My players recently dealt with battle-in-the-fog. One fight, with 5 PCs against 13 lower-level soldiers, took about 6 hours of game time. Most of that was because everyone was limited to 10' visibility, and the party split themselves up. So I was tracking everything behind the screen, and was the only one who knew where anyone else was. It did take more time, but after, they said the suspense was great, and it was one of the best battles in a long time. I should add, it was a PC who cast the fog spell as a defense. She was flying, too, so I actually had to track her movement (and that of two enemy NPCs) in 3-D.
One thing RM doesn't specify (I use RM2) is the time it takes a vampire to change form. Nor, I guess, does it say how often they can change. I would make some decisions on that in advance, too, or it could be overpowering.
You mention the sorcerer transporting the barbarian into the lake. If you're thinking Long Door/Leaving/Teleport, bear in mind that RM classifies those as Utility spells and they aren't supposed to be castable on an unwilling target. (Otherwise, why transport him in a lake, transport him up and drop him.)
If the sorcerer is the source of the mist/fog in the cavern, you might consider the Fogvision spell (idk the list right off hand) for them. That would be a powerful pairing.

[Druss_the_Legend]

My players recently dealt with battle-in-the-fog. One fight, with 5 PCs against 13 lower-level soldiers, took about 6 hours of game time. Most of that was because everyone was limited to 10' visibility, and the party split themselves up. So I was tracking everything behind the screen, and was the only one who knew where anyone else was. It did take more time, but after, they said the suspense was great, and it was one of the best battles in a long time. I should add, it was a PC who cast the fog spell as a defense. She was flying, too, so I actually had to track her movement (and that of two enemy NPCs) in 3-D.
One thing RM doesn't specify (I use RM2) is the time it takes a vampire to change form. Nor, I guess, does it say how often they can change. I would make some decisions on that in advance, too, or it could be overpowering.
You mention the sorcerer transporting the barbarian into the lake. If you're thinking Long Door/Leaving/Teleport, bear in mind that RM classifies those as Utility spells and they aren't supposed to be castable on an unwilling target. (Otherwise, why transport him in a lake, transport him up and drop him.)
If the sorcerer is the source of the mist/fog in the cavern, you might consider the Fogvision spell (idk the list right off hand) for them. That would be a powerful pairing.

appreciate input. the barbarian is wearing armour, numerous swords and the late is full of man-eating eels.
i suspect he would survive a fall, even from the top of the cavern. survive underwater weight down with armour with multiple eels attacking him? thats more challenging and could be death if he isnt rescued quick.