The PCs reach the furthest chamber of the mines, and there discover what became of the long-lost Karak miners.
Having bested the menagerie that lay in wait for them in the previous encounter, the PCs finally reach Queen Shephatiah and her bodyguards, a pair of mezzodemons. A firelasher also lurks in the elemental rift crossing Shephatiah's lair, ready to leap out at the PCs at the beginning of round 2.
Shephatiah and her bodyguards move to defend the northern side of the rift, "intent on forcing the PCs to come to them", and that brings us back to an issue that I've raised with other encounters in Lost Mines of Karak: there's a dearth of ranged attacks on the enemies in this encounter. Shephatiah is artillery (and thus has multiple range 20 powers), but the mezzodemons' only ranged power is a recharge 5 close blast 3 (Poison breath) and isn't likely to have an impact on range-heavy adventuring parties that choose to lurk near the chamber entrance and take advantage of their superior firepower. If that happens, you'll need to think long and hard about using the firelasher as an initiator. Use its Whirlwind dash power (move 16, no OAs, doing 10 damage to each enemy moved through) to erupt from the rift and burn most or all of the PCs in a single turn, disappearing back into the rift to avoid retribution. That, combined with Shephatiah's area burst 1 Thunderstrike will likely convince them that clustering in the tight entrance is not a good idea.
If your PCs don't get the hint, or are confident they're better of not moving to melee, take the risk and have the firelasher stick around, moving through the PCs to the rear and then using Wildfire cyclone (push 1) to herd the PCs forward toward the rift. Stuck between the firelasher and the rift, the PCs might soon see the need to engage fully with their enemies.
One thing that makes this encounter unique is that all of the enemies have either ranged attacks or reach. That in and of itself isn't overly impressive, but when combined with the mezzodemon's ability to restrain defenders with Skewering tines, it means that you have a golden opportunity to apply some real pressure to controllers and leaders who usually remain safely in the background. That, coupled with the threat of being forced into the elemental rift should be enough to have them sweating for a while.
There's potential in this encounter, and it's refreshing to finally see an encounter with a dedicated ranged component to it, but it ultimately all depends on whether you can convince your PCs to jump that rift. You really should try.
Encounter rating: 3
If your PCs don't get the hint, or are confident they're better of not moving to melee, take the risk and have the firelasher stick around, moving through the PCs to the rear and then using Wildfire cyclone (push 1) to herd the PCs forward toward the rift. Stuck between the firelasher and the rift, the PCs might soon see the need to engage fully with their enemies.
One thing that makes this encounter unique is that all of the enemies have either ranged attacks or reach. That in and of itself isn't overly impressive, but when combined with the mezzodemon's ability to restrain defenders with Skewering tines, it means that you have a golden opportunity to apply some real pressure to controllers and leaders who usually remain safely in the background. That, coupled with the threat of being forced into the elemental rift should be enough to have them sweating for a while.
There's potential in this encounter, and it's refreshing to finally see an encounter with a dedicated ranged component to it, but it ultimately all depends on whether you can convince your PCs to jump that rift. You really should try.
Encounter rating: 3
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