A Pact of Havoc

Encounter Level 13 (4500xp)

This encounter is intended to be the “last fight” of the heroic tier for a group of characters. At level 13 it is a Hard fight for level 10 characters, and the make up of the enemies is such that while not impossible to fight they will be very taxing on the party, so it is advisible to have this encounter with all the party having at least an AP and 1 or 2 daily powers available to them if you use it to cap a Heroic tier campaign. In fact this fight may prove challenging for level 12 characters (hence why it is listed as a Paragon Tier encounter).

The setup for the encoutner assumes that the characters are involved in a battle, and that this encounter will be the “deciding moment” of the battle. It should be proceeded with a skill challenge ideally to bring the characters to this point (and I’ll look at creating that tomorrow ;)).

When you are ready to start read or paraphrase:

On the ridge before you stands at last the commanders of the foul army of gnolls. Now is the time for you to strike the fateful blow and bring this conflict to an end, now is your time to prove you are Paragons!

Setup

1x Adult Pact Dragon
1x Havoc Gnoll Champion (riding the Pact Dragon)
1x Ettin Spirit-Talker
2x Dragonborn Raider

• If you have DMG2 it is recomended that you apply themes to these creatures. I suggest the “Those Who Hear” theme as it is particularly apt for Gnolls.
  Adult Pact Dragon – Aura of Madness
  Havoc Gnoll Champion – Psychic Scream
  Ettin Spirit-Talker – Mind Twist
  Dragonborn Raider – Seed of Madness
• For 4 PCs: Remove a Dragonborn Raider.
• For 6 PCs: Add a Dragonborn Raider.

Features of the Area

Illumination: The area is lit according to the time of day the encounter takes place. Brightly during the day, or dimly if at night (or other special conditions you might apply).

Blood Midges: Inside the circle of stones is entirely covered by blood midges refer DMG2 page 58 for details.

Standing Stones: Provide cover to characters adjacent to them and stand 15′ high. They can be climbed with a DC20 athletics check.

Tree Trunks :Are impassable and provide cover.

Tree Foliage: Is difficult terrain and provide concealment.

Tents: Are destroyed by Fire or Thunder area attacks that include them in their area. Against single target attacks they provide cover or total cover. Tents can be moved through as difficult terrain but doing so destroys them.

Ruined Wagon: Is difficult terrain. Small creatures can use it for cover.

Tactics

Despite the Havoc Gnoll is only being level 12, allow it to benefit from the Mount abilities of the Pact Dragon, and also remember that the Pact Dragon gives the Gnoll an ally that it is adjacent to, so they will always try to maneuver to have at least one other ally adjacent to the enemy they are engaging. The two of them with the Ettin will try and engage the melee members of the party while the Dragonborn Raiders will try and move around to strike at any ranged attacks, both trying to attack a single ranged attacker at once.

Ending the Encounter

The encounter ends once the all the enemies are dead, or you decide the Gnoll flees (should you want a recurring villain for a few levels the Teleport 10 power of the Dragon is quite good for allowing the two of them to escape).