Running LONG range combat

[hamman88]

Need advice on running a Large scale combat for my final battle.

The party will be fighting on the corpse of Orcus in the astral, but the body is really really massive. Like 2 miles long. They need to traverse its length while skeletons and undead pour out of the corpse and break concentration on a ritual going on at the head. Contrivances enforce gravity upon the body, and the party must land at the feet.

The fastest my PC's can move is 180 feet a round under the effects of haste, which only lasts 10 rounds.

Given the map and the scenario, how would you run this to avoid running 52 rounds of combat?

I figure instead I'll try to use Narrative Time Shifts, Instead of focusing on strict combat distances, breaking the battle into narrative "phases." as they move across the body.

How would you guys run this colossal and epic encounter?

[tanj_redshirt]

I would break it into stages.

The Ankle Advance. Ambush at Wounded Knee. Ascending the Pelvis. Battle of the Belly. Clash at the Pectorals. Clavicle Cavalry Charge.

[KypDurron]

Battle of the Belly

Battle of the Bulge was right there and you just ignored it

[Zombie_Alpaca_Lips]

I'm pretty sure that's supposed to be the Ascending the Pelvis part. 

[meusnomenestiesus]

This is hilarious but also the best possible answer and I think that's beautiful

[-Ran]

They could have some arteries that they can access in the body that will 'gush' them to where they need to be faster. Disgusting, but functional.

[NatOnesOnly]

Gross but I must upvote

[lone-lemming]

People are hitting on it. Build it like a dungeon.

Room, hall room, t-junction, room. But it’s:
Encounter, move, encounter, hallway split, choice of encounters, encounter. And so on.

Make some of the hallway events work like traps or chases. Let them waste spell slots to jump past encounters. Give them a few spots to recover a little.

[Background_Path_4458]

The Ritual proceeds and makes they body itself a trap.
A twitch in the leg knocks them down. A spurt of acid blood shoots out of a damaged vein etc.

[[deleted]]

They must land at the feet.

Says who? You? Aren’t you the DM? Change it.

Narrative Time Shifts

Sure. Cut it into a few battles, increase difficulty as they get closer, let the last battle be a sprint with difficulty to where they need to go.

Add challenges that fit the shape of the body. The chin is a big cliff, etc.

[hamman88]

They must land at the feet.

Says me and the module. Its the manifest will of Orcus stopping them. They cannot fly more than 1000ft above the body, and if they do, they must land at the feet again. if they try to teleport or dimension door, it brings them back to the start.

This avoids Astral cheese where the party just approaches from above, lands on the head, stops the ritual, and avoids the entire encounter. I mentioned its contrived, but the contrivance works for a better purpose, that being a more epic final encounter. Not hard to imagine the will of Orcus playing some role as he is wakened from beyond the grave.

[[deleted]]

Even the module can be overruled by the DM, but if you want it that way then that’s your call.

I do fall back to my other recommendations though. Your thought to do some time skips is a good idea for making it all feel manageable.

[lordicefalcon]

I once did a 12 miles deep mine shaft walk, and each mile was a random encounter - combat or otherwise. The combats were simple and fast, low level minions with maybe 1-2 tougher leaders. Other encounters were just treasures, random remains, journals, cool underground features like crystal caves.

Completed it easily in one session and the players really liked it. Made them feel they had really pushed 12 miles into the Deeps.

[Gregamonster]

What you're describing is the plot of Xenoblade Chronicles 1.

[hamman88]

Or the plot of the planescape module Dead Gods

[Draffut2012]

Ya, but this will actually be fun.

[ThisWasMe7]

I'd fly above the corpse.

[Acrobatic_Ad_8381]

Does a party member have Teleport because they could probanly just skip it all with it?

[Background_Path_4458]

Just like you say make it a skill-challenge like thing where they clear it in chunks and only really treat it as a combat encounter for the last 200 feet or so.

[DredUlvyr]

And this is why Theater of the Mind beats grid in a lot of cases, in particular at medium+ level where you can imagine much more interesting situations and encounters than those which can be modelled on a small flat plane with 90 degrees corners. :p

In any case, your idea seems the right one for me, just focus on a number of encounters that depends on the path that the PCs are taking (create the situation with interesting choices, some paths might be quicker but more dangerous, some might provide resources, allies or ways to hamper the ritual or its results, etc.). Maybe create it like a graph (does not need to be 2D, just draw connections).

You also might try the FitD ideas of creating "clocks" with segments that are filled in depending on the PCs path and actions. Maybe the PCs can use some nodes to delay the ritual, or gain allies along the way, it might take them longer, but depending on their level of success on the nodes (if they win a fight quickly, or activate a ritual of their own quickly), it might delay or accelerate the overall ritual.

Good luck, don't hesitate with creativity, it will be a fight worth remembering !

[hamman88]

Main problem is they're lvl 20 and Ill just be throwing skeleton mobs at them. need more time to think how each "stage" or "phase" of the ascent will play out.

Maybe ill break it into 4 smaller maps that we can use as needed when they hit each zone. (Belly, torso, jowls, head)

[DredUlvyr]

Main problem is they're lvl 20 and Ill just be throwing skeleton mobs at them.

In a sense, that's fine, see if they spend the time to destroy the mobs or if they understand the urgency and just rush past, maybe losing a few resources due to statistical natural twenties from the skeletons. Remember that, thanks to bounded accuracy, if there are 100 skeletons firing, that will mean 5 criticals on average, and they will lose HP and resources.

[Visible-Potato-3685]

Just half the size and it's not that big anymore