DnD Commando Short Adventure

I'm working on a short adventure where the players are all 16th level, fast, sneaky and capable of doing high first round damage. This will not be a combat only adventure, though that will be the focus.

Plot

Alarms sound in Taligos city. On the horizon Drakoth Keep burns, illuminating the night sky. Nobody knows what happened. The Council is in session.

Character Creation

Minimum Requirements

All PCs are expected to meet the following requirements. Failure to do so will likely result in an untimely death.

• Movement Speed 6 (Recommended 7)
  • This is the base speed of most opponents you will be facing. Any slower and you will not be able to withdraw from a failed engagement, nor pursue a fleeing foe.
  • Melee characters may want to boost this even higher, to make getting into position easier.
  • If the whole party has a speed of 7+ then many new tactics may be possible.
• Stealth Skill +15 (Recommended +20)
  • Most equal level monsters have between a +10 and +18 to perception. Any lower than this and you will not be very likely to hide when you need to.
  • Possible sources of bonus: +8, 1/2 lvl; +5, skill training. +0-+7; Dex. +2 racial; +1 Background; +3 Skill Focus; +4 Magic Item; Total possible bonus +30 (and I'm probably missing something).
• Initiative +13 (Recommended +20)
  • Most foes you will be facing have a +10 to initiative, with some being higher. This is the minimum to have a decent chance of going first.
  • Don't forget that some classes/items give a bonus to the whole party. A +5/+6 from a Warlord should easily put you over +20.
• Attack Bonus +22 vs AC, +20 vs Nads -
  • The average opponent will have AC 28-32, and Nads around 28. Big Bads will be even higher. +22 vs AC gives you a 50% chance of hitting an AC of 35, when you have combat advantage. You don't want your attack roll getting below that.
  • If you don't have Weapon/Implement Expertise or Focused Expertise, then you should take it. The extra +2 to hit is huge.

General Build Suggestions

Strikers

Probably the most important role for this game. Make sure that you can do high amounts of damage in the surprise round and first round of combat. Don't be afraid to use action points or dailies early. You also want to look for attacks that have multiple hits, either AoE or multi-strike abilities, as these tend to do the best burst damage. If you're melee, make sure you can get close so that you don't waste actions. Don't worry too much about minions. Let the lower damage characters deal with them.

Controllers

If you can severely hamper a large number of foes in the first round of combat, then you effectively get an extra bonus round for your strikers. Try to have the ability to lock down a single target for big "boss" fights, when the first round burst won't be enough. The party will be squishy, so the more damage you can prevent in the few longer fights, the better things will go. Also try to have some ability to kill minions.

Defenders

Most fights won't have much defendery stuff to do. You'll just be picking up scraps at the end of an early burst. Try to be able to contribute to the burst, and possible have a good AoE taunt to keep the squishies safe for an extra round. It'll be important to have a daily that lets you tank hard for big fights, and as much burst damage as you can squeeze out for the rest of the encounters. Also try to have some ability to kill minions.

Leaders

Don't worry too much about healing, instead focus on buffing the strikers for first strike damage. However big daily emergency healing is a good thing. Try to talk your allies into multiclassing into Cleric, Warlord or Bard for an extra minor action healing surge each day. Also try to have some ability to kill minions.