Characters Brought Low

[virgil]

So, I was messing around with a plot twist of giving one of my fourth level players the ability to become a Rakshasa, with the four levels of Thief Acrobat, but only at night and only when exposed to the light of a 50lbs idol. This is the player who has been made fun of by himself and the rest of the group (mainly his fiance) as the weakest member of the party in every game through a combination of poor tactics and terrible dice luck.

They ran into a semi-recurring background character (potential villain?) that had generally looked tough at them.

I described him as a ghostly orc in fantasy/steampunk space marine armour.
Orc of Moria Swordwraith Mechanus Warrior 4 (Dark Minded, Unliving)
HD 4d12+12 (38hp), 'Large' size (Huge for numbers)
AC 26 (+16 armor), 25% Fortification, DR 10/epic, Sv +7/+1/+2 (Fort vs illusion), Immune Poison
Weapon Cogs +15
Diamond Drill 2d6+4/x4, ignore DR/Hardness
Magnet Dust Drill 1d8+11, touch
Rotary Drill 2d6+11/x4
Gear Thrower 1d6+2/18-20, 60' increment, double
Special: Locate Object 1/day
Stats 24, 10, 16, 6, 12, 10
Feats: Track, Endurance, Combat School, Juggernaut
Skills: Linguistics +5, Stealth +9, Notice +8
Gear: Mechanus Armor (Revising Tome Armor thread version), Tower Shield

He decided to flaunt his power and attempt to intimidate the group (rolled very poorly). In which case, combat starts. The orc's associates occupy the rest of the party, while the orc himself kills Rakshasa player in two rounds.

The fire mage in the group was also killed, and the rest of the group escaped with their lives. The player, after lots of checking, is fine with the loss and is looking forward to making a new character.

Holy crap, I didn't expect that to happen. I don't know whether to have the orc and his entire group level up from that fight (none of them died). The rest of the party levelled up already because they finished their quest afterwards (I do quest-based advancement, not fight-based). Suffice it to say, my party is going to be VERY cautious around the orc and his group from here on out.

[Dominicius]

The fire mage should have been able to waste this guy. I would have only let them fight him if they were at least level 3 at the time if we are talking about a group of 4 and that is if I were to just take him alone.

In any case, a pity about the lack of failsafes.

[virgil]

There was also a fire mage, assassin, & Tome ranger in the party; all level 3.

The orc was in cahoots with a 3rd level necromancer and two ghouls.