Mind Flayers are running the Asylum Quest

A mind flayer is feeding of the patients in an asylum.
Will the PCs kill the mind flayer even if all its thralls revert to being insane?

History

Photo provided by State Records NSW

About a hundred years ago, a young half-elf physician named Derrin Urcabae began treating the mentally deficient and insane. As one of the few people in the city who would do so, he soon found himself overwhelmed with patients.

After his death, investigations discovered that Derrin Urcabae used his position and the facilities to perform inhuman experiments on some of the truly mad inmates.
He performed brain surgeries in order to fix the madness and had a special laboratory for this.

Benefits of Small D&D Parties

Free image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I prefer playing with smaller parties.
There are benefits and drawbacks
to having fewer PCs.

A while back there was an article about
handling a solo party.
I've never run a solo party but I've played with a small amount of players.

I like smaller parties but I can imagine there are DMs that like larger parties because there are more player interactions and large scale battles.

Intelligent Antagonists

Killer Queen by Louise Docker

There are pitfalls when the PCs face intelligent antagonists.
These pitfalls make playing D&D less fun.
An intelligent villain done wrong makes players think of railroads and that they're powerless to face the antagonist because of his knowledge, power level, etc.

Tharaxus, Human Paladin

Tharaxus is a powerful paladin and local leader who is rumored to be invincible.
Will this antagonist end up as friend or foe?

Recurring antagonists

Recurring antagonists are essential in story telling as they oppose the PCs.
Their recurring nature creates a connection between them and the PCs which leads to a better story.