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devasque
Sergeant
874 Posts
    
 | | 03/28/2006 3:39 PM |
| Reading about the TPK/Chuul encounter got me wondering again if your group, mixed and mashed as they are, would have even survived if all of them had been present and accounted for. They just don't sound like they've much fighting capability (since your paladin seems the only steady hitter) or true 'sneak' to handle the silent end of things. The cleric sounds like he's geared more to fighter then healer and is being taffy pulled to cover both.
I thought about placing RHD in Eberron as an official break in to the realm but decided to keep it in my homebrew realm for now so the players are not spinning too badly. Looking over the character sheets I've recieved so far I think my party is looking at holding up well compared to the race/class mix your running. Only one I'm iffy on is the Tiefling Binder (new class from ToM) but I figured he's the guts to play it I'll let him.
I've had some just plain goofy party mixes before and they've resulted in much the same as what your going through with your party. Sometimes no matter how much you 'want' to challenge yet see them succeed they just pull out the stops in doing things that secure their own fate. | |
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Shoe
Sergeant
804 Posts
| | 03/28/2006 6:10 PM |
| I do think that the chuul was a particularly difficult creature for this party's makeup. High AC, high saves, nearly 100 hp, high attack bonus, improved grab with a high grapple check, and the grappling nerfed the party's primary "blaster" type - since normally the Warlock can reliably put 11 points of damage per round (3d6+1) on a single target. If they'd have had their barbarian, it would have been at least one more target, and likely enough more damage potential to tilt the balance in their favor.
The binder, by the way, is reasonable at filling any missing party niche, and can be a fairly strong class. I'd be interested in knowing how that works out "in the real world". (I was lead developer on the pact and shadow magic sections of that book, and I think Matt did a great job with it.)
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IanB
Commander
3112 Posts
| | 03/28/2006 6:22 PM |
| The binder is certainly a conceptually sexy class. I don't know yet how it will work out in play but I'm looking forward to having someone try it.
I like all 3 of the new classes, actually, but I think the binder is definitely the coolest design. | |
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Teflon Jeff
Warlord
7908 Posts
Sector 2814
| | 03/29/2006 12:41 AM |
| | I'm looking forward to running this for my group. And one of my players is looking hard at the binder class. Maybe a little nudge is in order. | |
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griffrat
Commander
3507 Posts
| | 03/29/2006 6:13 AM |
| quote:
Originally posted by Shoe
..... If they'd have had their barbarian, it would have been at least one more target, and likely enough more damage potential to tilt the balance in their favor.
I think this is a very true statement. Anytime you are missing a party member it changes the entire dynamic of how a combat "might" go. Not only the things shoe mentions, but also the potential for a different tactical approach. Sometimes, having the full compliment of party members means that there could be that one last epiphany before engagement that could effect the entire outcome.
Just my take.... | |
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devasque
Sergeant
874 Posts
| | 03/29/2006 10:40 AM |
| quote:
Originally posted by Shoe
The binder, by the way, is reasonable at filling any missing party niche, and can be a fairly strong class. I'd be interested in knowing how that works out "in the real world". (I was lead developer on the pact and shadow magic sections of that book, and I think Matt did a great job with it.)
Will do, the party with the exception of two players is the same I've run for awhile and they have more of a neutral mercenary feel to their party so bringing on the Binder for muscle won't rub anyone the wrong way as some of the binder's manifestations can be a bit extreme and I don't think it'd mesh well with holy holy paladin or cleric types. | |
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IanB
Commander
3112 Posts
| | 03/29/2006 4:59 PM |
| Reading about the missing characters, etc., I'm wondering if the way I run my games is not normal?
When a player can't show up, I typically reschedule.
In proudft's games, we have basically one guy who can't come every time, so he has 2 different campaigns going at any given time, one with that guy, and one without. | |
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Shoe
Sergeant
804 Posts
| | 03/29/2006 7:17 PM |
| quote:
Originally posted by IanB
Reading about the missing characters, etc., I'm wondering if the way I run my games is not normal?
When a player can't show up, I typically reschedule.
The weekly game running on Wednesday nights happens as long as we've got at least 4 players. We usually have 5, but due to everyone's own personal schedule, it's not uncommon that one player can't make it. If a major battle or plot event is about to occur, and only 4 players are available, then we'll substitute in board games instead. But that campaign keeps chugging.
My saturday group is harder to get together, since we've all got weekend plans that crop up from time to time. Since we only meet once every 3-4 weeks, we make a more concerted effort to get all the players in each session. | |
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griffrat
Commander
3507 Posts
| | 03/29/2006 9:23 PM |
| quote:
Originally posted by IanB
...When a player can't show up, I typically reschedule....
I have a rule if 3 out of 5 can't make it then it is a "one off night". This is where I flush out some of the strings of campaign ideas. This helps fill in plot cross overs and spur some interesting new twists in the homebrew world.... | |
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Bagpuss
Sneak
113 Posts
| | 03/30/2006 6:28 AM |
| | Shame the miniature tie in with War Drums didn't come off, anyone know if the tie in figures going to be in the set after War Drums? | |
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Shoe
Sergeant
804 Posts
| | 03/30/2006 1:34 PM |
| To continue the campaign report;
For the first night in a while, there were no character deaths (though a couple PCs still went unconscious)! The wizbard and warlock didn't show, but the warforged barbarian made a triumphant return.
After the prior week's party kill with the chuul, the players expected that I'd reroll the random encounter, and we'd restart there. It seemed reasonable to me, so I grabbed my trusty d10s and threw them down on the table. Result: 20. Checking the chart on page 50, it turns out that a result of 20 is... a chuul! I laughed and the shifter's player looked up and said "you rolled the chuul, didn't you?" Nodding, I decided I'd give the party one more chance to change their fate, presenting the d10s to that player. His roll? 17. Chuul, again. It was fate. They'd have to make it work.
I figured, in general, that this go round the party would benefit from addition by subtraction - after all, the wizbard and warlock contributed negative hp to last week's fight (with the warlock blasting two grappling comrades), and the barbarian would probably hit at least once, had a natural attack to use while grappling, and was immune to paralysis.
This time, the fight went the party's way, eventually. The warforged was attacked and grappled first, but managed to break free of the tentacles after a couple rounds. Meanwhile the paladin and lurk both got grappled and paralyzed. The lurk managed to use a couple Int-damage attacks to drop the chuul's Int to 4, at which point I determined that it would choose to attack whoever had damaged it the most in any given round (instead of focusing on one PC). This spread the attacks out a bit. The PCs were aided by the dragonborn paladin actually hitting this time around, and he even critted once. When the battle was over, both the paladin and lurk were down, and the raging barbarian would have fallen once its rage ended, but the cleric was still up and managed to patch together the remnants of the party, and they continued along the trail toward Rhest.
The next encounter was with the greenspawn razorfiend. The party spotted it pretty quickly, with the dragonborn's detect dragonkin ability and the lurk's high Spot (they expected dragon after seeing the dissolving corpse of the giant owl). The greenspawn started by using Spring Attack to wear down the party, but eventually it got surrounded. It managed to drop the dragonborn (a running theme, actually), but was down to around 20 hp and so moved away from the group, to set up a couple more hit-and-run attacks or even perhaps flee. It took one hit on a lucky opportunity attack (its AC of 23/24 while moving/dodging is very respectable), and then the it was caught by complete surprise when the cleric rolled near max damage on a searing light, dropping it in its tracks.
One note - it never really did try to use its breath weapon. The party was pretty good about staying away from each other this time around, and 5d6-save for half always seemed less good than 2d6+6, no save. It might have had most of the party in one breath once they all closed into melee - but even then the prospect of hitting with two wingblades just seemed better.
After that victory, I brought in the Tiri Kitor. I remembered someone mentioning using shifters in place of elves for this section, so I did so. The Tiri Kitor in this game are now shifters with the Swiftwing trait (Races of Eberron, page 27), giving them wings and a Dex boost when they shift (though I made the wings feathery, rather than bat-like). The party made a relatively decent impression, and the novelty of the dragonborn piqued the interest of the Speaker and High Priest of Starsong Hill.
All in all a fairly successful outing for the PCs. Nobody died, and three of them hit 6th level (the barbarian is behind due to missing a few sessions). The Spawn have been introduced, with the PCs now aware that the spawn have both draconic and infernal ties. I had a "guest miniature" sitting near my end of the tac-tiles, to remind the PCs where the adventure was headed.
Next week, they'll head into Rhest! | |
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Grey Dragon
Sneak
75 Posts
| | 03/30/2006 2:34 PM |
| quote:
Originally posted by Bagpuss
Shame the miniature tie in with War Drums didn't come off, anyone know if the tie in figures going to be in the set after War Drums?
I wouldn't say it didn't come off-- the Blood Ghost Berserker and Hobgoblin Archer are both in War Drums, as are a couple of other RHoD encounters (Chimera and Hill Giants off the top of my head, maybe others as well). As for War of the Dairy Queen, we've known from the start that we'd have to wait until then for the Aspect of Tiamat (which is, I'm fairly certain, the "guest mini" Shoe was referring to in his last post). Given this, I'm fairly sure we'll see other RHoD minis in the set as well. Doom Fist Monks, Kulkur Zhor War Adepts and Lesser Bonedrinkers seem likely, and Ghost Lions, Blue Abishai or Greenspawn Razorfiends would be cool as well. Of course, several of the main villains would make great minis as well-- a Bugbear Sorcerer (Wyrmlord Koth), Blackspawn Ninja (Skather) or Lich Blighter (the Ghostlord) would be very nice. In addition, Ulawi Stormcaller and Azar Kull himself could be awesome Uniques. And of course, there's the standard speculation regarding Huge figs-- Forest Giants, Yrthaks and Hydras, oh my! Regardless, I expect a RHoD campaign will get quite a boost from WotDQ. | |
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maijstral
Underboss
2105 Posts
| | 03/30/2006 8:24 PM |
| quote:
Originally posted by Grey Dragon
quote:
Originally posted by Bagpuss
Shame the miniature tie in with War Drums didn't come off, anyone know if the tie in figures going to be in the set after War Drums?
I wouldn't say it didn't come off-- the Blood Ghost Berserker and Hobgoblin Archer are both in War Drums, as are a couple of other RHoD encounters (Chimera and Hill Giants off the top of my head, maybe others as well).
Don't forget snig worg rider, to bad he's a rare, good thing you usually don't need more than two at a time. (unless the party is doing somthing dumb [)]) | | | |
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griffrat
Commander
3507 Posts
| | 03/30/2006 8:35 PM |
| | Rhest!!!! Awesome!! This is one of the parts of the mod that I am looking forward to. The thought of the hatchery and the "guardians" very nice place indeed.....[:D] | |
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Fry
Underboss
1724 Posts
| | 03/30/2006 8:50 PM |
| quote:
Originally posted by Shoe
After the prior week's party kill with the chuul, the players expected that I'd reroll the random encounter, and we'd restart there. It seemed reasonable to me, so I grabbed my trusty d10s and threw them down on the table. Result: 20. Checking the chart on page 50, it turns out that a result of 20 is... a chuul! I laughed and the shifter's player looked up and said "you rolled the chuul, didn't you?" Nodding, I decided I'd give the party one more chance to change their fate, presenting the d10s to that player. His roll? 17. Chuul, again. It was fate.
What kind of chart were you rolling on?
1. Chuul
2-100. See 1. | |
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Corim Danex
Warlord
6842 Posts
West Valley City, Utah
| | 03/30/2006 10:09 PM |
| Snig, Worg Rider is too large to use in this adventure.
I hope there are several more RHoD miniatures in WotDQ. Not just tiamat, but several of the ones that have been mentioned. Koth's dead in my campaign, but it would be interesting having a bugbear spellcaster anyway. | |
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griffrat
Commander
3507 Posts
| | 03/30/2006 10:12 PM |
| | Very true, a Koth fig (the art work in the RHD is very nice) would be really cool. A bugbear in robes would be most welcome as it would make a nice cleric/spellcaster.... | |
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AnarionZelle
Underboss
1196 Posts
USA
| | 04/01/2006 3:42 AM |
| quote:
Originally posted by maijstral
Awesome looking battle, the fort looks like it would make a great proxie for one of the main encounters at the beggining of The Red Hand of Doom module, you might consider posting a link to the picture in that thread in the roleplaying forum.
heck this could be a decent start to some of the horde battles in the module as well.
http://maxminis.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=17980
Done [:)] | |
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Ridureyu
Underboss
1622 Posts
| | 04/01/2006 4:30 AM |
| | One thing, though. The art of Azarr Kul shows him wielding a sword and a shield, while the character sheet states that he uses a heavy pick. Which is it? | |
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griffrat
Commander
3507 Posts
| | 04/01/2006 7:21 AM |
| quote:
Originally posted by Ridureyu
One thing, though. The art of Azarr Kul shows him wielding a sword and a shield, while the character sheet states that he uses a heavy pick. Which is it?
There is the art on the very first page, by Des, that has him wielding a heavy pic....[:D] SO I would say it is what ever he reall wants to use..[)] | |
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Shoe
Sergeant
804 Posts
| | 04/06/2006 5:21 PM |
| Another week went by without a party kill, but primarily because the players bailed. Since the party is headed into Rhest, I wanted at least 5 of the 6 PCs present, but two of the players couldn't make it, so we decided to go with board games instead.
And by we, I mean me, the dragonborn's player, and my 11-month old daughter, since once everyone heard that we weren't gaming, they all checked out for the evening.
So a rousing game of keep-the-kid-from-grabbing-the-game-components of Domaine took place, and I managed to emerge victorious by enforcing a treaty with the domain with my opponent's largest force (after he defected a couple of my knights).
Next week, no rest until Rhest! | |
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Wrackspawn
ChristopherGroves
Warlord
6093 Posts
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Kandor
Skirmisher
16 Posts
| | 04/19/2006 10:34 PM |
| Okay, I have to know. What happened in Rhest?
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Corim Danex
Warlord
6842 Posts
West Valley City, Utah
| | 04/19/2006 11:25 PM |
| My party was on the Skull Gorge Bridge last week. Our ranger succeeded in fumbling and shooting an elven fighter in the party--I didn't really know the rules for fumbles off hand, so after the natural one I said roll a dexterity save. He failed that. I rolled a random direction for the arrow to fire off in. The random direction was where the elven fighter was (who was down to 11 hp). I said, roll an attack roll against the elf's flatfooted AC (the elf wouldn't expect an arrow to come flying at her from the party ranger). He rolled a natural 20. Ouch. I asked him to roll to confirm the crit. Natural 19. Enough damage was done to knock the elf down to -18...
Oops. Well, the player wants to roll up a new character instead of having the party use the staff of life. | |
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Teflon Jeff
Warlord
7908 Posts
Sector 2814
| | 04/19/2006 11:28 PM |
| come on, it's almost been two weeks, I'm going nuts!!
the suspense is killing me, i wanna know what happens nex
(calms down, and stops living life [kinda] vicariously through other gamers) | |
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taliesin
Underboss
1113 Posts
| | 04/24/2006 1:50 PM |
| Oooh, Corim. Harsh. First, fumbles are optional, you should have discussed whether your group was using them from the get-go. Second, it's only a dc 10 dex check to avoid the fumble. Third, fumbles are just supposed to be an inconvienent loss of an action (bowstring breaks, you have to spend a round restringing the bow, sword sticks into a tree and it takes a round to yank it free, etc). Fourth, a player can voluntarily fail any roll, check, or save, including the roll to confirm a critical hit.
I hope you at least let the new character come in at the same level the last character was. | |
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Shoe
Sergeant
804 Posts
| | 04/24/2006 2:08 PM |
| | Update soon - we've had a couple sessions since the last update, but I haven't had a chance to get a report up. Maybe tonight, if I can get the bebe to take a nap... | |
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AesophDarkfable
Warlord
5628 Posts
| | 04/24/2006 3:48 PM |
| quote:
Originally posted by Shoe
Update soon - we've had a couple sessions since the last update, but I haven't had a chance to get a report up. Maybe tonight, if I can get the bebe to take a nap...
Sweeet. Waiting with antici.....pation. | |
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Korhal_IV
Sergeant
852 Posts
| | 04/26/2006 8:52 PM |
| | My party has smashed Skull Gorge Bridge (darn warlock!) and headed for Saarvith in Rhest. I'm interested in hearing how your party's done, Shoe! | |
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taliesin
Underboss
1113 Posts
| | 04/30/2006 2:51 PM |
| My party just watched the evacuees flee Drellin's Ferry, walked down to the Rhestwash, boarded a skiff, and began poling north to Lake Rhest.
It seems we're all about the same place... | |
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Amurayi
Underboss
1471 Posts
| | Knight of Argenis
Corim Danex
Warlord
6842 Posts
West Valley City, Utah
| | 04/30/2006 5:09 PM |
| | My group is headed north to Rhest, also. They took out the guard blockade on the west of Lake Rhest (I think that's the name of the lake). I'm thinking that since they're as far ahead of schedule as they are (and taking a casualty here and there) that I may need to add a few of those lesser encounters to help them get more experience. | |
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Shoe
Sergeant
804 Posts
| | 05/02/2006 6:11 PM |
| Onward into Rhest!
When last we left our intrepid adventurers (I start nearly every session with this sentence) they had found solace in the small village of swiftwing shifters, hidden within the swamplands near the ruined city of Rhest. The party learned from the shifters that goblinoids, ogres, and dragons had set up camp in the ruined city, and had enlisted the local lizardfolk as well. So the heroes set off to investigate this matter further, and discover the of the word "Saarvith" inscribed on the goblin map they had liberated from Vraath Keep.
They started with a quick and dirty battle against a group of lizardfolk near the edges of the sunken city. But in the confusion of the fight, one of the lizardfolk got away, and swam off to warn the hobgoblins in the town. The alarm was raised, preventing an easy approach to the city. The party decided to take one of the lizardfolks' boats into the city, and then once among the city ruins they tried to keep out of sight as they advanced on the belltower.
Though they were spotted on the approach, the party was able to quickly overwhelm the hobgoblins. The wizbard concocted a plan to avoid the ringing of the tower's bell by dimension hopping into the belfry and firebursting the hobgoblins. A great plan, that didn't count on one of the hobgoblins surviving - which did, and once again rang the bell to alerting the rest of Rhest's inhabitants.
The combat was over quickly, but the real damage was yet to come. Saarvith mounted his black dragon companion Regiarix, and flew out toward the belltower. Once there, the dragon strafed the PCs with his acid breath while Saarvith rained down arrows (shifter bane arrows, in keeping with the Tiri Kitor theme). A couple solid hits on the party's shifter cleric caused the PCs to take cover inside the belltower, but a couple lucky shots from the warlock in the belfry sent Saarvith and the dragon down into a nearby building ruin for cover - cover enhanced by a casting of darkness by the dragon.
The PCs tried to get organized, while Saarvith found a position from which to snipe, and Regi the dragon advanced underwater, springing up on the boardwalk to breathe on the PCs in the tower. With the dragon in melee range, the PCs rushed out to fight it, while the Warlock kept trying to hit the hiding Saarvith. Round after round passed, with the poorly coordinated PCs trying to hit the dragon, but not working to avoid its breath weapon. Eventually, a combination of Saarvith's shifter bane arrows and the dragon's attacks finally dropped the high-AC shifter cleric. But the party fought on. The wizbard stabilized the shifter with a wand, but didn't heal the cleric on subsequent rounds, instead electing to fire his bow into melee at the high-AC dragon that had cover.
Well, this is where it gets messy. The party continued to fight right in front of the dragon, staying lined up for a blast of its breath weapon -- a blast that also would hit the fallen cleric. Each round, on its turn, I indicated that the dragon looked ready to breathe again, giving the PCs the opportunity to scatter, or at least get the cleric out of the way. Each player had two chances to act, and on the dragon's second turn after dropping the cleric, it breathed again, further damaging most of the PCs, and melting the cleric into so much goo.
Over the next couple rounds, the dragon became wounded enough that it decided to flee, stopping briefly to pick up Saarvith before heading back to the town hall to recuperate.
The PCs ran back, tail between their legs, to the Tiri Kitor village, so that they, too, could rest up and perhaps tackle the dragon with a bit more planning.
Next up, a players meeting, a return to Rhest, and a lesson on why a wizbard shouldn't try swimming. (more to come, soon) | |
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TYGRHobbes
Sneak
149 Posts
| | 05/03/2006 7:45 PM |
| First of all, great thread! It's been very helpful reading since the group I'm taking through is pretty much in the same spot as Shoe's. I'm one of 3 DMs that rotate weekly at our local game shop. I've got RHoD set in the FR setting (southern Shaar). The Shining South book is very helpful on creating a background.
To divert to party makeup for a sec, I have a group of tree-huggers. It seems nobody got together to discuss party composition. They ended up with 3 rangers, a pure druid, a druid/wizard (guess what PrC she's gonna be), a barbarian, a wannabe dervish and the oddball of the group, the warlock. It was also kind of funny that all 3 rangers took dragon as their favorite enemy. I hope they weren't peeking at the adventure! Usually I don't like running adventures with more than 5 or 6 people but usually someone is missing or has to leave early. It's rare that every one shows up for the entire day (boy is it slow when they do!).
They are all 6th level. So far they haven't had much trouble with the adventure. I kinda figured that, since they were very well suited for outdoor adventuring. Like Shoe's group, they just can't seem to get by the random encounters without someone dying or seriously getting hurt. The Gray Render I rolled took out the pure druid for a snack. It carried her off into the forest while the party was chasing it. They had problems trying to catch it but they finally did and took it down. There went the staff of life res. They were unfortunate to get a random Greenspawn roll right before the roadblock. They were having a very difficult time with it. It took one of the rangers down to -8 with 3 hits, one of them a crit. I was a bit surprised how tough he was for a party of 6. I just hope they can get by the fixed encounter greenspawn, it seems to be this party's Chuul.
The main reason for this post is that I wanted to ask those of you running this adventure if they have had any problems with their players trying to skip past lots of content. The big culprit is the map they find in Vraath Keep. I was sweating bullets when they were discussing where to go after blowing the gorge bridge. Some of them were fixating on the Ghostlord scrawled across the bottom of the map. Others wanted to go straight to Brindol and say the heck with Drellin's Ferry. Not only was I not ready to skip that far into the module, I knew they'd get their butts handed to them if they tried to do the Ghostlord at that point. I had to resort to using the Brindol scout from the failed roadblock clearing hook in Drellin's Ferry earlier than I wanted to. At least that got them pointed north and heading toward Rhest.
Another problem I was having was filling in the time it takes for the horde to reach Drellin's Ferry. They delayed the horde by clearing the keep and destroying the bridge which added even more time. I figured if they didn't go to Rhest, there would be a week to fill in to keep them busy. Fortunately they went to Rhest with a little push from me. They probably will get back just in the nick of time to save the town (if they choose to evacuate them).
One of the players was bothering me with why the Lord didn't just send an army from Brindol to fight the Horde before it got to Brindol. He kept bothering the locals in Drellin's Ferry to send word to the Lord. He also sent his flying animal companion with messages to Brindol as well. I seem to be running out of excuses why the army isn't coming.
I figure after they return fom Rhest I'll be either running the Ghostlord part or the chain of encounters that lead up to the defense of Brindol. It's seems like pretty smooth sailing for the DM from there on (as long as they don't pick to go to Tiamat's shrine right away!) I guess I'm worrying too much on the player's going off on a tangent. If anyone has any tips on the topics I brought up I'd gladly appreciate them. Thanks and have fun!! | |
Champion of the Lamia
www.tygrhobbes.com | |
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tirwin
Sergeant
462 Posts
North Dakota, USA
| | 05/03/2006 10:35 PM |
| Shoe I can't say enough about your ability to tell the story with just the right amount of meat and potato's. It really is the perfect read. It also really makes me anxious to run the RHoD this June. We have a great group that will love this epic storyline.
I am also anxious to hear some answers to TYGRHobbes' questions. As I can hopefully learn some helpful hints to avoid these same pitfalls.
Can't wait to read the next installment of the story!!! | |
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| Knight of Argenis
Corim Danex
Warlord
6842 Posts
West Valley City, Utah
| | 05/04/2006 3:43 AM |
| quote:
Originally posted by TYGRHobbes
One of the players was bothering me with why the Lord didn't just send an army from Brindol to fight the Horde before it got to Brindol. He kept bothering the locals in Drellin's Ferry to send word to the Lord. He also sent his flying animal companion with messages to Brindol as well. I seem to be running out of excuses why the army isn't coming.
The answer could be quite simple--the forces in the vale are set up for the smaller towns to retreat into the fortified area of Brindol. The leaders don't know (or maybe they do, depending on what the party has learned and told them) how dangerous the situation is, and the highest priority is to defend the city of Brindol. It was quite common in the middle ages for small towns to seek shelter in the walled cities from advancing foes.
Brindol has a larger army--one that is needed to defend Brindol, but ready to help shelter others who come to Brindol for shelter.
I hope this helps. | |
"Look to God and live." Alma 37:47
Vindicated Champ of Hippogriff (Arcadian Hippogriff) and Uncommon Horse | |
| Knight of Argenis
Corim Danex
Warlord
6842 Posts
West Valley City, Utah
| | 05/04/2006 3:49 AM |
| quote:
Originally posted by Shoe
Well, this is where it gets messy. The party continued to fight right in front of the dragon, staying lined up for a blast of its breath weapon -- a blast that also would hit the fallen cleric. Each round, on its turn, I indicated that the dragon looked ready to breathe again, giving the PCs the opportunity to scatter, or at least get the cleric out of the way. Each player had two chances to act, and on the dragon's second turn after dropping the cleric, it breathed again, further damaging most of the PCs, and melting the cleric into so much goo.
I notice something with my group--they tend to get one general strategy in their head and try it in all situations. If they get burned a few times in one fight with breath weapons, then they are sure to spread out for the next fight. When several fights pass without spreading out being important, they start packing it in again.
This is just an example in one area. They tend to be very reactionary to near death experiences and danger, but don't seem to have enough experience to know when to do what in future situations. The biggest reason is that many players are first time role-players. Even though they're now level seven, there are simply a lot of things that they haven't had experience with.
For example, our wizard kept running to the front in the encounter at the Skull Bridge, and as a result, got breathed on by the dragon all three times the dragon was able to breathe. The player just didn't realize that the best thing to do was to stick back in the trees and take advantage of the wand of magic missiles and memorized magic missiles to hit the dragon wherever it went, but remain out of a lot of the danger. In later fights, I noticed the wizard hanging back when it wasn't as important. | |
"Look to God and live." Alma 37:47
Vindicated Champ of Hippogriff (Arcadian Hippogriff) and Uncommon Horse | |
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griffrat
Commander
3507 Posts
| | 05/04/2006 6:25 AM |
| Shoe, thanks once again for posting the updates. I am running this adventure in the fall and everytime I read the update I see how tough the episodes are for the PCs that don't come up with a good plan of action, or come up witha brilliant plan and don't follow through with the entire plan (letting an enemy get away is always a bad thing. Brings to mind Han Solo running around the corner into a garrison of Stormtroopers).
I am going to be very up front with the players as there is only a couple of them that I have gamed with in the past. So, new people need to know where I am coming from. I am planning on saying something along the lines of when we first meet up, "It is this simple, this is going to be a very dangerous story. This is the stuff bards can't even think of and the reason that most people don't adventure. If you don't think and pay attention you will rack up a lot of dead character sheets."
Again Shoe, thanks for the updates!!! For me Rhest is one of the toughest parts of the adventure as the terrain and set up completly favor the hobgobs as defenders. Eleveated positions, cover and concealment, and clear lines of sight through all avenues of approach....tough..... | |
Ambassador of FUN!!! | |
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Zeb
Underboss
2027 Posts
| | 05/04/2006 6:34 AM |
| Corim,
I have noticed the same thing in most gamers. They have a tendency to use the same successful tactics in every situation. However, as any police officer will tell you, every situation is different. The "accustomed to success" feeling can turn into a TPK very quickly.
I have two groups, one of ex-military, cops, and security professionals. They routinely mop up encounters 1-2 levels higher than they are for numerous reasons:
- They work well together.
- They are used to working as a team.
- They tailor their tactics to the situation, not a one-size-fits-all approach.
- They are not afraid to retreat if they feel they are overmatched.
My other group has had three TPKs, two for stupidity and one for arrogance. The "we can take them" charge into combat only works sometimes! [)] Hey, bad guys can learn too...
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Champion of the Frost Giant Jarl
"Pray that you meet death standing on your feet, rather than on your knees." | |
|
griffrat
Commander
3507 Posts
| | 05/04/2006 7:01 AM |
| quote:
Originally posted by Zeb
- They work well together.
- They are used to working as a team.
- They tailor their tactics to the situation, not a one-size-fits-all approach.
- They are not afraid to retreat if they feel they are overmatched.
My other group has had three TPKs, two for stupidity and one for arrogance. The "we can take them" charge into combat only works sometimes! [)] Hey, bad guys can learn too...
These are the stark contrasts between my two groups that I have ran in the past. It seems the group that can work the best together comes out on top the fastest. Getting a good plan of action together is part of it. Knowing when the plan is falling apart and adapting to the situation is the other part. For instance, how many times has a death or TPK come from the final words, "We can take 'em"? | |
Ambassador of FUN!!! | |
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