[Playtest 2] Any Deaths?

MortalPlague · Aug 27, 2012

I'm curious. I ran my PCs through half of the Blingdenstone adventure, and only scored two hits. Most of the encounters seemed to result in PCs winning initiative and cleaning up about half the bad guys before they got a chance to attack. And when the monster had the chance to attack, they needed a good roll to connect, which they did not get. Mostly.

So has anyone seen a PC die in this playtest push? Or are monsters that toothless in this latest set?

Arytiss · Aug 27, 2012

My PCs tended to win against the monsters easily enough. (It took 4 Giant centipede's backed up by 8 kobolds to challenge them).

I did, however, have a death due to Purple Worm.

MarkB · Aug 27, 2012

No deaths, but our low-HP wizard dropped to only a couple of HP on occasion. With a few luckier dice rolls from monsters he'd have been in trouble.

The PCs in this playtest have a clear superiority, but their low starting hit points make it feel like a fragile advantage. I can't help feeling that it would take only a small adjustment to push things too far in the other direction, which makes achieving balance quite precarious.

Cerebral Paladin · Aug 27, 2012

I haven't played much with the current rule set, but: no deaths for us, but a couple of dying characters who survived, with the huge caveat that the characters were fighting a homebrewed monster (actually, a converted wood juggernaut from BECMI). I thought that was a pretty awesome fight, actually. But it doesn't say anything about whether the current Bestiary monsters are toothless.

Xeterog · Aug 27, 2012

Technically, we did have one death. The Wight multi-attacked the cleric, hit twice, rolled almost max damage (a 7 and a 8), and took her to negative numbers, only 4 from death. She made her 1st con save, but failed the 2nd and rolled a 6, technically killing her. But I gave the party a chance to use one of her healing potions before her next round to bring her back up to 0 (not more, just to 0). I am pretty sure I would have done the same even if it was not a playtest.

Rhenny · Aug 27, 2012

I ran an original adventure (6 combat encounters) with nobody getting to 0 hp. The rogue, wizard and cleric came close, but the 2 fighters barely got scratched.

We had a great time, but I think fighters need to be challenged more. Next time I run it, I'm going to add +2 to monster attack scores and see what happens.

Xeterog · Aug 27, 2012

Yea, it helped, as I did up some of the monster's attack scores--especially the elites. So, my players were hit more often than in other play tests. I did not give an across the board +2, but looked at each monster and gave them a bonus that 'felt' right, so some (fire beetles) got no bonus, some (the troll) got 1, and others (wight, higher level elites) got 2.

So, in my playtest, we had several heroes go below 0, but only the one 'died' briefly.

Crazy Jerome · Aug 27, 2012

I ran five 2nd level PCs from playtest 2 through more of the Caves of Chaos. Eight orcs attacking from ambush got them all down into single digits before their luck turned. They ended up not losing a person. But this was a classic case of mostly bad rolls by the players and good rolls by the monsters that flipped the other way right at the crucial moment. (It was all on the table. I never fudge.)

I think in the current Next rules, a low-level party that avoids ambush, avoids higher level monsters, does not push on after being low on resources, or doesn't get trapped (e.g. classic one-way door or the like)--is unlikely to suffer a death--and probably only a freak death when it does happen. The scouting rogue or a wizard caught in an opening hail of missile fire is the most likely death. OTOH, a similar party that doesn't avoid all of that, could easily suffer a TPK.

My next session is shaping up to have 7-9 3rd level PCs. I'm planning on throwing the kitchen sink at them, to find out what such a party can handle. :devil:

Rydac · Aug 29, 2012

No deaths, but lots of fear

I've run two sessions in the Blingdenstone adventure. A couple of characters have gone into negatives, but were quickly healed by the cleric. Many more have been at low hit points and afraid for their life

I agree the monsters "mostly" are a bit toothless, but with the characters low hit points often just one hit makes them scared they'll be hit again and go down. So in my viewpoint it is actually working, but does need some fine tuning

Teataine · Aug 29, 2012

Four deaths.

Two PCs, a Wizard and Rogue vs five skeletons from the Bestiary (four with swords one with bow). Both died (or rather, were reduced below 0, dying and unconscious).

Later the same pair fought six skeletons (all with swords) and they died again.

Factors:
-only two PCs against a greater number of higher-level enemies
-both classes were squishier and not built for the front line
-no access to in-combat healing
-non-optimal tactics on part of the players who are not used to PCs with such low hp

The simple addition of a Cleric or Fighter to the party would have turned the tide.

Overall I'm pleased with the power level of the monsters I used but the XP values are out of whack. The PCs could stand to be toned down a tiny bit in terms of numbers (frex I'm not sure why their attack bonus starts at 2 instead of 1).