D&D 5E One of my players screwed up. Hard. How do I make it fun without doing a tpk? LMoP

Ganymede81 · Dec 17, 2017

Just have the Flameskull regenerate as it ordinarily would, but give the players a round or two for free as it tries to burn its way through a clasped backpack.

They spend the time wailing the backpack like a pinata, break all of their equipment inside of it, and inevitably kill the thing before it escapes.

They defeat the creature, learn it can regenerate, and lose a bunch of adventuring gear as the price they pay for their dum-dum mistake.

Eltab · Dec 17, 2017

Briefly take over the Wizard:
"You know there's more to this thing than what you remembered in the cave. You couldn't think of it then. Maybe you should take some time to rack your brain?" -while rolling d20 in palm of your hand-
and return control to his player.

Your player may not get the hint to make another Arcana check. But when everybody hears his backpack cry out "I CANNOT BE DEFEATED !" in a familiar yet ghostly voice, they at least know what is coming next.

Charlaquin · Dec 17, 2017

Eltab said:
Your player may not get the hint to make another Arcana check. But when everybody hears his backpack cry out "I CANNOT BE DEFEATED !" in a familiar yet ghostly voice, they at least know what is coming next.

I can't help but imagine this in a muffled Skeletor voice and it's amazing.

Savage Wombat · Dec 17, 2017

I agree with the "burn out of the backpack" tactic. The skull doesn't get spells back until tomorrow (imo) and can be defeated, especially since it uses it's surprise round to try to get out of the pack. If the PCs really want to "make it into an NPC" somehow, make them earn it.

schnee · Dec 17, 2017

Maybe try the Planescape Torment option.

Make it a fun, funky NPC?

Regardless, I back the feelings of the thread - you don't have to necessarily stick to the 'harsh reality' version of D&D with newbies. I've found that rather than just killing them, letting them know *how closely they came to death* a few times early on really helps. They have to learn the ins and outs of a complete fantasy world, with a lot of assumptions that aren't true in any other media or literature they've encountered before.

D&D is it's own thing, and I think the old school meat grinder works with a very specific type of group - and if you didn't have a strong Session 0 with them and establish that philosophy together up front, it's a crap shoot whether it'll be off-putting or darkly hilarious.

I know in our current group, about half of us would laugh our asses off at a TPK, the other half would be mourning their characters.