Ravenheart87
Explorer
Are people really that afraid of facing challenging enemies? It's not a goblin that you're going to face in every corner. It's a medusa, a rare and deadly monster. She's not supposed to be player friendly. You can be careful or bold and face the consequences - or you can use your mind and come up with some strategy to avoid the penalties. Poilish your shield, use a mirror, put a bag on her head and so on.
In my campaign the adventurers faced a cockatrice a few months ago. It was a random encounter, they surprised the monster, yet they were stupid enough to attack and anger it. The gnome magic user turned to stone. We had a good laugh about the ideas how to use the statue, the gnome's player rolled a new character, and now the party has a new quest too: to find someone who can cast stone to flesh.
In my campaign the adventurers faced a cockatrice a few months ago. It was a random encounter, they surprised the monster, yet they were stupid enough to attack and anger it. The gnome magic user turned to stone. We had a good laugh about the ideas how to use the statue, the gnome's player rolled a new character, and now the party has a new quest too: to find someone who can cast stone to flesh.