iserith
Magic Wordsmith
I'm running a classic dungeon crawl for two separate groups in separate games right now. It's fun to see how each group overcomes the same challenges. They're all 3rd level.
The first group TPKed on Thursday night. In the upper dungeon, they encountered a kobold guard post similar to one they had encountered in a previous session which proved to be a bit difficult for them given their current resources at the time. Refreshed after a long rest and having some sense of how the kobold guards might react to their attack, they struck again. Due in part to the clever tactics the players employed, this time the kobolds started to fall back, disengaging, dashing, moving, led by kobold dragonshields who were barking orders in Draconic to other kobolds who ran off to places unknown.
The PCs pursued, pushing deeper and deeper into kobold territory. What they didn't know was the kobolds that ran off were rallying another such guard post who began to move around the rear of the PCs to prepare a pincer attack. By the time the PCs realized what was going on, they were in a narrow corridor and surrounded on both sides. Shortly thereafter, they were massacred.
The Friday night group hadn't delved into the upper dungeon in the previous session, exploring only the surface ruins so far. At some point while the rest of the party was looking for secret doors, looting, and whatnot, the wizard decides to cast comprehend languages as a ritual. I'm not sure if he had a plan or was just doing it because he had 10 minutes to spare while the others went about their business. But when they went into the upper dungeon and encountered the kobold guard post, the wizard was able to understand what the dragonshields were saying about signaling the other guard post to begin the pincer maneuver.
Knowing that their position was now extremely precarious, these PCs broke away from the engagement and retreated, avoiding the pincer attack altogether. They left the ruins and waited for a bit before returning to tackle the upper dungeon from another direction. Without comprehend languages, they might well have met the same fate as the Thursday night group!
Have you seen the humble comprehend languages spell turn out to be very useful or lifesaving in your games?
The first group TPKed on Thursday night. In the upper dungeon, they encountered a kobold guard post similar to one they had encountered in a previous session which proved to be a bit difficult for them given their current resources at the time. Refreshed after a long rest and having some sense of how the kobold guards might react to their attack, they struck again. Due in part to the clever tactics the players employed, this time the kobolds started to fall back, disengaging, dashing, moving, led by kobold dragonshields who were barking orders in Draconic to other kobolds who ran off to places unknown.
The PCs pursued, pushing deeper and deeper into kobold territory. What they didn't know was the kobolds that ran off were rallying another such guard post who began to move around the rear of the PCs to prepare a pincer attack. By the time the PCs realized what was going on, they were in a narrow corridor and surrounded on both sides. Shortly thereafter, they were massacred.
The Friday night group hadn't delved into the upper dungeon in the previous session, exploring only the surface ruins so far. At some point while the rest of the party was looking for secret doors, looting, and whatnot, the wizard decides to cast comprehend languages as a ritual. I'm not sure if he had a plan or was just doing it because he had 10 minutes to spare while the others went about their business. But when they went into the upper dungeon and encountered the kobold guard post, the wizard was able to understand what the dragonshields were saying about signaling the other guard post to begin the pincer maneuver.
Knowing that their position was now extremely precarious, these PCs broke away from the engagement and retreated, avoiding the pincer attack altogether. They left the ruins and waited for a bit before returning to tackle the upper dungeon from another direction. Without comprehend languages, they might well have met the same fate as the Thursday night group!
Have you seen the humble comprehend languages spell turn out to be very useful or lifesaving in your games?