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CoS: Thoughts on starting at level 1 with Death House or level 3 on main adventure?
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<blockquote data-quote="evilbob" data-source="post: 6868052" data-attributes="member: 9789"><p>SPOILERS too</p><p></p><p></p><p>Yeah, I agree in theory as well, but this is a bad example. I would be very surprised if any party was willing to stand by for <em>children openly being murdered by monsters</em> - which is part of why this encounter is such a likely TPK: the odds of combat are about 100%. And the odds of the party getting killed are nearly as high - unless you have a forgiving DM. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> Also, while the book suggests that a ~CR 13 encounter is appropriate for 4th level characters (?!?!?!) they are most likely going to be level 3 when they get here. It's almost impossible for them to level up before getting there, and it's the first thing on the way to anything else. Also, there are STRONG story suggestions for them to go there next. It's really even worse than Death House: at least the main challenge there can be outrun. Here, they WANT to finish this.</p><p></p><p></p><p>What an awesome write-up, thank you!</p><p></p><p>You did two things, in my opinion, that made this not be a TPK. First, none of the other reasons mattered as much as this one. "Not playing the monsters optimally" (even though they are supposed to be super intelligent - especially the leader) was the only reason the group lived, in my opinion. I'm not questioning your call, mind you - I think you played it perfectly! But not playing the monsters optimally was the only reason they lived.</p><p></p><p>The second reason was that you left out the hags' heartstones. This is basically the same as the first reason, but the hags could have left the encounter at any time - certainly if they were wounded. And the leader could have left almost immediately to get her daughters. This means the party should have been fighting 3 hags after unloading on one for a round. And 3 lightning bolts / phantasmal killers / whatever in one round? Yeah. (I actually was thinking on not using the lightning bolt spell, since - at least, as written - it would burn down the windmill as well, and the hags wouldn't want to lose their hideout.)</p><p></p><p>Again, I think that write-up was awesome and your decisions were perfect! I only disagree that anything other than not playing monsters optimally made a difference.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="evilbob, post: 6868052, member: 9789"] SPOILERS too Yeah, I agree in theory as well, but this is a bad example. I would be very surprised if any party was willing to stand by for [i]children openly being murdered by monsters[/i] - which is part of why this encounter is such a likely TPK: the odds of combat are about 100%. And the odds of the party getting killed are nearly as high - unless you have a forgiving DM. :) Also, while the book suggests that a ~CR 13 encounter is appropriate for 4th level characters (?!?!?!) they are most likely going to be level 3 when they get here. It's almost impossible for them to level up before getting there, and it's the first thing on the way to anything else. Also, there are STRONG story suggestions for them to go there next. It's really even worse than Death House: at least the main challenge there can be outrun. Here, they WANT to finish this. What an awesome write-up, thank you! You did two things, in my opinion, that made this not be a TPK. First, none of the other reasons mattered as much as this one. "Not playing the monsters optimally" (even though they are supposed to be super intelligent - especially the leader) was the only reason the group lived, in my opinion. I'm not questioning your call, mind you - I think you played it perfectly! But not playing the monsters optimally was the only reason they lived. The second reason was that you left out the hags' heartstones. This is basically the same as the first reason, but the hags could have left the encounter at any time - certainly if they were wounded. And the leader could have left almost immediately to get her daughters. This means the party should have been fighting 3 hags after unloading on one for a round. And 3 lightning bolts / phantasmal killers / whatever in one round? Yeah. (I actually was thinking on not using the lightning bolt spell, since - at least, as written - it would burn down the windmill as well, and the hags wouldn't want to lose their hideout.) Again, I think that write-up was awesome and your decisions were perfect! I only disagree that anything other than not playing monsters optimally made a difference. [/QUOTE]
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CoS: Thoughts on starting at level 1 with Death House or level 3 on main adventure?
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