How to make 'being surrounded by enemy crossbowmen' deadlier?

[KrazyHades]

As a DM, I have a lot of trouble with this concept.

The PCs are surrounded in a surprise attack. They are wearing no armor, and their weapons are sheathed. Twelve crossbowmen have their deadly weapons trained on the hearts of the PCs.

Things seem tense. Then, out of game, one player says "wait, dude, crossbows are barely going to hurt us. We're tenth level."

The PCs then recklessly attack. In response to their attempt, the crossbowmen fire, each PC targeted and hit by 3 bolts. But of course, this is DnD, and even the wizard can stand up to that.

Would I be remiss for allowing coup-de-gras against the PCs for the crossbowmen in this situation? Note that the example I used I made up on the spot, but the fact that it would take an incredibly powerful set of magical crossbows to make this dangerous bothers me. I think that these situations should be deadly, as long as you tell the PCs (out of game) that this is extremely dangerous and that they shouldn't act rashly.

What do you think? Should PCs be able to just shrug off being peppered with crossbow bolts that have been trained on their throats and eyes and hearts by would-be capturers? The historical crossbow was able to punch right through plate armor. I don't think that flesh would stand up to it, especially not if you're specifically preparing to kill the PCs if they make any movement.

 

[Hammerhead]

It would be incredibly stupid to allow CDGs against the PCs. Incredibly.

Why would crossbows be any more deadly than swords, axes, or monster claws that frequently threaten the PCs? And should any band of rogues/rangers/monks/any schmucks with Hide/MS be allowed to autokill any monster just because they have (gasp!) crossbows?

If the powers that be want to, you know, threaten the PCs, they should probably use a better force than poorly equipped (come on? crossbows? that's just a sign that you're low level) low-level warriors. From a real world standpoint, even if they have a knife and you have a gun, they can still close from a distance of a few feet and cut you before you can appropriate react.

 

[KrazyHades]

The point isn't so much the weapons themselves as it is that if you are unarmored and surrounded by surprise you should not just be able to blithely rush into combat.

 

[javcs]

I'd've done something mean, like have the cross-bow wielding mooks be packing bolts of (pc race) slaying, greater, if the PCs rushed them.

Alternatively, say that the x-bow wielders take a -x penalty on their attack rolls as a full-round action, but have a +x or +2x damage bonus if they hit, and it multiplies on a critical hit. Or have a -x penalty and auto-threaten as a full round action.

 

[Hammerhead]

No, you generally shouldn't. You're probably going to end up taking quite a bit of damage (possibly getting killed) and expend an incredible amount of unnecessary resources. And hell, they could be 7th level fighter/rogues with the Crossbow Sniper feat, making them incredibly dangerous.

Implementing some kind of BS "instant kill b/c you're surprised!" is not the answer.

 

[Doug McCrae]

Would I be remiss for allowing coup-de-gras against the PCs for the crossbowmen in this situation?

Yes.

 

[HeavenShallBurn]

Snipped out the most important parts

The PCs are surrounded in a surprise attack. They are wearing no armor, and their weapons are sheathed. Twelve crossbowmen have their deadly weapons trained on the hearts of the PCs.

The deadliness of a weapon in D&D is inversely proportional to the level of the character it is wielded against. Mundane weapons may start out fairly deadly but as level increases their deadliness lowers unless wielded by an NPC of suitable level to challenge the PC.

Things seem tense. Then, out of game, one player says "wait, dude, crossbows are barely going to hurt us. We're tenth level."

As a DM, I have a lot of trouble with this concept.

The last two parts are the most important. The power curve is beginning to step outside the zone where you're comfortable in you suspension of disbelief. Once the PCs get beyond about 5th level you can no longer compare them to even the most resilient humans in the real world. They've become a figure of the sort that exists in our world only in myth and legend. That's simply an intentional part of the power curve, at this point crossbows in the hands of town guards are no longer an appropriate threat.

 

[KrazyHades]

What the argument comes down to is the inaccuracy in hitpoints. But then, if health was done accurately, NOBODY would be a living adventurer for long. Few enough survive as is.

Gah.

 

[Hammerhead]

The first level town guard, yeah. But what about Waterdeep/Greyhawk/Sharn's 7th level ERU or whatever?

 

[KrazyHades]

"eru"?