Keeping a Group Together

[Libramarian]

I'd like to pose the following scenario. Consider the following as a stream of consciousness from the DM.

"Hmmm ... I designed this encounter to be tough but, geeze, I really over estimated what the PCs are capable of. If only Bob was here tonight to play instead of being out sick. If I don't do something these guys are goners."

You are the DM, what do you do?

Assume that in this scenario that retreat is not an option. The avenue of escape has been cut off, the PCs are on a clock, the PCs are gearing up for a doomed last stand and ignoring the exit, et cetera.

Does your decision change if introducing Bob to a bunch of new characters is implausible? What if a TPK means the campaign is over and unresolved?

I'm curious to know what people think.

I would let the TPK occur, if it weren't for the fact that Bob is absent. I can accept a campaign ending in an unexpected way but all players should be present. So I guess I would end the session and let Bob get his PC in the battle somehow next time. If the PCs still lose then so be it. We always have another campaign or another game we want to play so we'd move on. It's very hard for me to justify fudging because I know I would be against it as a player and I know if I asked my players they'd be against it too. It would be extremely unusual to find myself in that situation though, because I don't plan encounters session by session and my campaigns almost never come to a head like that where retreat is impossible or unacceptable.

 

[RobbieAB]

My take on fudging is it needs to be careful, but sometimes it is a good thing.

I played with a DM who was very much a "let the dice fall as they will" type of DM. There was a player in the group who rarely got through a session without getting killed. This was very low level, so having his characters raised was not an option. Eventually this player managed to have a character survive three sessions, which was an achievement for the player, and he was getting attached to the character. Fourth session comes along, starts with what should have been an easy fight. First round of attacks: This players character takes a critical hit (two 20s in a row!), dealing nearly max damage. Second round of attacks: Same again happens. Third round: Same again, and one dead character. We lost the player.

My take would have been: second round, ignore the critical - standard hit, third round, ignore the critical - standard hit. Fudging hits to misses every fight to keep the character alive would be bad, but sometimes the one in a million hits. If it hits the wrong person (everyone else at the table was fairly good at keeping characters alive, so wouldn't have been so demoralised) sometimes it's better to reduce it to "normal bad luck".

 

[Grogg of the North]

[MENTION=6794743]RobbieAB[/MENTION] that's not bad luck. That's the dice actively conspiring to kill somebody.

 

[S'mon]

My take on fudging is it needs to be careful, but sometimes it is a good thing.

I played with a DM who was very much a "let the dice fall as they will" type of DM. There was a player in the group who rarely got through a session without getting killed. This was very low level, so having his characters raised was not an option. Eventually this player managed to have a character survive three sessions, which was an achievement for the player, and he was getting attached to the character. Fourth session comes along, starts with what should have been an easy fight. First round of attacks: This players character takes a critical hit (two 20s in a row!), dealing nearly max damage. Second round of attacks: Same again happens. Third round: Same again, and one dead character. We lost the player.

My take would have been: second round, ignore the critical - standard hit, third round, ignore the critical - standard hit. Fudging hits to misses every fight to keep the character alive would be bad, but sometimes the one in a million hits. If it hits the wrong person (everyone else at the table was fairly good at keeping characters alive, so wouldn't have been so demoralised) sometimes it's better to reduce it to "normal bad luck".

I sympathise with the player whose max-hp PC gets killed by a 3e/pf crit in the first round of combat (has
happened to me a couple times). If you are just standing there for THREE ROUNDS getting ripped apart and doing nothing to mollify it then it is your own fault. When my third level Fighter has just been taken down to 3 hp I don't bloody stay there going toe to toe with the BBEG if it is possible for me to fall back, which it usually is (disengaging vs foe with Reach can be tricky in 3e, but Full Defence + Move might get me out). And I'll be yelling for the healer to give me some healing.

If you play mindlessly, of course you are going to die a lot.

Edit: If this person is known to be a bit of a doofus, good fellow players should be yelling at him to fall
back. Bad fellow players may be criticising* him for falling back but these should be ignored.

*I got that in Midnight when my Fighter with 3 hp left started throwing javelins at the enemy rather than charging in & dying. Unsurprisingly I was the last original survivor in that campaign. I did eventually get killed by a crit from an orc leader (who I thought was a regular orc) in the first round, though...