scipio
First Post
Hello everybody - my game last night took a turn for the worse when 2 of my players, probably acting in character, got themselves killed. The short version of the story is thus:
Chasing down a wayward princess, the party (5 8th level characters) runs into the assassins trying to capture/ransom/kill her. Now, the assassins have advance warning of the group, which in an attempt to both find the lass and prevent her murder are tracking the assassins first. Therefore, as night approaches, the bad guys stage an ambush. They have little recon on the players as yet, but intend to make a show of force and convince the party to abandon their quest.
The opponents consist of an assassin/rogue 2/6, a shadowdancer/rogue 1/7, an elf arcane archer/ranger 2/6, and 4 wererat rogues 6th. They manage to get off a death attack (unsuccessful) on the party member on watch, then pepper him with arrows during the surprise round. Thereafter, the party is frustrated for a round or 2 by their inability to see their opponents. Finally, the party paladin calls out to negotiate. The assassin warns them off the quest, and demands they cease and desist their heroic pursuit. Most party members grumblingly accept the terms (except for the paladin, quite appropriately); nevertheless, the ambush party withdraws, with the understanding that future pursuit will be a death sentence for the players.
Soooo...3 party members depart, planning to take another route to their destination. The ranger of the group decides to follow the tracks - still at night, torch in hand, no more than 30 minutes after this all went down. The party paladin refuses to let him go alone. Needless to say, the elven archer with far- and rapid-shot, a distance weapon, magically enhanced vision, and concealment lets fly her arrows at the well-marked targets. I expected them to run, but they doused the torch and waited without moving. The shadowdancer and assassin move in, delivering sneak and death attacks as the archer hit the area with flaming arrows to illuminate the targets. The end result of all of this is 2 dead party members, 1 dead shadowdancer (I threw the guys a bone), and 1 upset player (OOG, the paladin's player knew it was coming, and took it all in stride). Was I grossly unfair here? What does everyone think?
Chasing down a wayward princess, the party (5 8th level characters) runs into the assassins trying to capture/ransom/kill her. Now, the assassins have advance warning of the group, which in an attempt to both find the lass and prevent her murder are tracking the assassins first. Therefore, as night approaches, the bad guys stage an ambush. They have little recon on the players as yet, but intend to make a show of force and convince the party to abandon their quest.
The opponents consist of an assassin/rogue 2/6, a shadowdancer/rogue 1/7, an elf arcane archer/ranger 2/6, and 4 wererat rogues 6th. They manage to get off a death attack (unsuccessful) on the party member on watch, then pepper him with arrows during the surprise round. Thereafter, the party is frustrated for a round or 2 by their inability to see their opponents. Finally, the party paladin calls out to negotiate. The assassin warns them off the quest, and demands they cease and desist their heroic pursuit. Most party members grumblingly accept the terms (except for the paladin, quite appropriately); nevertheless, the ambush party withdraws, with the understanding that future pursuit will be a death sentence for the players.
Soooo...3 party members depart, planning to take another route to their destination. The ranger of the group decides to follow the tracks - still at night, torch in hand, no more than 30 minutes after this all went down. The party paladin refuses to let him go alone. Needless to say, the elven archer with far- and rapid-shot, a distance weapon, magically enhanced vision, and concealment lets fly her arrows at the well-marked targets. I expected them to run, but they doused the torch and waited without moving. The shadowdancer and assassin move in, delivering sneak and death attacks as the archer hit the area with flaming arrows to illuminate the targets. The end result of all of this is 2 dead party members, 1 dead shadowdancer (I threw the guys a bone), and 1 upset player (OOG, the paladin's player knew it was coming, and took it all in stride). Was I grossly unfair here? What does everyone think?
Last edited:
