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The TPK curse
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<blockquote data-quote="Sinjin the Rogue" data-source="post: 546877" data-attributes="member: 2288"><p>Well, it happened again. My group should have something to brag about, but victory was taken from their clutches at the last moment.</p><p></p><p>We began the night with all new characters. The PC's had all come to a small, rich town in Furyondy. (The town is a tourist attraction with scenic lakes and rivers, a casino, mountains etc. The annual jousting tournament is held here as well) None of the PC's knew each other, but they were in town to compete in a contest, (known as an interview) to gain employment as hirelings for a local lord. The PC's were all thrown together into a group and allowed to compete against other groups for the coveted position. Each day of the contest brought forth a new task, and those who successfully completed the tasks advanced to the next day, while those who failed were disqualified. </p><p></p><p>Anyway, my group had done famously well. They had proven their work ethic was high, they had succeeded in posting the highest cumulative time in a very rigorous obstacle course, and they had displayed that they were a perty of integrity that knew how to cooperate with one another. They had earned some time for some R&R, so they decided to pay a visit to the casino in order to make a little extra cash. Three of them sat down to play blackjack, and fate was undoutedly on their side. The halfling rogue showed a natural talent at gambling. He quickly turned his 25 gold into 70 gold. The Sorcerer in the group raised his total from 9 gold to 35. He then quit to make sure he could procure the spell he wanted. The dwarven fighter lost all but three silver pieces at one time, but in the last thirty minutes, he converted those three silver into 10 gold. The group walked away happy. </p><p></p><p>Afterwards, they decided to sell some armor and weapons they had acquired from a group of bandits, so they paid a visit to the local blacksmith. The group soon learned that the blacksmith carried a torch for one of the barmaids in the local tavern, but his shyness and fear of rejection prevented him from making a move. The PC's were quick to realize that if they could win the favor of the lady for the blacksmith, they might get better prices for their wares, so they did their best to woo the barmaid for the blacksmith. It worked, and the PC's made friends for life, and got better prices from the blacksmith.</p><p></p><p>They then received a request to investigate sightings of a troll on the old road that leads to the capitol of Furyondy. A troll has been scaring people away, although no one has been attacked. Unfortunately, rumors of a troll harassing travellers could seriously hurt the town, which owes its existence to tourism. So, the PC's went out, attempting to find the lair of the troll. (They were low level, so there was no way they were going to defeat a troll, but all they had to do was find the troll lair and report back to the commander of the militia). What they found out though, was that the troll was nothing more than two juveniles, who were wearing a "troll-skin" suit. The two boys had lost their parents a few months prior, and they were scaring people from the old road, so that tourists would be more inclined to use the Kings Highway, which of course required a toll payment. The person who had set this all up was the city clerk, who was skimming off of the top of the tolls and paying a small subsidy to the boys for their work. This scam was not authorized by the mayor of the town. The PC's discovered the truth and found the proof to indict the city clerk, who was then punished.</p><p></p><p>This all made for some great role-play, which has not been my group's strongpoint. After all of this, thay had risen to 2nd level, and were well on their way to level 3. They then proceeded to the Tomb of Abysthor, where they encountered a group of ghouls and a ghast. By this time, the group was almost demanding combat. They spotted the ghouls about 300 feet away, on the steps of some abandoned temples. They decided to try shooting them with arrows from afar. Unfortunately, they missed every shot, and the ghouls and the ghast came running after them. The party rogue was the first to get attacked. He failed his fort save and was paralyzed. The dwarven fighter in the group trudged into combat, and he was able to take down one of the ghouls. He was relying on his AC and his higher fort save to keep him alive. He gambled and lost, and was paralyzed a few rounds later. The sorcerer tried to run, but received an AoO as he tried to flee, and he too was paralyzed. The elven ranger was the only member of the party to get away. Suffice it to say, the three victims are all dead.</p><p></p><p>Here's my dilemna: I fudged a number of rolls to help the party out. I continuously rolled 16-20 on my attack rolls for the ghouls, while the party kept floundering with 1's and 3's. I have never seen such a display of bad luck. However, as I said, I fudged a number of rolls and could have allowed ten or eleven additional attacks against the PC's to succeed, which would have meant they had no chance to survive. </p><p></p><p>In addition, I had explained to the group that a cleric would be highly beneficial, but when they created their characters, no one wanted to play the cleric. I tend to be pretty easy going, so I never dictate to anyone one the type of character they have to play. But, they did not heed my advice. Without question, the encounter with the ghouls would have gone much better, had they had a cleric to turn the ghouls. Had they succeeded, they would have earned a nice bit of experience. (I was hoping to get them to third level quickly, so that they would be better prepared to dace the challenges of the dungeon they are going to be entering).</p><p></p><p>Now, my players are a wee bit upset, particularly since they had spent some time actually role-playing their characters, and they were all now quite fond of the personas they had developed for their PCS. (This is actually quite a feat for me, because in games past, their characters have tended to be no more than stat sheets designed to be the most efficient killing machines) </p><p></p><p>I suppose I could have fudged every dice roll in the ghoul encounter, but then the encounter would have posed no challenge whatsoever, and the PC's would have had a false sense of security when it came to undead. Eventually, I realized that something like that would come back to bite them in the butt in the future. (As I said, I fudged 10 or 11 rolls anyway!) </p><p></p><p>In the end, I decided I'd have to tread a fine line. I decided to let the chips fall where they may. If the characters won the battle, kudos to them. If they lost, then I hope they learned something from the encounter. I hope they learned that not everything HAS to be attacked. I hope they learned that a cleric is almost essential. Right now, they are still tweaked at me, but I hope, when they roll up new characters, they will have calmed down a bit.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Sinjin the Rogue, post: 546877, member: 2288"] Well, it happened again. My group should have something to brag about, but victory was taken from their clutches at the last moment. We began the night with all new characters. The PC's had all come to a small, rich town in Furyondy. (The town is a tourist attraction with scenic lakes and rivers, a casino, mountains etc. The annual jousting tournament is held here as well) None of the PC's knew each other, but they were in town to compete in a contest, (known as an interview) to gain employment as hirelings for a local lord. The PC's were all thrown together into a group and allowed to compete against other groups for the coveted position. Each day of the contest brought forth a new task, and those who successfully completed the tasks advanced to the next day, while those who failed were disqualified. Anyway, my group had done famously well. They had proven their work ethic was high, they had succeeded in posting the highest cumulative time in a very rigorous obstacle course, and they had displayed that they were a perty of integrity that knew how to cooperate with one another. They had earned some time for some R&R, so they decided to pay a visit to the casino in order to make a little extra cash. Three of them sat down to play blackjack, and fate was undoutedly on their side. The halfling rogue showed a natural talent at gambling. He quickly turned his 25 gold into 70 gold. The Sorcerer in the group raised his total from 9 gold to 35. He then quit to make sure he could procure the spell he wanted. The dwarven fighter lost all but three silver pieces at one time, but in the last thirty minutes, he converted those three silver into 10 gold. The group walked away happy. Afterwards, they decided to sell some armor and weapons they had acquired from a group of bandits, so they paid a visit to the local blacksmith. The group soon learned that the blacksmith carried a torch for one of the barmaids in the local tavern, but his shyness and fear of rejection prevented him from making a move. The PC's were quick to realize that if they could win the favor of the lady for the blacksmith, they might get better prices for their wares, so they did their best to woo the barmaid for the blacksmith. It worked, and the PC's made friends for life, and got better prices from the blacksmith. They then received a request to investigate sightings of a troll on the old road that leads to the capitol of Furyondy. A troll has been scaring people away, although no one has been attacked. Unfortunately, rumors of a troll harassing travellers could seriously hurt the town, which owes its existence to tourism. So, the PC's went out, attempting to find the lair of the troll. (They were low level, so there was no way they were going to defeat a troll, but all they had to do was find the troll lair and report back to the commander of the militia). What they found out though, was that the troll was nothing more than two juveniles, who were wearing a "troll-skin" suit. The two boys had lost their parents a few months prior, and they were scaring people from the old road, so that tourists would be more inclined to use the Kings Highway, which of course required a toll payment. The person who had set this all up was the city clerk, who was skimming off of the top of the tolls and paying a small subsidy to the boys for their work. This scam was not authorized by the mayor of the town. The PC's discovered the truth and found the proof to indict the city clerk, who was then punished. This all made for some great role-play, which has not been my group's strongpoint. After all of this, thay had risen to 2nd level, and were well on their way to level 3. They then proceeded to the Tomb of Abysthor, where they encountered a group of ghouls and a ghast. By this time, the group was almost demanding combat. They spotted the ghouls about 300 feet away, on the steps of some abandoned temples. They decided to try shooting them with arrows from afar. Unfortunately, they missed every shot, and the ghouls and the ghast came running after them. The party rogue was the first to get attacked. He failed his fort save and was paralyzed. The dwarven fighter in the group trudged into combat, and he was able to take down one of the ghouls. He was relying on his AC and his higher fort save to keep him alive. He gambled and lost, and was paralyzed a few rounds later. The sorcerer tried to run, but received an AoO as he tried to flee, and he too was paralyzed. The elven ranger was the only member of the party to get away. Suffice it to say, the three victims are all dead. Here's my dilemna: I fudged a number of rolls to help the party out. I continuously rolled 16-20 on my attack rolls for the ghouls, while the party kept floundering with 1's and 3's. I have never seen such a display of bad luck. However, as I said, I fudged a number of rolls and could have allowed ten or eleven additional attacks against the PC's to succeed, which would have meant they had no chance to survive. In addition, I had explained to the group that a cleric would be highly beneficial, but when they created their characters, no one wanted to play the cleric. I tend to be pretty easy going, so I never dictate to anyone one the type of character they have to play. But, they did not heed my advice. Without question, the encounter with the ghouls would have gone much better, had they had a cleric to turn the ghouls. Had they succeeded, they would have earned a nice bit of experience. (I was hoping to get them to third level quickly, so that they would be better prepared to dace the challenges of the dungeon they are going to be entering). Now, my players are a wee bit upset, particularly since they had spent some time actually role-playing their characters, and they were all now quite fond of the personas they had developed for their PCS. (This is actually quite a feat for me, because in games past, their characters have tended to be no more than stat sheets designed to be the most efficient killing machines) I suppose I could have fudged every dice roll in the ghoul encounter, but then the encounter would have posed no challenge whatsoever, and the PC's would have had a false sense of security when it came to undead. Eventually, I realized that something like that would come back to bite them in the butt in the future. (As I said, I fudged 10 or 11 rolls anyway!) In the end, I decided I'd have to tread a fine line. I decided to let the chips fall where they may. If the characters won the battle, kudos to them. If they lost, then I hope they learned something from the encounter. I hope they learned that not everything HAS to be attacked. I hope they learned that a cleric is almost essential. Right now, they are still tweaked at me, but I hope, when they roll up new characters, they will have calmed down a bit. [/QUOTE]
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