Nay. I tell players that sleeping in enemy lair is a fast route to TPK. A short rest may be possible depending on circumstances. In my PoTA game in fact the PCs are short resting beneath Elizar Dryflagon's chamber in Scarlet Moon Hall, he is holed up there with no way out though it does give him time to summon mephits and heal up for a last stand.
D&D 5E Camping outside the BBEG's door: yea or nay?
- Thread starter Fauchard1520
- Start date
I would provide them with a "DM fiat" means to recharge, like a healing shrine which can grant the entire party the benefits of a long rest. (This offer good for one use only per PC or party-affiliated NPC. Offer void if shrine is moved from its present location. Benefit is usable only by character to whom it was granted. Simulacra may not benefit from shrine. Magical reverse-engineering of shrine is strictly prohibited.)
I'd leave the situation as it is. I would not do anything in terms of DM fiat to help the players. However I would suggest and encourage and allow for interesting problem solving and player choices during the session.
Lay out the situation and it will probably be clear to your players that driving through to the Big Bad would leave them drained. Allow your players to come up with interesting plans and strategies to avoid conflict and marshal their resources. Let them use their agency to help preserve their abilities.
It will be a more memorable session and it will be a situation where your players' own choices will determine how fit they will be to deal with Big Bad in the end.
If you just DM fiat it, you deflate any sense of player accomplishment. You're just forcing an outcome you want.
Imaculata
Hero
This is kind of related: My players are currently preparing for several days to take on a powerful monster that is lurking at the bottom of a lake. They might not be sleeping right outside the door, but they might as well be, because it is very similar. The players are taking their merry time to set a trap for the beast, bring in extra weapons and supplies, etc. So what I decided to do is have the monster strike back at them every day. Basically the beast's threat becomes worse the longer they delay the inevitable, and he makes more victims. The monster also tries to learn what it can of the player's plans. This turns their delays into a clever game of cat and mouse.
Fanaelialae
Legend
If one of their allies is a high level cleric (or something similar), you could have them show up to heal the party. Depending on how refreshed you want the party to be, you could even have the cleric use Miracle to grant them the benefits of a long rest. A wizard who can cast Wish might even be better (since the enervation that results will explain why he can't join the battle against the boss).
However, I would be careful about doing so, as that's effectively equivalent to having the PCs take on the boss without any preceding encounters. They might be able to nova the boss with little difficulty if they're fully refreshed.
jasper
Rotten DM
MONSTERS AND VILLAINS WANT TO WIN TOO! So no free healing shrine. No long rest with the BIG BOSS also able to do stuff.
****
hmm.
BOB. We know we have just rooms 22 and 26 to go. We are down half our hp. LONG REST.
DM OK.
Boss Monster. Hello Monsters are US. I need a dozen orcs, 2 dozen goblins, one star spawn mage. And some blood pudding. Yes my account number is 666. Ok. I need next day shipping with arrival before 0700. WHAT THAT CHARGE IS MORE THAN THE COST OF ALL THE MONSTERS. I will take it. Put on my ABYSS CARD. Yes I know it will put over my limit. What is a few extra decades of Hell.
****
I tick off a more experience gamer who had 5 plus years of xp than me. The group had nearly cleared out Forge of Fury except for the dragon. They had to go back to the city for restocking and healing. He was ticked off when the party return. The dragon had transported half his loot elsewhere. So the group got half the loot for free but no fight. And no XP.
****
hmm.
BOB. We know we have just rooms 22 and 26 to go. We are down half our hp. LONG REST.
DM OK.
Boss Monster. Hello Monsters are US. I need a dozen orcs, 2 dozen goblins, one star spawn mage. And some blood pudding. Yes my account number is 666. Ok. I need next day shipping with arrival before 0700. WHAT THAT CHARGE IS MORE THAN THE COST OF ALL THE MONSTERS. I will take it. Put on my ABYSS CARD. Yes I know it will put over my limit. What is a few extra decades of Hell.
****
I tick off a more experience gamer who had 5 plus years of xp than me. The group had nearly cleared out Forge of Fury except for the dragon. They had to go back to the city for restocking and healing. He was ticked off when the party return. The dragon had transported half his loot elsewhere. So the group got half the loot for free but no fight. And no XP.
Blue
Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal
Option 4: Have a DM who doesn't assume that only PCs can open doors, and that creatures never leave the same four walls, can't hear fighting elsewhere, can't investigate when a regular guest doesn't show for chess or tea because the PCs have already killed him, and otherwise make it a living, breathing space.
I have never come across this problem. Sleeping in a tomb of skeletons and traps - sure, they have no curiosity or needs. Anywhere else - better prepare a defensible spot, use magics like rope trick or otherwise prepare.
I have never come across this problem. Sleeping in a tomb of skeletons and traps - sure, they have no curiosity or needs. Anywhere else - better prepare a defensible spot, use magics like rope trick or otherwise prepare.
Paul Farquhar
Legend
Yeah, not going for Deus Ex Machina like healing shrines.
They can take short rests, but the party is long-rest caster heavy, so that probably won't help much.
There are some spots that they should be able to sneak or negotiate past, but I don't want it to feel too easy - it's supposed to be the big finish.
I think dropping scrolls and wands along the way is probably the best way to go (without being to obvious about it).
They can take short rests, but the party is long-rest caster heavy, so that probably won't help much.
There are some spots that they should be able to sneak or negotiate past, but I don't want it to feel too easy - it's supposed to be the big finish.
I think dropping scrolls and wands along the way is probably the best way to go (without being to obvious about it).
Uller
Adventurer
DMs shouldn't plan outcomes according to some story line...They should set up the dominoes and it is up to the players to decide how to knock them down.
If the situation is that there is some raging battle with the BBEG hiding out in his lair and the PCs don't have the resources to make it through the battle and still conquer the BBEG, then provide some means for them to save/recharge resources through clever play. If they don't think of a way or take advantage of the options presented then I guess the BBEG lives to be a villain another day...that's the cool thing about TTRPGs...there is no preset outcome.
I find that I don't even have to think of ways for my players to overcome things like this. They usually figure it out. They just finished a lair assault that lasted 3 full sessions where we never left initiative order. I looked at the order of battle at the beginning and thought the PCs were basically doomed if they pressed ahead into a monster tribe lair where the monsters were aware of them and fighting back...but they used control type spells like entangle and flaming sphere to force the monsters to come in small groups, animal friendship to get the monsters' beast allies to not fight and narrow passages to force some of the large heavy damage monsters to fight at disadvantage and won the day. No rest was required (though they sure need one now!).
If the PCs clear the big battle then need a rest and the BBEG is still alive, wrap up the session with some RP and then start up the next game with the consequences of that rest....maybe the BBEG makes some moves against the PCs. Maybe he or she negotiates. Or leaves. Or grabs a hostage...take some time as the DM to think about how it plays out. What does the BBEG know about what has happened? What resources does he or she have? What is the most damaging thing they can do to the party? What is the most likely thing they would do? Maybe communicate these things to the PCs through some NPCs.
If the situation is that there is some raging battle with the BBEG hiding out in his lair and the PCs don't have the resources to make it through the battle and still conquer the BBEG, then provide some means for them to save/recharge resources through clever play. If they don't think of a way or take advantage of the options presented then I guess the BBEG lives to be a villain another day...that's the cool thing about TTRPGs...there is no preset outcome.
I find that I don't even have to think of ways for my players to overcome things like this. They usually figure it out. They just finished a lair assault that lasted 3 full sessions where we never left initiative order. I looked at the order of battle at the beginning and thought the PCs were basically doomed if they pressed ahead into a monster tribe lair where the monsters were aware of them and fighting back...but they used control type spells like entangle and flaming sphere to force the monsters to come in small groups, animal friendship to get the monsters' beast allies to not fight and narrow passages to force some of the large heavy damage monsters to fight at disadvantage and won the day. No rest was required (though they sure need one now!).
If the PCs clear the big battle then need a rest and the BBEG is still alive, wrap up the session with some RP and then start up the next game with the consequences of that rest....maybe the BBEG makes some moves against the PCs. Maybe he or she negotiates. Or leaves. Or grabs a hostage...take some time as the DM to think about how it plays out. What does the BBEG know about what has happened? What resources does he or she have? What is the most damaging thing they can do to the party? What is the most likely thing they would do? Maybe communicate these things to the PCs through some NPCs.
Similar Threads
AD6_gamerati_skyscraper
Recent & Upcoming Releases
-
April 16 2024 -
May 31 2024 -
June 3 2024 -
June 4 2024 -
June 18 2024 -
July 16 2024 -
September 17 2024 -
October 1 2024 -
November 12 2024 -
February 18 2025
