16th level party TPKd by a goblin?!!

[Duncan Haldane]

Dark Eternal:

Sounds to me like you played it well. The party had heard of this threat for a long time. You gave them the cues that the encounter would be tough - it just seems that they thought once they killed the Dragons that was the end of the adventure.

Luck happens, but did they have their usual buffing spells up? All those Mage Armors, Bull's Strengths and so on? It sounds like they chose not to be prepared.

I recently hit a party hard, and nearly had a TPK. They were attacking a building. The creatures in the building knew the party were coming (since they'd killed some guards, etc), and the party knew the creatures knew.

I split the combat into two waves, with just the ordinary creatures in the first wave, and the creatures with levels in the second wave.

The party handled the first wave easily enough, but when the second wave came they should've retreated - they didn't, they moved forward and attacked.

I rolled well, but not exceptionally well. Two PCs died, and the other two only just survived. All rolls were made in front of the players - I believe in doing it that way, because then they know I'm not fudging it.

Anyway, the players weren't upset with me - they were overconfident, and didn't respect the creatures enough. They learnt a good lesson, and we had some good roleplaying in trying to get the PCs raised/res'd/re-incarnated.

In this case I didn't even know of the total CR of the encounter. The party knew the creatures were aware of them, and went ahead anyway.

Dark Eternal - is there any chance for bringing your party back? Someone else finding their corpses and getting them brought back to life (minus all their magic items, I'd imagine). Hey, I reckon you could even find a way to have Ragu bring them back to life as his prisoners or something.

Good luck,

Duncan

 

[Dark Eternal]

Dark Eternal:

Sounds to me like you played it well. The party had heard of this threat for a long time. You gave them the cues that the encounter would be tough - it just seems that they thought once they killed the Dragons that was the end of the adventure.

Luck happens, but did they have their usual buffing spells up? All those Mage Armors, Bull's Strengths and so on? It sounds like they chose not to be prepared.

Nope. They could not have possibly been less prepared for combat when the fight started. And (I hadn't confessed this yet... *winces*), knowing what the party was capable of, Ragu kicked off the fight with that last Wish spell that was in the luck blade.

So you had a case of total preparation on Ragu's side, versus complete unawareness on the PC's side. Talk about kicking things off with a bang.

Dark Eternal - is there any chance for bringing your party back? Someone else finding their corpses and getting them brought back to life (minus all their magic items, I'd imagine). Hey, I reckon you could even find a way to have Ragu bring them back to life as his prisoners or something.

Good luck,

Duncan

*exceptionally wicked grin*

You know, I like this idea. I wonder if I can talk the players into it... I'd bet that the idea of not losing 16 levels worth of gaming would appeal to them. Especially considering where the grand overall plot was at when they died.

Thanks for the suggestion. Now, I just have to find a realistic, believable way to pull it off... I can do that.

 

[Angcuru]

An elf 3 miles away misdirects his Rod of Ressurection when trying to raise his dead cat, and the ray of the spell travels over the open plains and effects the character with the highest combination of strengt and charisma, so that he may carry the rest of the party to the nearest temple and beseech them to aid them in their struggle to do whatever they were doing.

otherwise.....ever seen the Crow?

 

[electric-ant]

Simple.

The players don't need to know he used up the last wish in the luck blade.

And everyone knows how exceptionally powerful wishes, such as raising an entire party from the dead, are bound to screw up somewhere along the line.

My diabolical imagination fails me at this point. How would such a wish be worded for Ragu's greatest benefit, and how would it screw up (preferably something that will drag out for a session or so)?

 

[Angcuru]

Give me the exact wording of his wish and i'll twist it untill it begs for release...I.E. live party members.

 

[jdavis]

You know, I like this idea. I wonder if I can talk the players into it... I'd bet that the idea of not losing 16 levels worth of gaming would appeal to them. Especially considering where the grand overall plot was at when they died.

Thanks for the suggestion. Now, I just have to find a realistic, believable way to pull it off... I can do that.

Waking up pennyless and in rags aboard a slave ship would do the trick. I mean if the Goblin was that smart maybe he was smart enough to keep them alive long enough to sell for a profit, He could of had a spare wish laying around, heck maybe there was one in the Dragon treasure, if they want to keep going there are a bunch of ways to do it, the big trick is they still have to pay a price for getting beat but it's better than killing a good campaign.

 

[Angcuru]

You can also ruin a good GAME(as in something with which you run games) by allowing a single character run by a megalomaniacal racist bastard to become the most powerful god yet still remain a PC. This in turn leads to the slaying of every new PC, as well as the slaying of all of the other gods, and the destruction of one or two universes. Believe me, you don't want to experiance that.

Actually only my Pacifistic LVL 99 Greater Doppleganger survived his wrath.....cause he didn't knoe I existed.

 

[Dark Eternal]

otherwise.....ever seen the Crow?

Actually, of all the ideas mentioned thus far (a few of which I'd considered, most of which I hadn't even thought of), this one is the one that grabs me by the larynx and screams in my ear, "MWAHAHAHAHA!!!"

After all, there was a high level cleric in the party... and every one knows that the Gods of Darkness are always looking for loopholes by which they can corrupt / recruit powerful clerics who serve the Gods of Light, right?

*disturbingly wicked grin*

... oh yeah ... I'm scheming now...

 

[Angcuru]

Dark Eternal -
I'm scheming. This is my scheming face. First I lift this eyebrow, then I lower it and lift the other.. all the while looking around all paraniod-like and then... BACK OFF! SHRINK GUN!

 

[Dark Eternal]

You can also ruin a good GAME(as in something with which you run games) by allowing a single character run by a megalomaniacal racist bastard to become the most powerful god yet still remain a PC. This in turn leads to the slaying of every new PC, as well as the slaying of all of the other gods, and the destruction of one or two universes. Believe me, you don't want to experiance that.

Actually only my Pacifistic LVL 99 Greater Doppleganger survived his wrath.....cause he didn't knoe I existed.

This reminds me of the most horrifying and psyche-shattering gaming experience of my life. It was innocently named The Adam Game... and it changed the way I looked at the world. (The real world, not the D&D world.)

I've since sworn an Oath of Undoing against the bastard who ran that game, for totally unrelated reasons... but I have to admit, he ran the greatest powergaming psycho thriller / conspiracy megagame I've ever even heard of.

Perhaps one day I'll tell the story... when I feel in the mood to share the pain...