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5th level characters vs a purple worm
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<blockquote data-quote="Jester David" data-source="post: 7523696" data-attributes="member: 37579"><p>No one said anything like that. But it was certainly implied. Because all you could see was that the "monster that has more HP than the party put together".</p><p></p><p>Everything you mention in the above is completely and totally irrelevant <strong>IF </strong>the monster decides not to attack and the PCs do not decide to attack. As the DM it is up to YOU to decide how the monster acts and responds. That's not "DM fiat" that's running the game.</p><p></p><p>Perhaps the purple worm passes by, having just eaten something, and the PCs just need to move out of the way. Or just keep really, really still and hope it moves past without devouring them. So it becomes a Stealth skill challenge of sorts. Perhaps it starts a long distance away and starts charging at the party and they have a small amount of time to race for safety, in a situation akin to <em>Tremors</em>. What if the party tries to find some way to distract the purple worm, through a creative spell or use of the terrain. </p><p>All kinds of creative things can happen when you put a group of players up against a foe they have almost no chance of defeating through conventional means. Only then do they really start to consider the unconventional. </p><p></p><p>Situations like a random roll producing a purple worm that should be able to devastate the entire party without breaking a sweat, and the party surviving because the players thought quickly and devised a cunning plan is exactly the kind of stuff that makes D&D exciting and memorable. The encounter where a level 13 party fights a purple worm in combat and kills it by using an appropriate amount of resources is not: that's just every other combat encounter. One of a hundred. But the time the low level party overcomes it—even if they don't kill it—is very memorable. It's when things get unexpected and crazy that you generate the stories you retell again and again. </p><p></p><p><em>"Dude, remember that time we were lost in the desert at level 5 and a freakin' purple worm busted out of the ground in front of us? And we were all like, 'do NOT move'. Then Steve spooked the horses, which ran, and the worm chased them. Then we totally got away. Man, I thought for sure we were worm food that time. Literally."</em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jester David, post: 7523696, member: 37579"] No one said anything like that. But it was certainly implied. Because all you could see was that the "monster that has more HP than the party put together". Everything you mention in the above is completely and totally irrelevant [B]IF [/B]the monster decides not to attack and the PCs do not decide to attack. As the DM it is up to YOU to decide how the monster acts and responds. That's not "DM fiat" that's running the game. Perhaps the purple worm passes by, having just eaten something, and the PCs just need to move out of the way. Or just keep really, really still and hope it moves past without devouring them. So it becomes a Stealth skill challenge of sorts. Perhaps it starts a long distance away and starts charging at the party and they have a small amount of time to race for safety, in a situation akin to [I]Tremors[/I]. What if the party tries to find some way to distract the purple worm, through a creative spell or use of the terrain. All kinds of creative things can happen when you put a group of players up against a foe they have almost no chance of defeating through conventional means. Only then do they really start to consider the unconventional. Situations like a random roll producing a purple worm that should be able to devastate the entire party without breaking a sweat, and the party surviving because the players thought quickly and devised a cunning plan is exactly the kind of stuff that makes D&D exciting and memorable. The encounter where a level 13 party fights a purple worm in combat and kills it by using an appropriate amount of resources is not: that's just every other combat encounter. One of a hundred. But the time the low level party overcomes it—even if they don't kill it—is very memorable. It's when things get unexpected and crazy that you generate the stories you retell again and again. [I]"Dude, remember that time we were lost in the desert at level 5 and a freakin' purple worm busted out of the ground in front of us? And we were all like, 'do NOT move'. Then Steve spooked the horses, which ran, and the worm chased them. Then we totally got away. Man, I thought for sure we were worm food that time. Literally."[/I] [/QUOTE]
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