D&D General 6-8 encounters (combat?)

[Maxperson]

Worthless padding also 'serves' different purposes. Just not a valid one for the purpose of creating a good story.

That is a very subjective opinion, so you can't say with any amount accuracy that it's not valid in any sort of objective sense. I've played with many groups who love random encounters and incorporate them into the stories they tell of the adventure. They make good story if you like them and/or want them to.

I get my perception of such DMs from how people around here proudly talk about treating their players.

I think your opinion on that might be skewed downwards based on how people argue RAW vs. how they play their games. Those are two very different things and I see a lot of folks here, including you, base at least some opinions of posters on arguments of RAW. That's a mistake. If you want to know what sort of DM they are, you need to find out what they do in their game vs. how they argue RAW.

 

[James Gasik]

Question:

Does anyone have any actual play accounts of when Tiny Hut screwed up the adventure or in any way actually messed with the DMs plans?

I can think of exactly one time since 2014 when Tiny Hut made an actual difference in game. And it wasn't huge, basically delayed an encounter with something that was plaguing the terrain we were exploring.

When I ran Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan (Tales from the Yawning Portal version), I had ruled that the hourly damage from the poisonous air would prevent a long rest until they reached the areas where it wasn't present. When the party came up with Tiny Hut as an option, that lowered the challenge significantly, but what really started to annoy me was how it make the Shrine's wandering monsters effectively pointless as well.

Even when the incorporeal undead showed up, a quick google search informed us that, according to Crawford, the "hemisphere" has a floor (and as this was AL, I was pressured to accept this ruling by the venue coordinator).

But even that was only obnoxious at best. What really chafed me was when they popped up in a large room, and party members would go, start an encounter, and retreat to their invincible bunker. If someone got pressured, they could safely step back into the Hut to heal up, then exit again at their leisure. The only spell the Wizard used for the whole fight was Haste, and then sat in the Hut safe and sound to maintain it while the Barbarian was changed into a cuisinart.

I want to call it "smart tactics" on the part of the players, but I was frustrated since the adventure didn't give me any way to interact with it, other than "we spent a spell slot and trivialized a big fight".

Which, granted, spells can do, but usually there's a save or check or something I can do other than go "I guess I ready attacks for when you come out of the Hut, but of course you're Dodging".

There was another part of this story that made me just quit running AL, but it has nothing to do with Tiny Fallout Shelter itself.

 

[tetrasodium]

Have the burrowing ancient white dragon carve out a vast ice tunnel or cave underneath the hut while they rest, then weaken the ground beneath it so that the tiny hut falls in. Cover them up with snow and ice.

I was the player who knew that & even mentioned that it can probably burrow. One of the players actually looked up the spell & quoted the can't enter without the caster's say so type line to the caster telling them we should run. The group only ran because I told them that I was going to run & allow the dragon in the dome

edit: @iserith do players often control ancient white dragon class monsters in your games? Thinking about it, that might be a house rule that could explain how some groups seem to easily fit in 6-8 encounters/adventuring day

 

[iserith]

I was the player who knew that & even mentioned that it can probably burrow. One of the players actually looked up the spell & quoted the can't enter without the caster's say so type line to the caster telling them we should run. The group only ran because I told them that I was going to run & allow the dragon in the dome

I believe the common dispute is that Jeremy "Shield Master" Crawford said on Twitter that you can't burrow through the floor of the tiny hut, even though the spell text says it's a dome that is above and around you (not below). Then it also says it's immobile, which suggests to me it was meant to stop the PCs from moving around with it, but may be interpreted to say it would just hang in midair if the dragon does what I suggest.

But ultimately, the DM should just ban this spell in Frostmaiden in my opinion. It doesn't fit the theme in my view. I didn't run it, only played in it, and a big piece of the experience was dealing with the environment including while resting.

 

[Maxperson]

edit: @iserith do players often control ancient white dragon class monsters in your games? Thinking about it, that might be a house rule that could explain how some groups seem to easily fit in 6-8 encounters/adventuring day

Did you mean control or encounter?

 

[iserith]

Worthless padding also 'serves' different purposes. Just not a valid one for the purpose of creating a good story.

Amazing stories can be created with nothing but random encounters. The sorts of stories you can't plan ahead of time, too.

I get my perception of such DMs from how people around here proudly talk about treating their players.

The spite for people avoiding random encounters and night ambushes alone...

Maybe enworld isn't a good source of truth in this regard.

 

[Vaalingrade]

I think your opinion on that might be skewed downwards based on how people argue RAW vs. how they play their games. Those are two very different things and I see a lot of folks here, including you, base at least some opinions of posters on arguments of RAW. That's a mistake. If you want to know what sort of DM they are, you need to find out what they do in their game vs. how they argue RAW.

How did you get 'RAW is the problem' from 'These specific attitudes I've seen expressed that have nothing to do with RAW in any way shape or form is the problem'?

 

[Maxperson]

How did you get 'RAW is the problem' from 'These specific attitudes I've seen expressed that have nothing to do with RAW in any way shape or form is the problem'?

Because a lot of people arguing ultimate authority, how random encounters work and such are arguing what the rules say, not necessarily how they run the games at the table. Hyperbole is also pretty rampant here, so...

 

[iserith]

edit: @iserith do players often control ancient white dragon class monsters in your games? Thinking about it, that might be a house rule that could explain how some groups seem to easily fit in 6-8 encounters/adventuring day

Responding to your edit: It's not common but not impossible for my players to run across monsters like that. I generally use published random encounter tables (tweaked here and there to speak to theme or setting) and ancient white dragon is a possible outcome for the highest level table. At 5th level, they are more likely to run across a young white dragon though. I would say that random encounters do increase the chances of hitting 6 to 8 encounters per adventuring day.

 

[James Gasik]

I believe the common dispute is that Jeremy "Shield Master" Crawford said on Twitter that you can't burrow through the floor of the tiny hut, even though the spell text says it's a dome that is above and around you (not below). Then it also says it's immobile, which suggests to me it was meant to stop the PCs from moving around with it, but may be interpreted to say it would just hang in midair if the dragon does what I suggest.

But ultimately, the DM should just ban this spell in Frostmaiden in my opinion. It doesn't fit the theme in my view. I didn't run it, only played in it, and a big piece of the experience was dealing with the environment including while resting.

Yes, the Hut, according to him, has a floor. Never no mind the spell says it's a hemisphere- cut a hollow glass sphere in half and show me the floor, lol!

All I wanted to do was have some incorporeal undead come up from the floor, is that such a sin?