A few things I've learned (and some apparently forgot)...

[Wombat]

Forgot an important one:

Conflict does not necessarily mean combat. You can have great game sessions without any combat at all (if you have a system that supports this).

 

[UngainlyTitan]

n) If the table's consensus plan is to retreat, then frickin' retreat.

Run away! Don't stick around for just one more round to "cover" for others. Because they won't flee either, and you'll all just be one round closer to your now-inevitable demise.

Agreed and reminds me I need a lead on the palladin, cause he has a real problem with retreat, especially if the BEGG's death summons a major demon. Hmm, need a way to summon a horse or something actually strong enough to pull him out.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

n) If the table's consensus plan is to retreat, then frickin' retreat.

Run away! Don't stick around for just one more round to "cover" for others. Because they won't flee either, and you'll all just be one round closer to your now-inevitable demise.

I've seen more TPKs happen when the whole table agreed on retreating in the abstract, but nobody actually fled for the door until it was too late.

It depends upon the makeup of the players/PCs.

An oft-told tale of mine regards one of my most memorable PCs of all time- a 1ED Fighter named Bear. I made a deal with my DM- give me maxed out physical stats and all of his mental stats would be 6-7s. Bear was a gentle giant, he fought because he was trained to do so by those around him (what else was he going to do?). Despite his nature, though, he had hooked up with a manipulative thief who treated him well (in order to have the most loyal and dangerous bodyguard he could find). That thief was- to Bear- brother, father and God all rolled up into a diminutive package that was his only true friend.

As one could expect, the thief eventually took something he really shouldn't have, and the City Watch boiled out of their barracks like firemen responding to a 4 alarm conflagration. As the party fled, the thief told Bear to protect him...

As they crossed a river on a narrow bridge, Bear turned and faced the entire Watch himself, taking down one after another until he died. By then, the party was safely away.

After a few Wanted posters appeared, so did the thief. He was hanging from a tree (by his neck), the stolen item at his feet, and a notation on a Wanted poster that the reward money be spent to bury Bear properly.

Funny thing, since it was all done in character, there were no hard feelings, and it became one of that group's most memorable stories.

 

[roguerouge]

Absolutely nothing substitutes for the generalist wizard or cleric. The ability to both change the rules and adapt to circumstances is a tactical advantage that doesn't change in editions 1-3.5.

 

[Remathilis]

Absolutely nothing substitutes for the generalist wizard or cleric. The ability to both change the rules and adapt to circumstances is a tactical advantage that doesn't change in editions 1-3.5.

Rule Subset a.) There is nothing more broken than a generalist wizard or cleric.

 

[roguerouge]

If that's broken, I don't want to be fixed. (Speaking as someone playing a scout/dervish in a party lacking such a broken character.)

 

[Atomo]

I
23. Sometimes, destroying a cool item is the only way to survive an encounter.

Can you give examples?

 

[drothgery]

If you keep saving your single-use magic items for a day when you really need them, eventually you'll either be so powerful that the items are meaningless, or dead.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Can you give examples?

Well, we had a party that was arcane-magic poor but with a lot of warriors, and we were fighting a BBEG with a Staff...that he was using to bat us around like a cat with a catnip mouse.

We had no arcane answer, and our divine magic wasn't being all that effective either (BBEG kept saving)...

Even though our Wiz would have loved the thing, the way things were going, we weren't going to survive long enough to get it to him (without DM fiat).

So one guy sundered the staff...and it didn't save. KABLOOEY! The warrior in question survived the blast (barely), and the BBEG didn't.