Gideon
First Post
So, I killed the party last night, again. These are the circumstances from at least my point of view.
1st death- The players decided to aid an Inevitable in the assult on a drow Liches fortress (I had originally planned for them to fight the Inevitable but they decided to think on their own. Which is good, so I let them.) They used no scouting/buffing and just walked into the fortress. They might have won if the lich wasn't a Cleric of Lloth and started to heal herself( Go Go Gadget negative energy!).
2cnd death- The party had attempted an assasination on the major badguy's main henchman and had messed up. They met/pissed off the major badguy. Then they broke up a major recruitment drive for the bad guy's army and almost killed the Henchman(TM) and a second important NPC. Both times the (important) bad guys got away.
I decided the Major Bad Guy(not quite as TM as Henchman) would set an ambush for them. Using the old 'Childs hand on a x-bow bolt with scroll telling the heroes a time and place to meet (place: 3 miles away, Time: 10 minutes) I lured them into the trap. The MBG did not screw around in this ambush. He brought close to his whole team and destroyed the PC's in 2.5 rounds.
The question I wanted to ask the Great and Powerful Board is, Should I have ambused the charachters with such well prepared/well planned/numerous bad guys?
The first story is to show support for my second point, I think my charachters keep dying from hubris. What do you think?
Finally, How can I stop killing my PC's while maintain a 'live' world so that the DM(me) is still entertained?
1st death- The players decided to aid an Inevitable in the assult on a drow Liches fortress (I had originally planned for them to fight the Inevitable but they decided to think on their own. Which is good, so I let them.) They used no scouting/buffing and just walked into the fortress. They might have won if the lich wasn't a Cleric of Lloth and started to heal herself( Go Go Gadget negative energy!).
2cnd death- The party had attempted an assasination on the major badguy's main henchman and had messed up. They met/pissed off the major badguy. Then they broke up a major recruitment drive for the bad guy's army and almost killed the Henchman(TM) and a second important NPC. Both times the (important) bad guys got away.
I decided the Major Bad Guy(not quite as TM as Henchman) would set an ambush for them. Using the old 'Childs hand on a x-bow bolt with scroll telling the heroes a time and place to meet (place: 3 miles away, Time: 10 minutes) I lured them into the trap. The MBG did not screw around in this ambush. He brought close to his whole team and destroyed the PC's in 2.5 rounds.
The question I wanted to ask the Great and Powerful Board is, Should I have ambused the charachters with such well prepared/well planned/numerous bad guys?
The first story is to show support for my second point, I think my charachters keep dying from hubris. What do you think?
Finally, How can I stop killing my PC's while maintain a 'live' world so that the DM(me) is still entertained?