Angry at players...

[James McMurray]

Definitely insist on the Knowledge check. With a DC of 32, it shouldn't be an easy task to learn much about them.

Don't forget to give the dragon dimension door, ghost form, or teleport so it can flee. If Shadow Dragons are ike most dragos and get divine spells as well, then Spell Immunity (Dimensional Anchor) is a great one to have handy.

 

[BSF]

Chiming in a bit late -

Mistake #1: You gave away the story by telling them what the dragon could do. But, it's a learning experience and not that big a deal.

Mistake #2: Your players are metagaming that knowledge to prep for the fight. There are _plenty_ of ways that they could handle this in character. Good knowledge checks, talking to NPC's, etc. They _could_ get this information, but it doesn't sound like they have.

Mistake #3: You gave too much exp for bypassing the encounter. You probably should have given partial experience so if they went back to fight the dragon you could award the rest. But, you were planning on them continuing on down the storyline, not backtracking.

Mistake #4: You are getting mad about it. This is a game to have fun, so have fun. A big battle with a dragon will definitely be fun.

Personally, I would be tempted to change a few things, but it really isn't necessary. They are prepping completely for this battle, so don't hold back. Look for ways to maximize the dragon's powers. Shadow stepping past the meat shields to the spellcasters for a swipe at them will be fun. There is no reason why the dragon has to fight the party on their terms. If the party is buffed, have the dragon leave for 12 minutes or so. Maybe the hoard the party saw was an illusion. In fact, the whole floor was an illusion. They saw the hoard on the floor, but if they tried to walk to it, they would fall 50 feet to the real bottom of the cavern. Ditto if they try to teleport there. There are so many ways that you can keep this encounter from being a cakewalk. You just need to look outside your mindset of being peeved. This is a powerful dragon with powerful allies. Forget the module setup and figure out how the dragon would protect itself with the resources available.

Instead of being angry, just let it go and make this a fun encounter to remember.

 

[Unseelie]

I certainly would find a way to make sure that the players know that they already got the XP for this critter by bypassing it, therefore, while they can go take on the Shadow Dragon, they aren't getting any additional XP.

It likely won't change their minds, as they want the horde as well, but at least they'll know ahead of time.

As for how to handle the encounter... I wouldn't tweak it too much, but it would not be unreasonable to assume that their Arcane Eye got the dragon's attention and therefore it's on higher alert.

You might also look at the Dragonomicon if you have it, and look at a couple of the Dragon Breath feats. Also, it will save you some time creating the horde if you haven't already, as it has pregenerated dragon hordes for each challenge rating.

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

It just can't be posted under the OGL or d20 system license, Piratecat. Those are contracts people choose to sign up to, not some general law of the land.

It's still illegal to reproduce copyrighted material.

AR

 

[Wraithdrit]

I will have to check my notes and recaculate XP for that session, but I believe I gave them partial XP for bypassing all three encounters. Yes, three encounters... the dragon does not live completely alone.

As we have been discussing this (and I have gotten over being grumpy) the party has been discussing this on its message board and I think the decision at this point is leaning heavily towards NOT going back.

But I have made them aware that they can if they wish, and I won't be attempting to hood wink them. I just warned them ahead of time that it would be for less experience because they already recieved some for bypassing it. Thus in the end they still face great risk for minimal reward.

I also let them know that they have plenty of time to build their characters up before the 'end game' so not to let that influence their decisions.

Oh well... now if I could get a similar response to my orc warlord woes I would be in good shape... (see the rules board for the one).

 

[ciaran00]

You should punish your players for the having the misconception of being smarter than you. I would use a deep dragon or green dragon instead, putting a monkey wrench in their plans.

IMHO, the term "shadow dragon" is nebulous. No NPC is looking at monster manual sheets when talking about some dragon sneaking around in the dark.

Of course I would play the dragon smart too, because I never let up

Always run the Quantum world. If players bring reinforcement, so do the bad guys. If players are vastly overpowered, reduce your amount of mooks. Always challenge, never come up short or over the top.

ciaran

 

[Wraithdrit]

On a similar XP discussion... last session they trapped a mind flayer. After being evard's black tentacled, then encircled in a wall of fire ring, he ended up Plane Shifting out.

What kind of XP do I reward? Full? Partial?

2 Charmed Drow Officers were faced a bit earlier. 1 was freed from charm (then killed by the Mind Flayer's grimlock servant) the other fled into the Underdark. How much XP does the party get for having 'faced' them? Full? Partial? None?

What would you do in your game?

 

[Nifft]

On a similar XP discussion... last session they trapped a mind flayer. After being evard's black tentacled, then encircled in a wall of fire ring, he ended up Plane Shifting out.

What kind of XP do I reward? Full? Partial?

2 Charmed Drow Officers were faced a bit earlier. 1 was freed from charm (then killed by the Mind Flayer's grimlock servant) the other fled into the Underdark. How much XP does the party get for having 'faced' them? Full? Partial? None?

What were the challenges that they overcame?

Was Goal 1 simply getting past the Mind Flayer? If so, they get full XP.
Were they trying to get info from the Mind Flayer? If that's the case, no XP.
Were they trying to get its stuff, and they only got part of its stuff? Then partial XP.

As to the Drow, were they sent to assassinate the Drow? If so, no XP.
Were they using the Drow to help them get past / around some other hazards? If so, full XP and a bonus.
ere they trying to get their stuff, and they only got part of the stuff? Then partial XP.

Remember, XP is all about overcoming challenges. The fact that these challenges usually come in the form of killing monsters (and taking their stuff) is just coincidence.

What would you do in your game?

In my game? They'd get (150 x level) XP + any applicable bonus: creative in character, creative world-building, wrote journal entry, brought the DM scotch, painted some minis, etc.

If the world is trying to kill them, and if they're brave and noble it probably is, then just surviving can be quite a challenge to overcome.

-- N

 

[Piratecat]

It just can't be posted under the OGL or d20 system license, Piratecat. Those are contracts people choose to sign up to, not some general law of the land.

Hijack: It's the law of the land here. As was stated previously, it's illegal to reproduce copyrighted material. Moreso, it's stupid. We try to be good neighbors here; that means abiding by the gentleman's agreement of not posting material that was deliberately excluded by the SRD. Purposefully flouting this guideline is bad form, and its not something we want here; it would ruin goodwill with very little gain.

If you have a problem with this, feel free to email me. When you do, don't feel that you have to use the "rolleyes" smiley. It's a dandy way to sound a lot ruder than you probably intended to be. [/hijack]

 

[MerakSpielman]

I've found that some people seem think the rolleyes smiley is simply "looking upward," say, to refer to some above-quoted text or something.