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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Voadam" data-source="post: 4693180" data-attributes="member: 2209">In Monte Cook's high level 3.0 Demon God's Fane module there is a room with 8 hidden bodaks, no foreshadowing for PCs. This is an EL below the party's level and except for the gaze attacks the bodaks are easy prey and not much threat.I did not want a fight to go "Everyone but Ragnar who has death ward going make eight fortitude saves and don't roll ones. Except Jonas as an arcane trickster who doesn't want to roll a 6 or lower. Failure is instant death." and repeat each round until they killed off the Bodaks.I particularly did not want deaths to happen just for rolling poorly with no significant PC choices being involved. Deaths would mean stopping everything in the adventure to raise the dead PCs and emphasize the raising magic and how death is an inconvenience as opposed to the danger of the encounter.I swapped out the bodaks for equal CR alternative undead (advanced Disease Spirits from a Green Ronin web enhancement) which worked well with a disease theme I was developing.Later I thought it would be great to change bodaks from save or die to save or dieing, so that the PCs must make dramatic choices about continuing to attack versus trying to revive their dropped companions during the combat and the adventure could continue after normal healing with everyone feeling the dread of how close to death they came. I would then not hesitate to throw eight bodaks against them in a similar situation in the future. So I changed save or die effects in my game to save or dieing.If you want death a possibility around every corner then save or die fits that function.If you want to make it about knowing the foe first, countering his offenses, and exploiting his weaknesses then an investigation scenario with standard bodaks can work well.If you are looking for a straight encounter as part of a greater whole however then save or die bodaks are a poor choice.</blockquote>

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