DM Blunder - Spoiler Warning for Dungeon Mag #91

[Valen]

Let's try this again... So last night I was running a module from Dungeon magazine, "Bogged Down" for those who are interested. A creature had attacked the farmer one night leaving the farmer with a nasty greenish wound and a broken gate. The farmer could not describe the creature other than it resembled a man. The PCs ventured into the swamp to find it.

They venture into the swamp, getting lost for sometime, with some help of a lizardfolk they find the lair of the swamp witch. She is confused and due to some bad rolls, she is not helpful.
It was getting pretty late, and after the ultimately fruitless encounter with the Swamp Witch the PCs had managed to get themselves lost in the swamp. I had them make a wilderness lore rule to find a set of tracks. They met their DC so I looked at the module and read to them saying "The mummy's tracks head west." Then, four voices sound out in unision "THE MUMMY?"

Yes, I had given away the big bad through one mispoken word. I felt/feel pretty awful having, in part ruined the adventure. I am thinking of changing the creature's nature now, but I am not sure it would work in the story and, of course, they still have to find the thing. Has anyone else ever slipped up in this manner before? What did you do to "fix" it?

 

[EricNoah]

Heh I did the same thing just last week. The main bad cleric had five special mummies that had sorcerer levels and did Dex damage instead of the normal mummy touch. So I'd been describing them as "undead spellcasters" which got them thinking "lich" -- but then I goofed and said "mummies" and they knew they could just torch them.

Here's what you do. Just say, "Yeah there's this neat new Mummie template. What it's mixed with ... that's a big unknown."

And then change a bunch of stuff and dock them XP just to spite them!

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

I do this ALL the time, it's very annoying. I feel your pain.

Depending on your bluff skills, you might try this one: "Yeah... Somebody called it that a while ago, I figured it wouldn't hurt to play along with your assumptions."

You may not have the setup to do this but it's worth a try.

Along the same lines, if the party DOES toss something out there, do try to pick up on it and start using their term yourself. It's a good habit anyway and when you need to use it as a bluff, it'll be easier to pull off.


Wulf

 

[Sodalis]

if they are heading straight for the mummy, then there is nothing much you can do except follow their lead. Since they are going straight into the ncounter, they are not REALLY prepared for teh mummy, except for the casters.

But, if they go backt o town to get stuff specifically for a mummy, then have the shop owner ask what they need all this stuff for- and then reveal that he does not think it was a mummy, or that the people say that another monster had been terrorizing the town, and it could not possibly be a mummy.

Dont change the module because of one slip up. So they have some info about what they are facing- big deal. they still have to face it. If they have not faced a mummy before, teher is no way they can know that it is vulnerable to fire...

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

If they have not faced a mummy before, teher is no way they can know that it is vulnerable to fire...

Why not?

I've never faced a mummy before, either, and yet I can tell you it's vulnerable to fire.

It's reasonable to assume, I think, that anyone who picks up a sword and shoulders his pack to head out into the world as an adventurer will have at least as much common knowledge about the monsters he will face as the millions of geeks and other assorted couch-jockeys who play this game (and yet have never, actually, faced any of these monsters themselves either).

EDIT: Just to be a little more OT and helpful... They are in a swamp, right? That mummy is waterlogged! Give him fire resistance 20 or so and game on!

Wulf

 

[Piratecat]

I agree with Wulf. It's a mummy covered with slime... waterlogged, slippery, and hard to burn.

also consider making an additional bad guy, or adding lackeys that the PCs won't expect. Anything to catch them off guard!

But yeah, I've done this, too. It's infuriating.

 

[Regdar]

Bah, it happens

Regdar has at times performed this same mistake. Regdars favorite however was from a former DM.

"The ..room contains 4... and the treasure is located behind the secret door..."

 

[frankthedm]

Fire resitance does sound good for a swamp mummy, you might want to give it a vulnerabillity to electricity to compensate [more or less the bolts flash-boil the moisture trapped in the bog mummys body for severe tissue damage.]

Doing this also lets a party benifit from experimenting.
rater than just just reading the monster manual.

 

[Crothian]

I did that in a module. I said the room was filled with a large ogre and a Vampire. It was set up to be a role playing encounter and it took me a few moments to realize why all the players were rolling for iniative.

 

[K.C.]

Wulf, I'd just like to point out that most adventurers won't have the benefit of a Monster Manual to use to study the strengths and weaknesses of the critters they may face in their careers.

At best, they will have the experiences of whomever trained them to help prepare them for their foes. At worst, they will only have bard's tales and folklore to fall back on. Tales and folklore that will be either misinformation, exaggerations, lies, or just plain fictitious. Some things, like a werewolf's vulnerability to silver or a vampire being slain with a stake through the heart, will probably be well known. But, if the DM is feeling evil, those well known facts could be slightly wrong (for example, to stake a vampire you need a stake made from hawthorn; any other wood just makes the vampire annoyed.)

If you can, take a look at a medieval bestiary and see what scholars back then thought of such creatures as lions, elephants, and other assorted normal animals. All built on traveler's stories, hearsay, and folklore...