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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 6704706" data-attributes="member: 20323">What happened to Kamikaze Midget? <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />Statistically, I fall somewhere between...As a DM, I'm cool with the party avoiding some encounters, but not others (like boss fights).ANDAs a DM, I'm cool with the party doing this campaign as pacifists, if that's what they want.My players are sufficiently bloodthirsty that I don't need to go out of my way to put fights in their path. Bodies are going to hit the floor one way or the other. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />I do try, when designing "significant"/interesting/narrative-driven encounters in advance, to dream up a few alternate methods of problem resolution, even if it's just a quick note to myself.A good example was a sentient giant spider the PCs came across called the Mother of the Hollow. PCs were investigating infestation of giant wolf spiders in a village, forest gnome ranger spoke to a swarm of spiders and learned about "the Mother", then PCs tracked spiders back to lair down an unstable fissure beneath a dark magic tree.My notes were basically:1) Fight? "the Mother" giant spider (sentient, lair actions, and a creepy personality), a lot of giant wolf spiders, the spider swarm they let go, and web traps2) Negotiate? "the Mother" is originally from Underdark but was trapped in the fissure lair after quake, and might turn over cocooned corpses & treasure in agreement to leave if PCs can gain her access to Underdark again ...future complication/ally?3) Circumvent (morally dubious)? what about collapsing unstable rocks onto spiders, thus trapping possible cocoon victims down there? what about dealing with the tree spirit to turn spiders against "the Mother"?In fact, the party ended up going with #2, albeit with a hefty helping of "gambling as a distraction" from the halfling PC! We dubbed that "chapter" Gambling in the Dark <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /></blockquote>

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