Dragon Heist TPK

[GameOgre]

We had several close calls even though 90% of the encounters were easy until the first real major boss. Don't know how to hide spoilers so lets just say it was a major bad guy who was WAY over the pc's level 1 ability and even though he tried to (get away) the party forced him into a fight and he destroyed the entire party in six seconds. One round and done,TPK.

Like ok I realize not everyone follows that same script and reacts to seeing that the same way but I hardly think that is THAT far off normal.


Am I missing something or are others having to deal with the same thing or heavily alter the adventure?

 

[aries04]

Sounds like they should have ran. A lot of players forget that’s an option

 

[UngeheuerLich]

We had several close calls even though 90% of the encounters were easy until the first real major boss. Don't know how to hide spoilers so lets just say it was a major bad guy who was WAY over the pc's level 1 ability and even though he tried to (get away) the party forced him into a fight and he destroyed the entire party in six seconds. One round and done,TPK.

Like ok I realize not everyone follows that same script and reacts to seeing that the same way but I hardly think that is THAT far off normal.


Am I missing something or are others having to deal with the same thing or heavily alter the adventure?

I am not sure about this particular combat, but reading the adventure prologue, it is mentioned that many bad guys don't want the PCs killed. In waterdeep deaths will start an investgation so the boss you mention might just knock them out instead of killing nameless would be heroes.

 

[GameOgre]

Well, im just saying the adventure puts a much much much higher CR enemy in front of the party. Yes the enemy is trying to flee but its fairly easy for the party to close off his escape (actually the more deadly the party is the greater the chance of a TPK).

It's like reverse Darwinism!

 

[LordEntrails]

Yea, it does. First thing, just because their is evil, doesn't mean you should fight it. Especially in a city adventure, their HAVE to be major badies around. If it was as easy as a first level party attacking them and killing them, then they wouldn't be there would they?

Sounds like your party learned a valuable lesson, just because someone may need killing, doesn't mean it's up to the party to do the killing.

 

[Sadras]

Sounds like your party learned a valuable lesson, just because someone may need killing, doesn't mean it's up to the party to do the killing.

Well hopefully the players learned that lesson too.

 

[Greg Benage]

I know the encounter. The villain simply wants to leave. With that particular villain, there’s almost no way he can fail to walk away from a 1st level party without killing them. Unless that’s the way the DM chose to play it.

 

[MNblockhead]

From Chris Perkin's Foreword:

Clever heroes will respect the city's rules. Those who get on the city's bad side are in for a rough time, as the City of Splendors is home to some of the most powerful figures in the Forgotten Realms.

It seems like your encounter played out exactly as it should have.

Though, under the "Adventure Structure" section it is suggested:

It also bears remembering that the villains are meant to be thwarted, not killed, and they are rarely spoiling for a fight. Adventurers who get in over their heads can be knocked unconscious rather than killed. Such characters might awaken in an alley, a sewer tunnel, or a prison cell, with or without their gear. Conversely, they might awaken safe and sound with all their gear in a private residence, being cared for by friendly NPCs who took them in.

But then...under Life in Waterdeep: Breaking the law:

Given how strictly the laws are enforced in Waterdeep, it's possible that the adventure should end with one or more of the characters being exiled, sentenced to several years of hard labor, imprisoned, or put to death. If that's how the adventure ends, so be it. Hopefully, your next group will fare better.

This is an adventure where ignoring consequences should mean suffering real consequences.

 

[MNblockhead]

Oh, I'd also like to point out that when Chris Perkins ran the Acquisitions Incorporated group through a Dragon Heist-based adventure at the most recent PAX convention, Chris Perkins pulled no punches. When Patrick Rothfuss's Rogue (Thief) Viari tried to pickpocket Jarlaxle, Chris had Jarlaxle stab Viari with a poison blade that could easily (and almost did) kill him.

 

[GameOgre]

While I do see some value in the "not everyone is beatable" type lesson. I just do not see a lot of value on forcing a wildly unbalanced encounter on the party with a survival criteria that the party doesn't know.

For instance is it BAD that a party would try to stop a villain trying to get away? That seems counter intuitive. Bad guys seek to escape and heroes bring them to justice.

For instance the Players knew the monster was death, but argued to themselves that their characters wouldn't have a clue what it was and so attacked it and tried to bring it down.

If the party would have been less effective and hadn't one rounded the help and still had enough change left over to threaten the big bad and force it into confrontation they would have probably lived.

I dunno, im just shocked im the only one having issues with it.