Help keeping my players alive

[Nail]

Until now the PCs have been wandering around in the wilderness with fewer than 2 fights a day, so they've become used to blowing dailies and I've been throwing high level fights at them.

...Ahem.....

#1) The players learned you only throw 2 fights a day at them.

#2) Suddenly, that ground rule has been changed => by you, the DM.

#3) I'm not sure they're going to learn "resource management". I think they're going to learn that you'll change the ground rules on them.

 

[Mad Hamish]

...Ahem.....

#1) The players learned you only throw 2 fights a day at them.

#2) Suddenly, that ground rule has been changed => by you, the DM.

#3) I'm not sure they're going to learn "resource management". I think they're going to learn that you'll change the ground rules on them.

Without having been in the campaign it's impossible to be certain but I'd say that players should expect different amounts of encounters between wandering the wilderness and attacking a keep.

 

[Nail]

Without having been in the campaign it's impossible to be certain but I'd say that players should expect different amounts of encounters between wandering the wilderness and attacking a keep.

Why?

How many encounters you have per day is (almost) entirely dependent on DM style. After playing with a DM for a while, you begin to get a sense of how he does things. (Not to mention the fact that the DM gets a sense of how the players do things!)

It's a pretty reliable maxim that if the DM switches things up, the players will be caught off-guard. The DM needs to think that through as he's planning the adventure. He may even want to "prep" the players, by giving them stuff in the days before that indicate what's ahead. Novelists and Screen Writers do it all the time.

 

[Mad Hamish]

Why?

How many encounters you have per day is (almost) entirely dependent on DM style. After playing with a DM for a while, you begin to get a sense of how he does things. (Not to mention the fact that the DM gets a sense of how the players do things!)

It's a pretty reliable maxim that if the DM switches things up, the players will be caught off-guard. The DM needs to think that through as he's planning the adventure. He may even want to "prep" the players, by giving them stuff in the days before that indicate what's ahead. Novelists and Screen Writers do it all the time.

Depends on the situation.
Players should realise that they're going to have more encounters going into an enemy stronghold than they will in wilderness encounters.

 

[On Puget Sound]

Have the next "light" encounter include a branch in the story that, if followed successfully, will both delay the bad guy for 6 hours and provide a safe place. For example, they find the livery stable where guards are supervising slaves loading baggage and preparing the horses and carriage for the master's imminent departure. Or they have an opportunity to disguise themselves and blend in with the servants; then one or two can sabotage the departure while the others get some rest. Or they find an opportunity to forge or alter a letter; if believed, it will cause the villain to delay his plans.