How Do you stop players from making suicidal decsions?

[National Acrobat]

Oh I will definately post. Our next session is wednesday the 21st of August. They are already emailing each other about combat strategy and the like. It should be interesting.

 

[Dragonblade]

First of all, Charm will not make your allies suddenly join the bad guys. All Charm will do is make the Drow who cast the spell now be regarded as a friend. His former allies are also still his friends so likely he would try to protect the drow and urge his party members not to hurt his new "friend".

The other Drow would all still be seen as enemies though.

As fas the fate of the party goes, they have made their bed and now they must lie in it. If they win, they win. If they die, they die. Those are the consequences of the choice they made knowing full well what they faced.

On a final note, I will disagree with the Cleric of Hieroneous holding back. Urging his party members not to attack because of the bargain they made is appropriate, but when it comes down to combat he better stand by his party.

To stand by while they are slaughtered at the hands of EVIL drow is NOT a good act. Did the party break its word with the drow? Yes. But that does not justify letting your companions fall to the forces of darkness.

If I was DM there would be a serious reckoning when that cleric's soul comes before Hieroneous for judgement.

"So you let the forces of good diminish and the forces of evil grow stronger because you didn't want to break your word?!? What you fail to see is that ultimately the forces of evil care nothing for promises or bargains. What good is a promise kept if others suffer because of it? You are hereby JUDGED for your lack of vision and found wanting..."

 

[Hammerhead]

You can always change the levels of the drow. Unless you want a total TPK, a total campaign stopper, that's what I might do. Make them just tough enough to bring a few party members to their graves, but not enough to take the entire party out.

Teaching players "lessons" isn't fun for anyone.

 

[Mark]

You can always change the levels of the drow. Unless you want a total TPK, a total campaign stopper, that's what I might do. Make them just tough enough to bring a few party members to their graves, but not enough to take the entire party out.

Teaching players "lessons" isn't fun for anyone.

Yup. Can't remove the challenge altogether, but unless you want to start from scratch and risk losing players, you need to give them a fighting chance.

 

[MeepoTheMighty]

It may be cliche, but you could always have some new threat appear...that the party can only overcome by joining forces with the drow...

Maybe the drow try to summon a powerful outsider of some sort to deal with the party, but lose control of the creature, and the party suddenly finds themselves fighting for their life against the oncoming legions of hell...

 

[Celtavian]

Re

I have had this problem many times myself. I just let things lie mostly. The players sometimes grow angry with you, but what can you do? You want the world to feel dynamic, and losing is part of a dynamic world.

I just hope they have the good sense to retreat when they see the battle is unwinnable.

 

[National Acrobat]

I have actually lowered the levels of the body guards, but the big 3 are supposed to be long term enemies that they deal with at the culmination of the campaign. It is really funny, the Half Ogre fighter told the Priest of Heironious that "if you are afraid of dying, why are you adventuring" during an e-mail conversation between the two characters and now the priest has agreed to join the fight. Now everyone is in.

 

[Bob Aberton]

National Acrobat:

I notice no one has posted a suggestion something like the following:

Let the dice fall, yes.

If a TPK happens, a TPK happens.
BUT...

LET THE PCS ENJOY THE AFTERMATH OF THEIR HEROIC DEATH IN THE NEXT CAMPAIGN.

You said that some of them know that they will die, but their characters don't.

THAT IS NOT SUICIDE, IT IS GOOD ROLEPLAYING.

If some survive, let them hear, at the next inn they go to, the Ballad of the Heroes, where a bard sings of the PC's heroic sacrifice, and their glorious death.k

Have people on the street be talking about the Heroes who fought the Drow. Sure some of them may have died, but now the common folk of the land worship them.

If any of the PCs survive the fight by some miracle, have the common folk treat them as gods: "You want to give me the honor of staying at my humble inn? You can have the finest rooms and the best food for free! It is a small thing, compared to what you and your fallen comrades did!"

or

"You want to buy supplies at my store? You can have them at no cost! May the gods be with you!"

or, somewhat more pertinently:

"You have honored my temple greatly by coming here! I shall ressurect your fallen friends forthwith, and don't worry about donations! One cannot put a price on such great sacrifices that you have made!"

You get the idea. Let them enjoy the fruits of their heroics.

 

[James McMurray]

Enjoting the fruits of heroism is great, but agreeing to parlay and then attacking the people you were supposed to talk to is not heroic. Also, unless the party brings other people to this meeting (nd they survive) how is the rest of the world supposed to hear about their deaths?

I do agreee though that if the party dies, the next party could come along to try to clean up the mess. Odds are pretty good that the explanation for the party disappearing would even be the Drow were treacherous, rather than the truth.

 

[alsih2o]

have the drow lay vicious traps on the way to the battle, possibly magically disguised, muck up the party enuf that their confidence in winning wains, maybe this small stall will give the situation time to come to another resolution