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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Bullgrit" data-source="post: 5199365" data-attributes="member: 31216">Maybe "cake walk" is overstating the situation, but. . .Party of 5 adventurers around 7th level. They've invaded a dungeon.They spot a patrol of 4 Medium-size constructs (EL~5 -- cake walk challenge). They avoid the patrol, noting that it seems to be following a set route.They move on further into the dungeon. They enter a room with four doors (including the one they entered by), and four statues. A programmed illusion appears in the center of the room to tell them to wait where they are for an escort to come pick them up. (They are invaders, and know they don't really want an "escort.") Unknown to them, the statues will animate if any of the other three doors are touched (EL~5 -- cake walk challenge, and a standard dungeon trope).They spend some time examining the "fluff" of the room, and I mentally calculate how long it will take the "escort" (EL~10 -- tough challenge) to arrive, and how long it will take the patrol they avoided to get back to this room.I'm thinking, this is going to be interesting. When they open one of the room doors, they will have to fight the room guardians (EL5). Then if they aren't on the ball to move on, they'll have to fight or flee the returning patrol (EL5). Then, depending on which door they open and exit through, they have a one in three chance of meeting the incoming "escort" (EL10). [They have a two in three chance of going away from the "escort.]So what happens? They fiddle-fart around the room without touching anything, for a long time. So the patrol shows up, opening the door the party came in through.A couple of the party tries to hold off the patrol while the rest of the party opens one of the other doors to move on deeper into the dungeon. The room guardians activate.And to make it worse, which door did they open, and start fleeing through? The one in three chance to head toward the "escort."So, instead of encountering an EL5 (easy), then an EL5 (easy), and then possibly an EL10 (challenging) fight one at a time, they get the whole gaggle at once (overwhelming), while the party is spread out through a room and down a hallway (terrible tactical disadvantage).I realized something very bad was happening when they opened that door to escape the returning patrol. But actions were happening fast at that time, and I just let them happen as they were going.Bullgrit</blockquote>

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