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<blockquote data-quote="THEMNGMNT" data-source="post: 8107598" data-attributes="member: 6809274">You know when you spend hours creating a finely tuned tactical combat encounter and your players negate it in one fell swoop? Yeah, that's what happened. I'm still raw about it...This is my Dragon Heist/Deck of Many Things mashup with three 4th level PCs. Rogue, fighter, wizard. The rogue's uncle has been kidnapped by the Xanathar Guild and is under interrogation.I borrowed the Sodden Hold location from the Hall of Harsh Reflections, an old Dungeon adventure that's part of the Age of Worms campaign. It's a pretty cool map with a lot of varied terrain. I rekeyed the entire map and put together about five combat encounters that I thought would really test the PC's mettle. But the rogue's player had other ideas.The first thing they did was walk up to the front door and claim they wanted to surrender. The rogue aced his Deception check. Once inside, they were told to put on manacles. They aced their Slight of Hand checks to only appear to have locked shut the manacles. Then they were escorted by five monstrous guards to the interrogation chamber where the rogue's uncle was held. Inside was a nothic, a gibbering mouther, a troll, and two grimlocks. The PCs were so heavily outnumbered that I started to worry about a TPK. But the rogue pulled out a magical potion and bluffed that it was flask of &quot;pyromancer's fire&quot; (think Game of Thrones) and if the creatures didn't follow his instructions precisely he would burn them all down. Once again, he aced the Deception check. The troll was terrified. The PCs grabbed the uncle, blocked the doorways behind them, cut down a few stray grimlocks, and fled into the sewers with nary a scratch.They were thrilled.I was not.Next session: The lost lair of the Shadow Thieves!</blockquote>

[QUOTE="THEMNGMNT, post: 8107598, member: 6809274"] You know when you spend hours creating a finely tuned tactical combat encounter and your players negate it in one fell swoop? Yeah, that's what happened. I'm still raw about it... This is my Dragon Heist/Deck of Many Things mashup with three 4th level PCs. Rogue, fighter, wizard. The rogue's uncle has been kidnapped by the Xanathar Guild and is under interrogation. I borrowed the Sodden Hold location from the Hall of Harsh Reflections, an old Dungeon adventure that's part of the Age of Worms campaign. It's a pretty cool map with a lot of varied terrain. I rekeyed the entire map and put together about five combat encounters that I thought would really test the PC's mettle. But the rogue's player had other ideas. The first thing they did was walk up to the front door and claim they wanted to surrender. The rogue aced his Deception check. Once inside, they were told to put on manacles. They aced their Slight of Hand checks to only appear to have locked shut the manacles. Then they were escorted by five monstrous guards to the interrogation chamber where the rogue's uncle was held. Inside was a nothic, a gibbering mouther, a troll, and two grimlocks. The PCs were so heavily outnumbered that I started to worry about a TPK. But the rogue pulled out a magical potion and bluffed that it was flask of "pyromancer's fire" (think Game of Thrones) and if the creatures didn't follow his instructions precisely he would burn them all down. Once again, he aced the Deception check. The troll was terrified. The PCs grabbed the uncle, blocked the doorways behind them, cut down a few stray grimlocks, and fled into the sewers with nary a scratch. They were thrilled. I was not. Next session: The lost lair of the Shadow Thieves! [/QUOTE]

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