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<blockquote data-quote="Gorg" data-source="post: 9555920" data-attributes="member: 7029501">It ended in a total party kill...&nbsp; Lost Mine of Phandelver,&nbsp;&nbsp; Wyvern Tor.&nbsp; party of 4, 4th levels.&nbsp; Failed to take out the sentry, before he could warn the camp.&nbsp; It was a good try- the rogue used sneak attack to shoot him with his short bow.&nbsp; Did 14 points of damage- the orc had 18...&nbsp; That orc then won initiative, and used it to sound the alarm.&nbsp; Thus, the party got to face 7 angry orcs and an ogre all at once with no surprise round, or time to sneak up, position, or reconnoiter.&nbsp; Nor did they get the chance to even the odds a bit with an area of effect spell or such.&nbsp; As it turned out,&nbsp; rolling 7 attacks at +5 each round, plus the ogre - when they won initiative slots 3, 4, and 5-is a LOT of chances to roll high...&nbsp; 1d12+3 damage adds up quickly!&nbsp; The ogre's +6, and 2d8+4 was just the salt in the wound.&nbsp; 3 rounds later, all 4 characters were down,&nbsp; and there were just 2 wounded orcs left.&nbsp; I chose to have them run away, as the adventure suggests, after both bosses got toasted.&nbsp;&nbsp; The mage was the last standing, and tried his best with a Burning Hands spell (they were bunched up in/in front of the cave mouth), that ALL but a single orc failed their save on, lol.&nbsp;&nbsp; One of the two survivors knocked him down to 0 on his way out of Dodge.&nbsp; I knew it would be a tough fight, but this was unexpected.&nbsp;&nbsp; The dice giveth, and the dice taketh away.&nbsp; The unfortunate initiative rolls left them no real chance to disengage and flee or reposition.&nbsp;&nbsp; Fighter and cleric positioned in front to protect the rogue and the mage.&nbsp; Both rolled terribly on their initiative rolls, and went last.&nbsp;&nbsp; They got their butts kicked, before they could...&nbsp; They positioned in the cave opening, so the monsters could only reach them with melee attacks.&nbsp; The mage did an impressive job, tho.&nbsp; He single handedly slew the ogre.&nbsp; It was only a piss poor attack roll on the Melf's Acid Arrow spell that should have dropped him (causing the orcs to scatter and run), that allowed the beatings to continue till everyone got dropped.&nbsp; The Cleric was too hard pressed to cast any spells.&nbsp;&nbsp; (and too unconscious after round 2)&nbsp; As a nice gesture, lol, I had the 2 survivors run away without doing any coup de grace attacks- so the party could make death saves, and live.&nbsp; Fighter recovered first, and helped the cleric- who helped the rogue and wizard.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; As the raiders were in fact, driven off- they completed the quest, and got the nice fat xp award.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Gorg, post: 9555920, member: 7029501"] It ended in a total party kill... Lost Mine of Phandelver, Wyvern Tor. party of 4, 4th levels. Failed to take out the sentry, before he could warn the camp. It was a good try- the rogue used sneak attack to shoot him with his short bow. Did 14 points of damage- the orc had 18... That orc then won initiative, and used it to sound the alarm. Thus, the party got to face 7 angry orcs and an ogre all at once with no surprise round, or time to sneak up, position, or reconnoiter. Nor did they get the chance to even the odds a bit with an area of effect spell or such. As it turned out, rolling 7 attacks at +5 each round, plus the ogre - when they won initiative slots 3, 4, and 5-is a LOT of chances to roll high... 1d12+3 damage adds up quickly! The ogre's +6, and 2d8+4 was just the salt in the wound. 3 rounds later, all 4 characters were down, and there were just 2 wounded orcs left. I chose to have them run away, as the adventure suggests, after both bosses got toasted. The mage was the last standing, and tried his best with a Burning Hands spell (they were bunched up in/in front of the cave mouth), that ALL but a single orc failed their save on, lol. One of the two survivors knocked him down to 0 on his way out of Dodge. I knew it would be a tough fight, but this was unexpected. The dice giveth, and the dice taketh away. The unfortunate initiative rolls left them no real chance to disengage and flee or reposition. Fighter and cleric positioned in front to protect the rogue and the mage. Both rolled terribly on their initiative rolls, and went last. They got their butts kicked, before they could... They positioned in the cave opening, so the monsters could only reach them with melee attacks. The mage did an impressive job, tho. He single handedly slew the ogre. It was only a piss poor attack roll on the Melf's Acid Arrow spell that should have dropped him (causing the orcs to scatter and run), that allowed the beatings to continue till everyone got dropped. The Cleric was too hard pressed to cast any spells. (and too unconscious after round 2) As a nice gesture, lol, I had the 2 survivors run away without doing any coup de grace attacks- so the party could make death saves, and live. Fighter recovered first, and helped the cleric- who helped the rogue and wizard. As the raiders were in fact, driven off- they completed the quest, and got the nice fat xp award. [/QUOTE]

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