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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pukunui" data-source="post: 9838967" data-attributes="member: 54629">In my last Eberron campaign session, we kicked off my conversion of Grasp of the Emerald Claw. I have not only converted it to 5e but have also upscaled it to account for the PCs being level 8 rather than level 6.The PCs successfully rescued Lady Elaydren d'Cannith from the Karrnathi undead soldiers and took on her quest. They enjoyed the submarine ride. But then came the giant shark.Now, a giant shark is only CR 5, and I was expecting all four PCs to engage it in battle, so I gave it max HP (136). I wanted to increase the danger of fighting underwater as well, so I said the crew had four caps of water breathing rather than a bucket-load of water-breathing potions. The PCs have one cap of water breathing themselves, and the ranger has a swim speed. I was anticipating that the PCs would either be willing to hold their breath or would volunteer to take the place of one of the NPC gnome crewmen (and thus gain a cap of water breathing).The ranger took the party's cap of water breathing.The artificer took the place of an NPC, gaining a cap of water breathing.The monk has an amulet of health so chose to hold his breath since he can do so for 5 minutes!The paladin's player, however, chose to have her PC remain on board the sub. I made the mistake of not including the paladin in the initiative order, thinking that she wouldn't be able to do anything from inside the sub. However, in retrospect, I should have made it so she could still contribute. The sub has a magical viewport but the pictures show it also having regular windows. She should have been able to cast sacred flame at the shark through the window, since the magic doesn't need to pass through the glass.When the shark showed up, the ranger decided to use speak with animals to talk to it. I had to explain that that didn't mean the shark would necessarily listen or obey, and it being a dumb animal with Int 1 means it can't say much more than "hungry", "hurt", "kill" or whatever. I gave her the sense that the shark was like a bull dog and was afraid of being punished if it didn't obey. Anyway, the point is, the ranger spent the fight trying to talk to the shark instead of fighting it. It ate her.It also ate the monk, who was fighting it.The artificer spent most of the fight helping the NPCs cut the nets holding the sub.Needless to say, we all made some poor choices this session.Next session, when the sahuagin rock up on the beach while the sub is being prepared, I'm going to play it more as a "You need to give us money for trespassing" negotiation that shouldn't devolve into combat. If it does, the players of the dead PCs can control some of the NPCs fixing the boat.Once the PCs make it to Stormreach, they can rock up to the House Jorasco enclave and get the two dead PCs raised.(Looking at the old City of Stormreach book, not only is there a Jorasco healer with enough cleric levels to cast raise dead, but the facility also has a magic altar of resurrection. The party has plenty of money, and there's also a House Kundarak enclave nearby, so they can easily withdraw funds from their bank vault in Sharn. Easy-peasy!)I subscribe to Keith Baker's idea that, while Jorasco healers will always cast augury before raising someone from the dead, PCs should always get a pass (unless their player wants to make a new PC). That said, the ranger has already died and been raised from the dead once, so I feel like there should be some kind of lingering consequence ... like the ennui of Dolurrh is hanging on more than just the -4 penalty that raise dead and resurrection impose. I'm looking at the Shadowfell Despair rules for ideas.(As an aside, I've found giant beasts to be especially lethal in my 5e games. Pretty much every time I've included a giant crocodile, for instance, it has managed to kill a PC.)</blockquote>

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