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<blockquote data-quote="MerricB" data-source="post: 3819865" data-attributes="member: 3586">My very first encounter with a Bodak was in the Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth. We walked into a dark room. My brother was told to make a save, which he failed. His character died. He had no idea what had killed him. We started to retreat, I failed a save, and my character died.There's a reason I'm not very fond of bodaks - or save or die.The thing is, I don't mind it in certain situations: in areas where the PCs know they should expect it. See a giant spider? Yeah, it's reasonable to assume that the players will expect it's poison to be deadly. The trouble is, there are so many monsters that they'll meet for the first time. And, I've got to tell you, most of the the DMs aren't good at telling you *exactly* how deadly something is. (I love the way you can find out monster lore in 3.5e with Knowledge checks).I prefer situations where the players get a chance to go, &quot;Uh oh, we're in trouble&quot; that is short of &quot;Oh, and you're dead&quot;. Killing someone, however good it may feel to the DM, is likely to cause that player to have to twiddle their thumbs for a good portion of the session to come.With a medusa, I will happily put statues about of adventurers in horrified poses, just so the PCs know what they're coming up against. Without the warning, it's random.Cheers!</blockquote>

[QUOTE="MerricB, post: 3819865, member: 3586"] My very first encounter with a Bodak was in the Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth. We walked into a dark room. My brother was told to make a save, which he failed. His character died. He had no idea what had killed him. We started to retreat, I failed a save, and my character died. There's a reason I'm not very fond of bodaks - or save or die. The thing is, I don't mind it in certain situations: in areas where the PCs know they should expect it. See a giant spider? Yeah, it's reasonable to assume that the players will expect it's poison to be deadly. The trouble is, there are so many monsters that they'll meet for the first time. And, I've got to tell you, most of the the DMs aren't good at telling you *exactly* how deadly something is. (I love the way you can find out monster lore in 3.5e with Knowledge checks). I prefer situations where the players get a chance to go, "Uh oh, we're in trouble" that is short of "Oh, and you're dead". Killing someone, however good it may feel to the DM, is likely to cause that player to have to twiddle their thumbs for a good portion of the session to come. With a medusa, I will happily put statues about of adventurers in horrified poses, just so the PCs know what they're coming up against. Without the warning, it's random. Cheers! [/QUOTE]

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