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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 6953113" data-attributes="member: 20323">They will, will they? <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />Anticipate at least the following questions: <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Besides the "easily defensible" tower, what else is around us?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">How far is it to run back to the gate out of the Old City?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">How many spiders, roughly? Dozens? Hundreds? </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Do they come in waves? Are they acting like a focused hive mind or like animals which can be easily distracted or dissuaded?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Are these giant wolf spiders (CR 1/4) or giant spiders (CR 1)? </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Would the spiders' climbing still work on oil-slicked stone?</li> </ul>It's up to the players. What if they decide that an all-out retreat is more appropriate than fortifying themselves in a tower? Might want to have some chase obstacles ready and a plan for a thrilling "Chased by Giant Spiders Out of the Old City" scenario!IF that's how the players decide to handle this encounter, there are a few suggestions I have:1. Send the spiders at them in waves. Don't send 100 spiders at them all at once. Waves makes your job as DM more manageable & allows you to ratchet the tension/suspense of the scenario. During or in between the waves, feel free to introduce complications or opportunities for exploration / creative problem-solving.2. You are offering a solution for the PCs' escape that amounts to a Deus Ex Machina. It also means that any good-aligned PCs get to stand by and watch innocent NPCs get killed off (when was the last time that flew with heroic-minded players?). Instead, you need to make your scenario more multi-dimensional. Maybe some of the "Tamasic Men" could fly away safely, but not all of them; they're debating what to do, and beg the PCs to provide them a diversion so all of them can escape & promise to send help. Maybe some of the "Tamasic Men" offer to carry the PCs to safety, but either overestimate their strength or plan to betray the PCs and drop them into the horde of spiders. Maybe there's a secret escape passage underground that one of the young "Tamasic Men" knows of, but is afraid to bring it up because it's culturally taboo somehow.</blockquote>

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