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Message: <blockquote data-quote="CapnZapp" data-source="post: 6953442" data-attributes="member: 12731">Whoa there Hussar <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />Who said it was a pushover encounter that needed to be more dangerous? Not I, that's for sure.This thread is about me setting up an absurdly dangerous encounter, and then seeing the party absolutely crush it.I'm certain that if ANY ONE of these things had went down differently, it could have been a huge slaughterhouse...<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">the Warlock's familiar being discovered (they did discuss having it break into the cultists room at the inn)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">the monk not deciding to relocate to within striking distance of the inn entrance</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">the monk having a bit of bad luck with his initative (so Keeper Alandra and Master Thalder could act first)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">the battlefield not being this large open town plaza, where 30 ft and 60 ft spells could not reach more than a single opponent at a time</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">the party warlock being caught in the open instead of being able to take cover inside the town hall between her turns</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">the party postponing their "raid" just a little bit, letting word that the fighter and cleric absolutely dominated the bar fight that took place immediately prior reach Lord Gonfrey (and this his allies).</li> </ul>For instance, they talked about seeking an audience with the Lord to perhaps buy their friend out of prison (the reason they entered the village in the first place).Mostly pure chance meant they spent their morning looking for (unrelated) clues in Rundreth Manor a fair distance away. It felt reasonable they would reach the village just after sundown. Had they arrived during the day, things would have been different since the Lord and his Warlock would have been present in the village. Not to mention the lack of shadows on an open town square during day time!Also notable is the fact I did not know the Warlock had taken Forcecage. Well played by that player, surprising not only Lord Gongrey but me as well (my warlock player is probably the player most skilled at playing the DM, which as we all know is the highest form of optimization <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=";)" /> )---On the other hand, also chance meant they did not take out the Blackguard (with three militia boys) first (it was very very close that they had decided to rush him before springing their prisoner free). Or, if they hadn't listened to the town scribe's story, it would not have been an unlikely development they had fought the dragon cultists separately. The cultists actually did a sending to alert Lord Gonfrey, and I made the judgement he would have time to reach the village from the keep (since it was after sundown) because of the scribe's storytelling.So in the end, having to fight all five "named" NPCs at the same time (which this came very close to) was definitely a worst case scenario. A best case scenario would have meant taking the bad guys out piecemeal, and possibly using the potential NPC gladiator ally and Mystra girl to do it for them... TL;DR: This encounter definitely did not need to be made more dangerous... <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />(Didn't somebody calculate the absolutely huge XP loadout, even for a level 14 party?)</blockquote>

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