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Message: <blockquote data-quote="fanboy2000" data-source="post: 4906173" data-attributes="member: 19998">First, you handled the game session as well as you could have, given the situation. What you need now is, I believe, some advice on how to move forward.You need to keep Bob. Losing a player means losing a potential source of entertainment and lutz. But how do you keep Bob without setting a precedent of bowing the whims of every player who thinks all encounters should be easy? Simple, make it possible for him to get every thing he want's back.You've already got a good start with the resurrection. But now he's whining about losing magic items. You know what’s a good source of magic items? Treasures hoards. But wait, PCs need magic items to kill dragons! You already have your solution: the emperor who helped resurrect Bob. Now, the emperor doesn't have to give Bob a whole new slate of magic items, but how about this: Bob gets to pick three magic items from the emperor's personal armory to borrow? Give the other players a chance to borrow as well, just to make it fair. Throw in a condition that Bob and the other have to give the stuff back after they defeat the dragon.Properly armed and motivated, your groups is good for another crack at the lair. I don't know that the original lair called for, but I suggest throwing in a few light encounters. Say, a few 5th or 6th level skirmishers, and maybe an encounter with only two or three level 7s. Nothing they'll want to throw a daily at, but encounters that boost moral. Also, it might be fun to have some of those monsters (especially if their humanoid) use Bob’s stuff. As the party kills the new guards in the lair, Bob can regain some of his old stuff.Ah, but what of the dragon itself? In reality, a level 9 solo is doable for a 7th level party. I suggest that Bob go back and re-read all of the encounter design rules in the DMG. Still, it's going to be tough. My suggestion is the remove Jelia from the lair and the encounter, since she didn't seem to be part of the original encounter and was only a part of the encounter through the party's poor decisions. From an in-game perspective, Jellia probably wouldn’t want to be there for another fight anyways. And the dragon will likely want her to finish her work elsewhere, undisturbed by thugs. (And, of course, this makes a nice loose end for the PCs to follow.)If their fully up on dailies, and they have some positive moral from the earlier encounters, I think you'll see a great improvement in the outcome. Add to that Bob's motivation to get back at the foul beast that killed him, I think you have the recipe for great combat and a happy player. Make sure that the hoard has good stuff in it, just to give Bob a sense of satisfaction that going back to kill foul beast was worth it.Lastly, I don't think that Bob wants to play a tactical board game. If that's what he wanted to play, I suspect he'd play that instead. (tactical board games and the people who play them are at least as common as people who play D&D 4th ed) Having DMed for a number years, I suspect that what Bob wants is to always be successful. Since PCs in D&D 4e (and may other RPGs) often are successful, he's not sure what to do with failure. Particularly a partial failure where his character is alive, but doesn't have the stuff he's relied on. Also, if Bob really wanted to play a tactical boardgame, he probably wouldn't mind losing as much because the risk of losing would be greater.</blockquote>

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