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Pathfinder 2e: Actual Play Experience
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<blockquote data-quote="kenada" data-source="post: 7845251" data-attributes="member: 70468"><p>The CRB isn’t lying when it says severe encounters can go badly for the PCs if they don’t use good tactics.</p><p></p><p>Today’s session ended in a TPK. Reflecting on it, it was unnecessary but also the consequences of some bad decisions (and some bad luck). At the same time, it didn’t feel unfair that it happened. The one that ended my 5e campaign felt a lot worse for everyone.</p><p></p><p>I’m running a sandbox game, so I use wandering monster tables in my dungeons. The PCs were exploring a Dragon Shrine they’d found (I was using <a href="https://dysonlogos.blog/2019/02/16/temple-of-the-mad-titan/" target="_blank">this map</a>, just to convey a sense of scale). The first encounter my tables generated was a giant gecko. The monk decided to wrestle it, but it eventually got free and ran away. That’s not the TPK part, though it sets the stage.</p><p></p><p>Later, they find that gecko and another one near the entrance to the Shrine. They scare the geckos off, and then continue exploring. A short time later, they find the first gecko melting while the other stands back and hisses at the gray ooze that’s killing the other gecko.</p><p></p><p>The gray ooze is level 3 creature I converted using a mix of mechanics from the oozes in the <em>Bestiary</em> to make something that felt like the one in PF1 (and checked against the monster creation guidelines Paizo released recently). The PCs have dealt with them before effectively using hit and run tactics. Today, they decided it was time to slug it out with a creature that destroys your equipment and can grab and melt you to death (as they saw happening to the gecko).</p><p></p><p>Getting back to my opening statement, according to the CRB, a severe-threat encounter is one where bad luck or poor tactics can turn the encounter against hte PCs. <em>Yes</em>. We only had three PCs today, so a single level 3 creatures should be a moderate- to severe-threat encounter for them. The fight started out okay, but it went completely out of control when one of the PCs split the ooze and then got one-shotted with a max damage crit by the second ooze. Crits are <em>brutal</em>.</p><p></p><p>If anything, that’s the only thing that drew any consternation. I think everyone’s used to PF1 or 5e where crits are much more rare. The ooze could crit the alchemist on a 12 because the alchemist’s AC was <em>terrible</em> (only 13). Having a low AC is extra bad because you not only get hit more often, but you get crit more often (and crits hurt).</p><p></p><p>Since the campaign is designed around a rotating cast of characters, we rolled up new ones at the end. We’ll figure out next time whether they’re going to go find out what happened to the first group or just strike out exploring in a different direction.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="kenada, post: 7845251, member: 70468"] The CRB isn’t lying when it says severe encounters can go badly for the PCs if they don’t use good tactics. Today’s session ended in a TPK. Reflecting on it, it was unnecessary but also the consequences of some bad decisions (and some bad luck). At the same time, it didn’t feel unfair that it happened. The one that ended my 5e campaign felt a lot worse for everyone. I’m running a sandbox game, so I use wandering monster tables in my dungeons. The PCs were exploring a Dragon Shrine they’d found (I was using [URL='https://dysonlogos.blog/2019/02/16/temple-of-the-mad-titan/']this map[/URL], just to convey a sense of scale). The first encounter my tables generated was a giant gecko. The monk decided to wrestle it, but it eventually got free and ran away. That’s not the TPK part, though it sets the stage. Later, they find that gecko and another one near the entrance to the Shrine. They scare the geckos off, and then continue exploring. A short time later, they find the first gecko melting while the other stands back and hisses at the gray ooze that’s killing the other gecko. The gray ooze is level 3 creature I converted using a mix of mechanics from the oozes in the [I]Bestiary[/I] to make something that felt like the one in PF1 (and checked against the monster creation guidelines Paizo released recently). The PCs have dealt with them before effectively using hit and run tactics. Today, they decided it was time to slug it out with a creature that destroys your equipment and can grab and melt you to death (as they saw happening to the gecko). Getting back to my opening statement, according to the CRB, a severe-threat encounter is one where bad luck or poor tactics can turn the encounter against hte PCs. [I]Yes[/I]. We only had three PCs today, so a single level 3 creatures should be a moderate- to severe-threat encounter for them. The fight started out okay, but it went completely out of control when one of the PCs split the ooze and then got one-shotted with a max damage crit by the second ooze. Crits are [I]brutal[/I]. If anything, that’s the only thing that drew any consternation. I think everyone’s used to PF1 or 5e where crits are much more rare. The ooze could crit the alchemist on a 12 because the alchemist’s AC was [I]terrible[/I] (only 13). Having a low AC is extra bad because you not only get hit more often, but you get crit more often (and crits hurt). Since the campaign is designed around a rotating cast of characters, we rolled up new ones at the end. We’ll figure out next time whether they’re going to go find out what happened to the first group or just strike out exploring in a different direction. [/QUOTE]
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