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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Zuche" data-source="post: 5691120" data-attributes="member: 6682151">Wiping out the party doesn't take precedent over keeping the encounter fun, KarinsDad. Who'd enjoy sitting through the entire scenario as a witness after coming out to play. There was an option available that wasn't going to help the remaining participants much more than it would do if run by the person that brought Konan, so why sideline a player, especially one that showed up as a favour to the DM and was dependent on him for the ride home? Maybe if quick TPK was assured, but once the rest of the team had resist 5 all damage, we were in for the long game.  The program encourages merciless handling, but you should still do what you can to enable players. "Say yes," is still a guiding principle, especially with regard to a rule that exists to give players a break -- death for NPCs at 0 hp is a guideline when it does not serve that purpose. Oddly, only four players (two in one session) have grabbed fish to date, and two of those forgot to use them. This benefit was discovered at the first table run and one player even pointed out a method for storing the fish for later use, since they're sardines packed in oil. Only one out of eight players in the two most successful sessions went for the fish; most of the players preferred to spend their actions on other pursuits. Players have gone for the sealed door twice since they first learned of the pretty princess award, and two groups since then have completely negated the major benefit it offers a group. Two groups have had players attempt to reach the forge via the rune-filled corridor, and one even managed to cross it without suffering its effects.  That door still continues to be the preferred option and it's cost them every time. On two occasions, it's killed their main leader within a round, one by Roadrunner Gambit, the other by virtue of being missed by an attack that still pushed the party two squares. It's the preferred path for people seeking the speed run, though someone has found an even faster path. A lot has been discussed, especially with regard to Vell's strategies and the dangers posed by those warlocks. Certain strategies have demanded rethinking use of the temple elect, the servants, and one of the great lessons in poor creature design, the fire elemental. Forced movement is also getting a lot of attention, especially with regard to the saving throw mechanic. We definitely come at this from different backgrounds. I'm used to playing chess, where the starting setup is always exactly the same, and post mortem analysis can take days. Lair Assault isn't chess, let alone the Kobiyashi Maru scenario, but it's still a tactical training scenario for both the DM and the players. It's designed as a playtester's scenario, encouraging various objectives beyond the main one. While different monsters and traps might be more suitable to the challenge, it's best to hold off on such changes until you've tested several more subtle variations on the original idea. While you see static floor plan and limited trap/monster placement as poor design, I believe adhering to the KISS principle was a good design choice. Varying energy damage doesn't matter if the entire party has resistance to all damage for the rest of the encounter, so why not stick to a theme? Multiple trap types can wait for another scenario, while this one provides insight into when traps are more likely to be ignored or tackled. As for the challenges, sure, one Nature check can make the first one automatic for anyone that decides to spend actions on it, while the second is as easy as taking the right route. The third (please keep this secret, even here) will be more difficult for most groups to find, though there's one very good way to stumble across it by accident. Some of the others are consolations prizes, though a local player has failed to achieve the TPK award on two separate occasions by having the only PC standing at the end of the 20th round. One guy came close to winning the scenario by earning himself the award for dying by lava. The stage may be the same every night, but little awards like this encourage people to deliver diverse performances every night. You also get a very different game out of this if you try out roles, races, and classes you typically don't play, even if you're still seeking to optimize them. Maybe this could get a bit repetitive for the DM, but I've enjoyed it as a training workshop of sorts. There are things I'd like to see in future scenarios, such as randomly placed secret passages and maps that don't get displayed all at once. That's one advantage of laminated cards over fold-out maps. Another would allow for rooms to be changed at different times, rather than all at the end of the fourth round, as was the case here. I'd like a scenario that forced the party to have to consider splitting up at critical moments. I'd love to see every skill put to good use somewhere, preferably in ways where prior knowledge of the adventure did not negate the need for knowledge based skill checks.  I just wouldn't want all of these things at once--not yet, anyway. Maybe when such complications can be run more quickly.</blockquote>

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