Some Things Are Just THAT Deadly! *My players STAY OUT!!!*

[DarrenGMiller]

My players are about to walk into an area of the campaign world where they will be out of their league. The creature that is there is there for a purpose for later in the campaign, but at 9th-10th level, they are not ready. I plan on giving them plenty of warnings that what is coming up would wipe the floor with them as they approach... lots of clues. Does anyone else have set encounter areas that are too much for the party right away? Should I nerf the encounter if they persist and do not heed the warnings? Any advice would be welcome!

DM

 

[LogicsFate]

Would such encounter just set there, could it be out doing what such encounters do when it is possibly bored?

 

[Crothian]

Ya, I don't build encounters to suite the PCs levels. I build the encounters to suite what the encounters would be in that area.

First, I make sure there are plenty of rumors of how dangerious the place in. I add in stories from respected and higher level NPCs that include how those NPCs refuse to go there.

Now, it really depends on how out classed they are. Say in your case the monsters there are CR 15+. I'd either let them face a single monster that will be really tough, or I'd have them come across a few of them fighting it out amongst themselves. You don't want to just kill them off automatically but at the same time it should be deadly.

 

[Henry]

The PCs, while venturing into the area, come across the corpse of a 4 freshly killed beholders. The things were crushed like squeezed oranges.

I wonder if they'll get the hint?

 

[LogicsFate]

When they pass the thread title, maybe they'll take a hint

 

[Hawken]

You can be as subtle or obvious about the danger as you wish. But don't be afraid to kill them if they go farther than you want them too. It adds a bit of realism to the game. Life doesn't cater to your own experiences. In life you encounter situations that are way easy, some that are challenging and (too) often times there are encounters that are fatal. That's the way life is. D&D should be the same to some extent. If the players only think they can die through unlucky die rolls (instead of just plain being slaughtered by things they don't stand a chance against), they won't know any better.

If your characters have been "coddled" only by encounters that they are suited for, they'll likely stumble into whatever you are planning thinking they'll come through it (relatively) unscathed.

If you do kill them, you can have them start new characters at a similar level and then come across the remains of their former characters. That might be a little surreal for them, but it would definitely sink into their heads the fact that there are things in their world that they're not quite ready to face.

 

[painandgreed]

Depends on the situation and how I had presented it and what is there. I lay out my world and PCs hear about lower level and higher level adventures that I think they would hear about. They can go after them if they want, but usually they have better sence than to go after the higher ones because i've always warned them that such encounters are out there and there are things they will need to run from. And that is how I'd handle this situation*, I'd pit them against an encounter that is normal for the area but wouldn't really chase them if they ran. If they stay and beat it, good for them, if they stay and die, oh well.

* Assuming this isn't something really stupid like attempting to take down the epic BBEG that they should know has as many levels as all of them put together. Then it's no hold, try and kill them action. They still might succeed and if they do, I want them to have won fair and square.

 

[Lord Zardoz]

This is always a tricky situation...

Keeping players away from fights that will wipe them out is a difficult thing to manage. In computer games, this is why you have doors that you cannot unlock until you obtain the key.

The one failing of the D&D system is that you do not have many ways of completely kicking the party's ass without also killing them. In almost every meaningful situation, defeated means killed. Its even more difficult if you like to play your villians as being smart, and dont want to violate the evil overlord rule of not killing your enemies when you have the chance.

Since the players are 9th / 10th level, you could have a 3rd party handle the Raise Dead spells to revive the players. The 3rd party could be an ally, or a foe who will only raise them if they consent to a Geas spell. You can even role play out this exchange with the opponent using a speak with dead spell.

The safest way to keep this from happening is to make the area, or at least the creature, inaccessible for the present, and there are numerous ways to acheive that without wiping the party out.

END COMMUNICATION

 

[S'mon]

Should I nerf the encounter if they persist and do not heed the warnings?

Don't cripple the stats, you almost certainly don't want the players thinking the GM will ensure victory whatever they do, but give the PCs a chance to retreat.

To 1st level party:
"In the forest clearing ahead you hear slobbering, cracking sounds. A great green warty troll sits there, gnawing on the bones of a recently slaughtered bear. It hasn't seen you yet..."

Failing that, if possible have the BBEG (etc) initially kill any NPCs with the PCs, hopefully prompting a withdrawal. If the BBEG doesn't see the PCs as a significant threat he won't bother to pursue.

 

[DarrenGMiller]

Said creature is CR 20+. It is a BBEG for MUCH later. They have been warned that even the vegetation has been warped by its presence. They have been told that evil undead treants guard the whole territory. They have been beset by groups of powerful undead (bog mummies, voidwraths, vilewights, etc.) even near this things lands. Hopefully they will have the common sense to run (or see my thread title) as they learn more about it, but you never know what players do.

As for having it out of its lair, that is not really an option due to the nature of the creature. That is also an important story point for later.

Thanks for your help so far!

DM