(SPOILERS) Tweaking Last Night's D&D Encounters Session

[the Jester]

First off, if you've yet to play this weeks Encounters session and you're going to, go away!

I've been running D&D Encounters at the FLGS, and last night was the most recent session, with the hardest fight so far. The pcs (still first level) were scheduled to fight:

4 wisp wraiths (level 1 minions)
1 corruption corpse (level 4 artillery)
3 zombies (level 2 brutes)
1 lifedrinker specter (level 4 lurker)

The assumption is that there are 5 pcs. If you play with a "weak" party- including if you're down one player- you're supposed to drop one of the lowest level monsters.

We actually only had three players, so I changed the encounter around a bit more than that. I could have simply dropped two zombies- but that seemed like it was thinning out the encounter an awful lot. So instead I swapped all three zombies out for 4 1st-level zombie rotters. It made for a "shambling horde of undead" kind of effect that worked really well, with the pcs getting desperate and having a pretty close fight. They never did figure out the encounter's "trick", which would disable the specter's aura (aura 2; an enemy that starts its turn in the aura takes 5 necrotic damage) and disable its regeneration 5- but they focused on the specter and killed it fairly quickly anyhow! By that time they were pretty beat up and the warden went down, so I had the ghost appear and grant them a minor boon that seemed about balanced with the "end aura/regeneration" effect and let each pc heal 10 hit points.

It was still close. It came down to a badly wounded corruption corpse against a badly wounded sorcerer, with everyone else down.

The three characters were a dwarf fighter, a warden (can't recall the race) and an elven sorcerer. Last week, the only thing the sorcerer got to do was roll death saves- he got knocked out before he even got to act- so it's cool that this week he got to be the hero. Especially because that player pretty much ALWAYS plays fighters or similar characters, so I'm glad he got some good use out of his sorcerer this time.

Anyone else tweak this encounter? How did it go for you?

 

[amysrevenge]

I observed a table last night, and it sounds like the changes you made were pretty accurate - this particular party I watched (with the full 5 PCs) ended up victorious, but in a similar state to yours.

 

[Festivus]

My table mopped up this encounter pretty easy. But we had two divine characters in the party so that really helped things. Other tables as I looked around were not as fortunate.

 

[the Jester]

My table mopped up this encounter pretty easy. But we had two divine characters in the party so that really helped things. Other tables as I looked around were not as fortunate.

Didja figure out the 'trick' to summoning the ghost?

 

[TheWriterFantastic™]

I ran the encounter the other night, for a monk, paladin, fighter, cleric, and ranger, and it ended in a tpk... it was pretty brutal... it probably would have gone alot better had the party used the corridor to their advantage and not moved straight into the room and been overwhelmed with the numbers... it didn't occur to any of them to try to call in the ghost, so they were continually getting hammered by the spectre's drain aura...

 

[Pseudopsyche]

Argh! There was a trick? We barely survived, no thanks to that damned aura. It was the first time all season I used my daily, Beacon of Hope, and boy did we need it!

 

[Marshall]

I ran the encounter the other night, for a monk, paladin, fighter, cleric, and ranger, and it ended in a tpk... it was pretty brutal... it probably would have gone alot better had the party used the corridor to their advantage and not moved straight into the room and been overwhelmed with the numbers... it didn't occur to any of them to try to call in the ghost, so they were continually getting hammered by the spectre's drain aura...

What, in ANY of the previous encounters, would cause the PCs to even consider being able to summon the ghost? Not to mention, even if they did think they could summon the ghost, the last time it was in the same room as the specter, it was getting "eaten".

Anybody else bothered by authors who design encounters that are likely TPKs unless the players make some wild leap of logic?

 

[Festivus]

What, in ANY of the previous encounters, would cause the PCs to even consider being able to summon the ghost? Not to mention, even if they did think they could summon the ghost, the last time it was in the same room as the specter, it was getting "eaten".

Anybody else bothered by authors who design encounters that are likely TPKs unless the players make some wild leap of logic?

Well, there was the hint from a few sessions ago from the magic mouth.

 

[the Jester]

Yeah, there are several hints, and the module even urges you to use the ghost if they are having a really tough time but don't figure it out. I'm always a little dissatisfied with that kind of heavy-handed deus ex machina, but when my group nailed the specter I thought it was fitting for the ghost to arrive and grant them a few hit points instead (since the aura was no longer an issue).

 

[TarionzCousin]

I am not a participant in this format, but I just dropped in to say that Corruption Corpses are pretty cool. The first time a DM described exactly how they were attacking our group, we all chuckled...






... then we killed them (but they didn't have any stuff).