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Message: <blockquote data-quote="77IM" data-source="post: 7624815" data-attributes="member: 12377">In my game, the party retreated after killing the bandits in the basement (area 21) but before they found the secret door to the caverns. Also, although the party heard Ned banging for help upstairs, they did not investigate.I decided that the remaining smugglers would hole up. So during the night, a few of them scouted the house and killed Ned. Then the smugglers barricaded the secret door from room 20 to 21, and sabotaged the stairs from the trapdoor down to 21, in the hopes that any return visitors would fall and hurt themselves. The smugglers, hobgoblins, and Sanbalet then occupied the caverns until the PCs could show up and kill them.This really wasn't the smartest plan for the smugglers, who would have been better off not touching anything so that the PCs think there's no one left, and then barring the secret door into the caves from the cave side so even if the PCs find it they will have trouble getting in. Better yet, they could have hidden all the smuggled goods on the jolly boat and just rowed away with them, coming back the next day.However, sometimes the smartest plan for the enemy isn't the most fun game-play. I think it's more important to depict enemies who are active and doing stuff. Players often can't distinguish between an enemy executing a smart plan versus a stupid one, but enemies sitting passively can stick out like a sore thumb.</blockquote>