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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ExploderWizard" data-source="post: 4810588" data-attributes="member: 66434">Dungeon adventuring is a dangerous, risky undertaking. Luck has a lot more to do with survival at level 1 than just about any other time.  One thing the party could have done after seeing the parley fail and being outnumbered would have been to feign intimidation and carefully withdraw when the hobgoblin told them to leave. Remember that the encounter started with the group kind of being caught unaware (though not suprised in game terms) by a group that outnumbers them by a lot. The best thing to try would be a withdrawal ( which the DM gave them as an option based on the hobgoblin's dialogue). The party could explore elsewhere, note the location of the hobgoblins and return when they were more prepared.  The lethality of those early dungeons was part of the fun. It was easy to believe all the stories about previous unsuccessful adventurers after becoming one a few times. That same tired story doesn't carry the same weight in "balanced" adventures. After completing one you can't help but wonder how pathetic all those would-be heroes that came before you really were.</blockquote>