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ShortQuests -- Pocket Sized Adventures! An all-new collection of digest-sized D&D adventures designed for 1-2 game sessions.

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Guilt Puppy" data-source="post: 465717" data-attributes="member: 6521">I've never DMed a full-on, roll-up-some-new-characters TPK, but I've come close:The cast:Elven Cleric of Corellon LarethianHalf-Orc BarbarianHalf-Elf MonkHalfling WizardHalfling RogueParty is exploring underground crypts for some reason (they'd made some good Gather Information checks which put them farther into the story than they should have been... but they weren't combat-heavy crypts, just a place to introduce a powerful NPC for them to get satisfaction from killing later on.)There is one minor encounter in the crypts -- four ghasts, the BBEG's guardians.Going down the staircases, they see four corpses in the walls, and notice they look far more recent than the skeletal remains that had lined the hallways up to this point. Cleric announces "I walk up to them, and see what they do." Barbarian follows him.Once he's within ten feet, corpses spring up. Both parties were expecting the encounter (the party was carrying torches in an otherwise dark area), so no surprise round: Roll for initiative.Ghasts win for initiative. In the first round, both the Cleric and the Barbarian are paralyzed.Monk and Rogue go down to try and kill the ghasts. They manage to take one out, but get paralyzed themselves. Wizard has the sense to stay back throwing spells at them, manages to kill another ghast -- but she's a halfling, so she can't outrun them and cast spells every round (and doesn't think to double-move, and cast every other round). She too gets paralyzed.Description of ghasts chewing on their paralyzed bodies for a while, then enter BBEG who calls them off, and sends the party on their merry way (he was planned to have no particular desire to kill off intruders, or people he did not consider a threat... so it was only a half-way fudge to their survival)Later, the Cleric has an argument with me about what "I walk up to them" entails. (Also later, they go back in, manage to kill the ghasts, only to find out that BBEG is way too powerful for them to kill at this point... they get a lot of information from him, because the evil thing that they were researching was really just a minor game of his that he didn't care much about, but they're still frustrated that they don't just get to kill him in the face.)Closest I've been to TPK, aside from once or twice when I had to fudge allowing the players to surrender (when it's happened it's been my mistake, having them fight stuff that's just too powerful). In my opinion, TPK is reserved for cases of total party stupidity -- and they haven't coincided yet.</blockquote>

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