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Message: <blockquote data-quote="RangerWickett" data-source="post: 1449739" data-attributes="member: 63">As a game master and storyteller, I always try to work a nice dramatic arc into each session.  You don't kill off PCs in the first round of combat at the beginning of the game, and you try really hard to not let the climax at the end of the session end with a whimper.Last game, the party of 13th level PCs went up against a foe they'd been working their way up to for a while.  A 20th level monk/psion, who, with various enhancements, was dealing 6d8+10 damage per hit.  And he got 6 attacks per round.In the first round of combat, he just got off one attack while spring attacking, dealing a lot of damage to one PC.  This was the round where the PCs were supposed to see, "Dang, he can hurt us, and uh oh, he's got a 42 AC, so we can't really hurt him effectively."The next round, he manifests a power from Mindscapes, something deliciously broken called 'brutalize wounds,' which makes the target take full damage from all attacks, instead of you having to roll.  The PC failed her save, the party psion figured out what the power was, and the group got scared.  They chased after this fast monk, getting one attack through his defenses, dropping him to a mere 180 hit points.Now, the third round is where things went awry.  I could have just had him go full attack on the PC who failed her save against brutalize wounds, which would kill her, but it was too early in the encounter, and I knew that the monk's saves were high enough that he wouldn't fall prey to any of the instant death spells unless he rolled a 1.  So instead he whirlwind attacked the people who had surrounded him, hitting the brutalized PC for 58 points of damage, and everyone else for 40 or so.I understand tempo, and in the fourth round, the round that few combats go beyond at this high level, the monk was going to take out the brutalized PC if she didn't get the hell out of dodge, and otherwise he was going to just full attack whoever was within range.  But the PCs, who don't understand tempo, and who don't know that the villain is supposed to kick ass and nearly beat the party before the party beats him, up and cast Tasha's Hideous Laughter on him.  And for his save, he rolled a 1.Now, I'm already laughing at how overpowered this spell is, which effectively keeps a creature from doing anything for 13 rounds.  He can defend himself, but he can't move or attack or pretty much do anything.  But I can't believe that even as a 20th level character, his attempts at butt-kicking can be thwarted by a 2nd level spell.So I ask, as a GM, do you ever fall prey to bad timing?  You're not planning to pull your punches in the long run, but you don't feel that killing a PC in the first round of combat makes anyone have more fun, so you try to build slowly, dramatically, and have your thunder stolen from you.  That ever happened?Players, do you usually just try to win as fast as possible, or do you consider whether waiting to pull out your big guns would make for better drama?  Have you ever planned to start small and build, and then had your character taken out before you had the chance, or had a major combat end too early?</blockquote>

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