Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="R-man" data-source="post: 3028549" data-attributes="member: 41142">This actually happened to me when running my campaign back in second edition with return to the tomb of horrors. Acerack died on round 2 by some truly phenomenal rolls and excellent intuitive tactics on the part of the three players. I let him die, I didn't fudge it or alter it in any way.My players still talk about this victory, because it was so out of the ordinary and because they knew then without any doubt that I don't pull punches when I DM, I go with what is rolled and if that means that the BBEG died really easily then so be it. Consiquently my players treat even the most minor encounters in my campaigns with respect, they know that I will play the encounters to the appropriate ability of the enemies and if that results in a TPK then I will apologize and then watch as new characters are rolled up.None of the players now get overly upset when a character dies, they understand that that is how it goes sometimes and they deal with it appropriately. Sometimes they get Raised and sometimes they just make a new character up whichever they prefer. However most of the time the BBEG fights do go on for a long time. One of the things to remember is that the DM's position requires a certain degree of trust from the players that you are trying to run an enjoyable game and not just screwing the players over for your own personal enjoyment. That means that if you want to run a particularly tough and high body count campaign that you have to be prepared to keep it honest and good without changing the encounter due to unforseen luck or tactics on the part of the players.Not every group is the same however. Some groups would prefer the big epic battle and in fact would get upset with the DM if the battle ended so abruptly...unless there was a deeper reason. e.g. the BBEG wasn't the real BBEG but was just a front man, then the unfortunate quick battle can be used to further the storyline and add complexity and depth. Remember if no one knows that you didn't plan it that way but you simply roll with it and deal with it people will assume that you are a much deeper thinker then you are and will spend hours trying to figure out what other nasty ideas you have up your sleave. When the players come up with a really good idea, don't be afraid to steal it and incorporate it!</blockquote>

Verification