He does tend to run games with a predetermined course. (I sometimes make railroad references during his games, which are *not* appreciated.)
That being said, I doubt he would out and out cheat to get the outcome he wanted. If we found a way to beat it, he'd laugh a bit and congratulate us on our resourcefulness. It's possible that he set this up, not knowing a "solution" other than brute force, but anticipating that some of the more creative players would somehow find a way through.
And we had one: Back off, use missile attacks, and simply wait for the AMF to run down. Alternatley, avoid the Giants and concentrate on the Efreet, who wasn't warded with AMF, and who was our primary objective anyway.
After we dropped him, I suggested that the Giants stand down and/or leave, since their employer was dead. I also offered to save him (
Revivifivation) if they'd stand down. No go. In fact, one of them advanced to include the fallen Efreet in his AMF to prevent us from saving him.
I next suggested that they could come with us to deliver his remains, and collect the reward, if they would stand down. Again, no luck.
One of them took the Efreet's head, then next round dropped his AMF and used some sort of
Teleportdevice to leave with it.
Apparently these guys didn't like their boss very much.
His partner was stuck. He had no
Teleport, and the damage was starting to pile up. We'd have someone go in and trade blows with him, then step out to be healed while someone else went in to keep him busy. He finally broke and ran, but not faster than arrows can fly.
I then did some in-character speculation, out loud, as follows: "Did I somehow imply that we'd actually been offered a reward for this guy? Gosh, how could I have made such a mistake. And the Caliph, who knew this enemy's name and location, almost certainly knows his bodyguard's names. Now, what would a Lawful Evil ruler like him do to a known associate of an enemy who is now claiming to have turned on his master for the reward? I'm sure it will be all right. The Caliph is a nice guy, and very understanding of that sort of treachery."
The Dm kind of groaned. I pointed out that I'd made all of that up on the spot, and that he should probably ignore it. He, however, agreed that my reasoning was sound (as opposed to being simply noise), and that the bodyguard was in for a very bad reception.
I have to be careful with this DM. He takes me far too seriously. It's too easy to manipulate him, even when I'm not trying to.
