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<blockquote data-quote="S'mon" data-source="post: 5066616" data-attributes="member: 463">Well, my session today went pear-shaped when the Orcs' dice turned hot at the crucial moment.&nbsp; The big battle against the entire White Fist Orcs tribe ended with the following tallies:Orc Drudge minion-4 - dead:&nbsp; 33&nbsp; alive: 1Orc Raider skirmisher-3 - dead: 4 alive: 0Orc Chief brute-4 - aliveOrc Priest of Yurtrus controller-6* - alive&nbsp; &nbsp; Dead: 37 alive: 3*Half hit points PCs: dead - 4&nbsp; (3 2nd level Bard, Rogue-Sorcerer, Avenger; 1 3rd level Fighter) alive, unconscious: 1 (3rd level Invoker) alive, conscious: 1 (2nd level Ranger-Rogue)&nbsp; &nbsp; Dead: 4 alive: 2The battle ended with the last PC standing dragging off her last living comrade.Victory: orcs.AFAICR this was actually the most PCs I have killed in one session in over 25 years of GMing!I have read elsewhere that there's something about 4e combat where the party don't realise they're losing until it's too late, with a big risk of TPK.&nbsp; That was certainly what I saw today - it's so easy to get PCs up and fighting again, the party don't retreat when their comrades start dropping.&nbsp; Instead they were spending actions trying to heal each other, and failing (bad dice), with the orcs still wailing on them.&nbsp; They went into a death spiral.&nbsp; That there were only 3 orcs left (including the chief and his priest) I think encouraged this - they had just massacred dozens of orcs, 90% of the tribe, including 19 minions with 1 Invoker attack.&nbsp; It was hard to believe they were going to lose.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="S'mon, post: 5066616, member: 463"] Well, my session today went pear-shaped when the Orcs' dice turned hot at the crucial moment. The big battle against the entire White Fist Orcs tribe ended with the following tallies: Orc Drudge minion-4 - dead: 33 alive: 1 Orc Raider skirmisher-3 - dead: 4 alive: 0 Orc Chief brute-4 - alive Orc Priest of Yurtrus controller-6* - alive Dead: 37 alive: 3 *Half hit points PCs: dead - 4 (3 2nd level Bard, Rogue-Sorcerer, Avenger; 1 3rd level Fighter) alive, unconscious: 1 (3rd level Invoker) alive, conscious: 1 (2nd level Ranger-Rogue) Dead: 4 alive: 2 The battle ended with the last PC standing dragging off her last living comrade. Victory: orcs. AFAICR this was actually the most PCs I have killed in one session in over 25 years of GMing! I have read elsewhere that there's something about 4e combat where the party don't realise they're losing until it's too late, with a big risk of TPK. That was certainly what I saw today - it's so easy to get PCs up and fighting again, the party don't retreat when their comrades start dropping. Instead they were spending actions trying to heal each other, and failing (bad dice), with the orcs still wailing on them. They went into a death spiral. That there were only 3 orcs left (including the chief and his priest) I think encouraged this - they had just massacred dozens of orcs, 90% of the tribe, including 19 minions with 1 Invoker attack. It was hard to believe they were going to lose. [/QUOTE]

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