When the Unspeakable Happens

[Istar]

Maybe a wounded monster fled to another area, getting reinforcements. The PCs could have opened too many doors at one time. The PCs could ahve just blown their stealth. Or you did it intentionally because you're a Rat Bastard DM.

Either way, the PCs now find themselves in one encounter with two encounters worth of monsters.

When in this situation, what are the rules? What is the DM supposed to do, and what should he do?

Namely:
1) How is XP handled?
2) How about Healing/Encounter Powers?

For #2, would a short rest to allow the PCs to recharge encounter powers, but not healing surges be kosher, or should they be stuck with their normal encounter powers, and then tough it out with AWs?

1. Let the party run away
2. Depower the second group
3. Let them be overpowerd and knocked unconscious, all their gear taken and they are sold as slaves
4. Let them be captured and they are tied up with no gear and have to escape somehow
5. Let one party member survive to get help and raise them.
6. End of party, re-roll new
7. End of Campaign

You as DM do whatever you want.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Is it really? In my observation, most monsters seem to have speed 6 or higher while at least half of the character roles (most defenders, most leaders, all dwarves and a few strikers) end up with speed 5. On first glance, that does not seem to present much opportunity for escape.

A couple of times in my campaign one party member (typically paladin) has 'sacrificed himself' to hold off the bad guys while the rest of the party escape. Once it was against slavers who KO'ed him and were happy to ransom him back. On another occasion it was against nearly mindless bloodthirsty creatures who are hungry, and he got et.

I suppose that an escape situation could be handled as a skill challenge rather than just by looking at movement rates - taking it 'off the battlemap' as it were. Skills such as athletics and endurance to get out of there, basic difficulty level set according to which side is, on average, fastest?

Cheers