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<blockquote data-quote="AuraSeer" data-source="post: 989471" data-attributes="member: 1331">Why does it exist? Even game designers have off days. The encounter is either a total cakewalk, or a practically guaranteed PC death; there's no real in-between area.I have DMed bodak encounters, and I've concluded that there's really nothing fun about the combat.&nbsp; If you have death ward, your fighter waltzes in and hacks the thing to bits without half trying. The rest of the party can go out for an ale and come back a few rounds later. If you lack wards, but you do have silver arrows (or cold spells) and room to maneuver, it's still no challenge. You retreat from the monster with its 20' move, stay out of its gaze range, and poke holes in it until it stops moving.If you're stuck in range without wards, then you're in a world of hurt. With four characters in gaze range, that's 5 saves in the first round, before the PCs realize they need to avert their eyes. Depending on saves, there's approximately an 80% chance of losing a character in the first round. (Put in multiple bodaks, or more than 4 PCs in the party, and the chance quickly approaches 100%.)What really annoys me is that the effect cannot be fixed with the resources of an 8th-level party. Since it's a death effect, victims can't be brought back with raise dead. Unless the circumstances are weighted in the PC's favor, any CR-appropriate bodak encounter practically guarantees a trip back to town to have an NPC cast resurrection. (And you'd better hope you get it cast before a full day passes, else you've got another bodak to deal with.)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="AuraSeer, post: 989471, member: 1331"] Why does it exist? Even game designers have off days. The encounter is either a total cakewalk, or a practically guaranteed PC death; there's no real in-between area. I have DMed bodak encounters, and I've concluded that there's really nothing fun about the combat. If you have [i]death ward[/i], your fighter waltzes in and hacks the thing to bits without half trying. The rest of the party can go out for an ale and come back a few rounds later. If you lack wards, but you do have silver arrows (or cold spells) and room to maneuver, it's still no challenge. You retreat from the monster with its 20' move, stay out of its gaze range, and poke holes in it until it stops moving. If you're stuck in range without wards, then you're in a world of hurt. With four characters in gaze range, that's 5 saves in the first round, before the PCs realize they need to avert their eyes. Depending on saves, there's approximately an 80% chance of losing a character in the first round. (Put in multiple bodaks, or more than 4 PCs in the party, and the chance quickly approaches 100%.) What really annoys me is that the effect cannot be fixed with the resources of an 8th-level party. Since it's a death effect, victims can't be brought back with [i]raise dead[/i]. Unless the circumstances are weighted in the PC's favor, any CR-appropriate bodak encounter practically guarantees a trip back to town to have an NPC cast [i]resurrection[/i]. (And you'd better hope you get it cast before a full day passes, else you've got another bodak to deal with.) [/QUOTE]

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