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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ramien Meltides" data-source="post: 1643442" data-attributes="member: 1475">When it comes to worst DM screw-ups, I've got two:Screw-Up #1: A long-running Birthright campaign had been doing just fine for over a year and I was getting ready to end one story arc and begin another. The idea was to have the PCs confront one of the main bad guys of the campaign setting (Rhoubhe Manslayer) and defeat him, only to discover that his grand plan had already been set in motion - an army of human-hating elves invading the PC's home nation from the coast. I had envisioned a desperate struggle to free their people. Good idea, bad execution. The PC's had ruled their land fairly well for quite a while prior to the invasion. Things were JUST getting good - and I went and took nearly everything away in one fell swoop. This wouldn't have been so bad, but we were also dealing with fairly powerful PC's at the time - around 16th level - so the battles and the situations were, frankly, getting a little out of my control. I felt that if I really had this elven army fight and challenge the PC's, I was likely to overkill and slaughter everyone - not a good way to end a year-long game. The campaign eventually ended around this point, and I always think to myself that I could've done a much better job to wrap things up than to leave everything hanging like that.Screw-up #2: So, I started a new campaign. I was excited, I was using my particular flavor of home-brew and things were going pretty well. My party was investigating a mysterious Elven tomb inhabited by a Goblin tribe when they stumbled into the main meeting hall and encountered: 12 Goblins (including some levelled goblin warriors) and a lesser Barghest in goblin form. This battle was tough, but the Barghest fled down a nearby hallway (where there's a really big door that seals it off) and shouted for help. The PC's were down one character (who was slain in the mass combat) and were, frankly in need of rest and recovery. My instinct was to end the game then and there and pick up next time. However, there  was plenty of time left in our normal session length, so, reluctantly, I continued. I described the booming sounds coming down the hallway as whatever the Barghest had gone to awaken approached. The PC's all took up defensive stances around the main doorway as a Half-dragon Ogre (CR 4 in the old MM) walked out. CR 4? HA!The Half-Dragon Ogre proceeded to tear my party to pieces. I could do little but watch in a horrified stupor as the Ogre rampaged around, slaughtering each and every PC with impunity. From that moment on, I never used a monster based solely on its CR - I always made sure to check what kind of damage the critter can deal out before placing it somewhere the PC's could encounter it. This encounter ended in a TPK and ended the campaign, sadly. I nearly lost a friend over this encounter.</blockquote>

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