A note on last night's evil wizard battle

[Rick7475]

Just a FYI I don't like having PCs die and that is not my plan when I set up scenarios. The CR level for the encounter was for a party of 6 mid level PCs level 3 - 5 approximately. I have to calculate this on the fly, so errors creep in. He was a powerful elven wizard for the Watch who defected after stealing potions and scrolls from the safe at the Watch post. It was going to be a nasty fight, but I was hoping for a good challenge.

But what would be the strategy for fighting someone launching fireballs? That was a tough call. So the party did not want to be bunched up, yet stay close enough to coordinate party level assaults. He was AC 20 with 70 HP's. Yes he had healing potions and invisibility potions. He is a wizard, after all with Alchemy skills.

So the party split up. No one was calling out orders, everyone went running in different areas. The wizard had plans to escape to an abandoned guild house in the southwest of the AQ and teleport out. A city guard strike team was also on the move, but they didn't coordinate with the players. Too much stuff for me to set up quickly enough. The Watch should have told you that, but they were being dicks and no one was trying to pursuade them like they did to Romus the other night.

.2 dwarves followed him down the alley, had time to heal up the alley, then moved in alone against a wizard launching fireballs. I didn't see them trying to get back up or reinforcements. Maybe they feared they needed to act quickly or lose the wizard. Anyway, it was too high of a CR for the 2 dwarves. One fell and the wizard retreated into the guild house, out of spells and wounded. But players didn't know that and retreated to the Safehaven leaving the wizard for the strike team, interviewing bystanders on the way. They had a high-level priestess of Torm to attend the wounded. She was authorized to ressurect any fallen watch members. Since some of the Watch prefered to protect the Patrons in the Safehaven or stay in the Watch post and let the much better armed city guard take care of the situation, the ressurection was offered to the also much better armed mercenaries. Ayergo informed me that it was eventually accepted.

So I apologize if the encounter was a bit crazy, but game mechanics and adhoc planning can make it tricky to work out.

The goal is to have fun and PCs die only if they do something that warrants it. The game engine makes it difficult to control combat, so accidents happen.

So feel free to comment, criticize, and hopefully we can learn to do better encounters.

[joshmad75]

Thanks for the write-up and thanks for the session!

It was tactically a disaster and that’s the way my character is reacting to it. Tegrin underestimated the enemy and overestimated his own loose strategy of split-up, charge-when-made-contact-with, surround the foe approach. The wizard used his tools/weapons and the urban environment well and the characters have much to learn from it.

As a player, I think maybe the occasional :pause: would have been helpful. It would slow things down for you to maneuver and allow you to respond to the tactical actions of the party. I noticed Wayfarer got an elevated position, others looked to the safety of civilians, etc

As for trying to persuade the Watch beforehand, I just had Tegrin speak his mind, emotionally. When I DM tabletop, I don’t like my players skill checking left and right and imposing the rolls on how I play the NPCs. I just want the players to tell me what they’re chars are doing/saying and if I want a roll, I’ll ask for them. So I’m not sure what you’re expectations were there. Apologies, if you were looking for die rolls. Tegrin’s only a 12 Cha too, so I didn’t wanna play it like it was higher.

I had a lot of fun. Appreciate playing with everyone! Looking forward to more!

[dergon darkhelm]

I agree with the "pause" recommendation. There was a lot of action and not a lot of PC emoting or RP . That happens when things get chaotic in game. .. the mechanics take over and people don't have time to RP.

In a battle like the one last night, knowing what other PCs are doing (via a *looks into the doorway* or *screams as he is severely burnt, calling out for aid*) is helpful.

It also allows the DM to give feedback about the situation. (*You hear a door creek in the alley to your left*, etc)



But overall, the tactical clusterf*ck and lack of preparation is what got the PC dead. Going after a wizard without another wizard and without the ability to see invisibility and counter-spell is a fool's errand.


No worries from me... it was fun.

[Wild Wombat]

Rick, it was FUBARed all around. As josh said, our battle plan was ... nonexistent. A disaster waiting to happen.

The unfortunate thing is nobody seemed to notice that the other two dwarves AT'd into the area south of where everybody else was. I was the furthest north of the group, I think and was looking to the north while "crouched" behind a corner. The first thing I knew about this was when (Igneous, I think) said on party channel, something like, "Help us you bastards!" I finally put my cursor over Ig and saw that he was in a different area and then Thorv died.

Now, given the "chicken with their heads cut off" nature of the battle, the death may have happened anyway, but the lesson I would take from this is that ATs offer a completely unnatural barrier to battle cohesiveness. If the AT had not been crossed I would bet the whole unfortunate incident would not have happened.

Anyway, nobody should kick themselves over this. Water under the bridge. I would be the last one to complain about DM attention / coverage. If it weren't for you guys, there would be a population of zero on the server. Frankly, it is pretty amazing how many folks there are online now. (Of course, I give myself all of the credit, since it seems to have happened just as I started up. )

PS - Murgen carried Thorv to the Plinth and laid his body out at the foot of Moradin's altar, with his weapons and a braid cut from Murgen's beard. Please let me know if this did not happen. If it did, I really want Thorv to have the opportunity to be carrying Murgen's beard braid. Cutting it off was the best way I / Murgen could think of paying tribute to his lost firend that he had completely let down by not being there to have his back in the battle.

[Mick]

We were fairly foolhardy, no doubt. I honestly didn’t realize it was just us until we were fully engaged. The wizard was also taking sneak attacks on us, which was really hurting us. We had enough success up close that I didn’t want to flee and get fireballed from afar. I kept hoping someone else would show up, but no one did in time.

My only real criticism is that she was using potions of heal (at least two that I saw.) These should not exist per PnP and I thought we had removed them from our game. It was pretty demoralizing to get her to near death and have her down one of those.

Otherwise, it was a fair encounter that could not have been handled more poorly by the PCs. Of course, steps will be taken ICly to make us better in the future.

In any event, your attention is appreciated Rick!

[Senor T]

Just want to chime in to make sure Rick knows that the additional DMing is greatly appreciated. Intense, challenging, and paranoia-inducing, sure, but greatly appreciated above all.

[Rumple C]

1. Yes, dm'ing is always appreciated, and I admire a DM that isn't afraid to challenge pcs.

2. Guys, I feel we are missing the real victim here. The poor wizard who has been failed by the mental health system of WD.

3. It was very messy ic, but a long held (ic) criticism of our group is often that we don't have effective leadership. And that was compounded by a messy scenario with fleeing invisible wizards and non bunching.

4. Adventuring is a profession with a very short life expectancy.

5. Thorv wouldn't have taken a rez. In the end we went with - he was very very badly burned and stabbed. And is now back up. He really doesn't like wizards.

[Akivaria]

*note to self: Do not play with Rick*

/s

[Galadorn]

Rick rules.

Glad to hear Thorv is up and at 'em.

Oops i'm supposed to be dead too. (( thanks Rick! ))

Carry on.

[Rick7475]

Glad everything worked out. Wizards are actually tough to run. Dragons, though, real easy to run.

[ayergo]

And let me just take a moment to thank Rick for all the help in bringing the server to life.

I can't tell you how nice it is to have some help in our DM plans to murder all the (non bard) characters!

[Wild Wombat]

I can't tell you how nice it is to have some help in our DM plans to murder all the (non bard) characters!

I knew it. Just for that, my next PC is going to be a paladin. No way will Saint Rick let you murder a pally.

[ayergo]

[Akivaria]

I can't tell you how nice it is to have some help in our DM plans to murder all the (non bard) characters!

I'm Akivaria and I approved this message.