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May 19, 2013, 12:42am

Original D&D Discussion :: Community :: Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea :: Last Night's TPK

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Topic: Last Night's TPK (Read 404 times)

Ghul
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Last Night's TPK
« Thread Started on Dec 28, 2011, 11:33am »

We recently added a new player to my Hyperborea campaign, an old friend who had been PC gaming for years but never played "the real thing." For the first month or so, we had him jump right in with a 5th level character, but last week I decided it was time to start a new crew of fresh, 1st level characters so everyone can be in the same boat as it were. Working in a new player with a 5th level character is fine, but the other characters had about 3 years of history. A fresh start was a nice, welcome beginning. Everyone rolling up characters together, from ability scores, to starting gold, and so forth.

This week we began the campaign! The party took on a mission to travel to a distant desert and seek a legendary lost ship buried in the dunes. This in fact was to be my initial playtest of an adventure I intend to run at Gary Con, called The Ghost Ship of the Desert Dunes. After surviving a giant squid attack at sea (which resulted in the deaths of 6 crewmen), the arrived at the shores of the desert (yes, a desert that meets the sea). The party lined up their mules and headed inland, following a sand filled canyon where once a river flowed.

Random encounter. Isn't that always the way?

An eerie, vibrating whistling ensued, this carried by the unforgiving desert winds. The party's sponsor, an old one-legged magician whose best days were far behind him, understood the whistle as attributed to giant flesh eating ants. He told the young seekers, and so they headed off to investigate. They found a small gathering of giant ants ... and attacked! After about 7 or 8 rounds, the ants won.

TPK

The dice rolling was horrible for my players, and superior for me, and I always let them tumble as they tumble. I never shield attack rolls from their eyes.

I think after playing mid-level characters for so long now, my players forgot how easy it was for a 1st level character to die. It was a nice wake up call for my veteran players, and the new guy learned that poorly conceived tactics, failure to retreat, foolhardiness, and bad luck can most certainly lead to character death.

Excelsior!
Jeff T.

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foxroe
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Re: Last Night's TPK
« Reply #1 on Dec 28, 2011, 9:56pm »

Heh. Yeah, it's easy to forget... especially when you start to survive to later levels (especially when it takes a lot of real time to get there).

I know it's been discussed before, but your mention of it is making me really consider the "rolling dice in the open" thing. I'd like to think that it would (subconsciously at least) make players realize that they aren't going to get any "DM take-backs" and they better be on their collective toes.

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-Fox

"Those who swallow the camel of the entire concept, then strain at gnats of a particular monster or situation seem to be be losing much of the basis for playing. However, that sort of thing happens as one becomes familiar with the fanciful and begins to qualify the experience by comparison to reality." - EGG

mabon5127
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Re: Last Night's TPK
« Reply #2 on Dec 28, 2011, 9:59pm »

Dec 28, 2011, 11:33am, Ghul wrote:

An eerie, vibrating whistling ensued, this carried by the unforgiving desert winds. The party's sponsor, an old one-legged magician whose best days were far behind him, understood the whistle as attributed to giant flesh eating ants. He told the young seekers, and so they headed off to investigate. They found a small gathering of giant ants ... and attacked! After about 7 or 8 rounds, the ants won.

TPK

The dice rolling was horrible for my players, and superior for me, and I always let them tumble as they tumble. I never shield attack rolls from their eyes.

I think after playing mid-level characters for so long now, my players forgot how easy it was for a 1st level character to die. It was a nice wake up call for my veteran players, and the new guy learned that poorly conceived tactics, failure to retreat, foolhardiness, and bad luck can most certainly lead to character death.

Excelsior!
Jeff T.

and they attacked a group of giant flesh eating ants why? Don't tell me the NPC wizard stuck around! It is pretty easy to forget what a few levels under the belt mean to character survival. Too funny.

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Ghul
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Re: Last Night's TPK
« Reply #3 on Dec 29, 2011, 9:40am »

Dec 28, 2011, 9:56pm, foxroe wrote:

I used to hide my attack rolls, but I think in about the last 10 years ago, I roll them in the open for all to see.

I don't do all rolls in the open, though. For example, searching for secret doors, searching for traps, etc. are hidden rolls.

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Ghul
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Re: Last Night's TPK
« Reply #4 on Dec 29, 2011, 9:47am »

Dec 28, 2011, 9:59pm, mabon5127 wrote:

The NPC wizard was an elderly man with a peg leg. Having mounted expeditions in this desert before, he knew what the eerie whistling sound implied. He feared for the mule caravan, as without the mules, how could they possibly loot the lost ship? So he told the party it was nigh time for them to do what they brought there to do, and investigate the situation. The rest is history. Yes, the NPC wizard would have take the mules and the porters back to the ship. At about 10:40 PM, they were all handing their character sheets over to me. Next week, they roll up new characters!

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mythos
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Re: Last Night's TPK
« Reply #5 on Jan 7, 2012, 4:45am »

I think that even with open dice rolling there is a tendency for long term players to develop a "The world revolves around us" attitude. I've always tried to remind my groups that they exsist in my world and it does not respect them because they've gained levels or high skill scores. Any good gamer knows that after the first PC goes down in combat the time to re-evaluate the tactics has arrived.

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Ghul
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Re: Last Night's TPK
« Reply #6 on Jan 7, 2012, 7:30am »

Jan 7, 2012, 4:45am, mythos wrote:

I think that even with open dice rolling there is a tendency for long term players to develop a "The world revolves around us" attitude.

Quite so. Complacency can breed recklessness, failure to employ tactics, or, in this case, forgetfulness that first level characters mostly have less than 10 hp.

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I've always tried to remind my groups that they exsist in my world and it does not respect them because they've gained levels or high skill scores. Any good gamer knows that after the first PC goes down in combat the time to re-evaluate the tactics has arrived.

Hints of good reason can sometimes fall on deaf ears!

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benoist
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Re: Last Night's TPK
« Reply #7 on Jan 11, 2012, 10:15pm »

First levels are fragile. I love this. Makes me really want to survive. I love the ingenuity that comes out of a group under those conditions. It's about the brains (mmm Mi-Go likes), ideas, management, organization, equipment, hirelings etc. I love this aspect of the game.

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Ghul
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Re: Last Night's TPK
« Reply #8 on Jan 12, 2012, 10:26am »

Jan 11, 2012, 10:15pm, benoist wrote:

Another one of my favorite things about first level is starting gold.

"What? I can't afford a long bow? I have to buy a short bow?"

Or, "Aww, man, I can't afford chain mail -- I'm going to have to settle for studded leather and see if I can buy chain mail after the first adventure."

To which I respond: "If you survive."

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mgtremaine
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Re: Last Night's TPK
« Reply #9 on Jan 12, 2012, 10:30am »

I like that. I do that to some degree in my games these days also. I makes getting mundane armor as treasure exciting. [If it fits haha

].

-Mike

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