Sunday, January 31, 2010

Ouch

Third session of Death Ferox Doom during this week's game.

As I was filling in more details about the dungeon in the hours before the players showed up, my wife noticed I was singing, "I'm an asshole!"

I think I lived up to it.

... at the end of today's session, an Explosive Runes-protected book wiped out half the party (one NPC included).

Subjecting themselves earlier to the pool of giant zombie frogs just to have something to eat (via the cleric's Purify spell...) for just a little too long didn't help.

And there's more evil to come.

So now the party is depleted, cut off, low on supplies...

Sounds about right. Now to see if they can understand the clues and navigate the challenges before them... and get some of the goodies that are down there as well!

7 comments:

  1. How does a DM feel when a PC dies?

    Is he amused? pleased? remorseful? indifferent? Does it depend on the player?

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  2. I try my best to feel indifferent, but sometimes glee and/or guilt get brought in to the mix.

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  3. I am giddy and happy when the PCs are totally messed up and right on the brink.

    I'm not nearly as pleased when they go over the cliff...

    But sometimes, things just have to happen as they happen. There's plenty of times that they kick butt, and this was the other side of the coin...

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  4. Depends on how the death occurred. I feel a little remorse if there really wasn't anything the player could have done (which is normally only the case if the dice fall really wrong), but if there is the usual amount of bone-headed decision making, I think everyone can kind of grin a little bit and learn from the experience.

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  5. were you singing this

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-o30wacwdoc

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  6. I have to agree that a party on the very edge of doom is awesome.

    My game last night had the ideal situation (for me as the DM) - the party was low on resources (spells, oil, etc.) and trying to escape the dungeon through a known horde of Orcs. the situation forced them to use every last trick they could come up with to escape alive - oil, known pit traps to catch pursuers, caltrops, creative use of their few remaining spells, use of dungeon geography, etc. Pursued out of the dungeon, they even threw themselves into a mountain river to make a more rapid escape (resulting in a badly wounded PC drowning). Marvelous stuff! I felt bad for the dead PC, but only a little - he died heroically enough, and the survivors will have a healthy appreciation of the deadly dangers of the dungeon they just escaped.

    And now, out of the frying pan, into the fire...

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