Plans that backfire

[big teej]

suggestions for a better thread title are welcome.

anyways.

at my last dnd session, the party spent the entire time fighting an opposing party.

the PCs consisted of.
1 Dwarf Rogue
1 Human Barbarian
1 Gnome Bard
1 Human Cleric/necromancer - absent
1 Elf Fighter.
1 warforged fighter - NPC

the cleric was absent and the elf got stuck in the door.

this left the rogue, barbarian, bard, and the NPC to fight the bad guys....

which consisted of.
1 Human Knight (mounted)
1 Kenku Rogue ( TWF)
1 Skarn Duskblade
1 warforged ranger ( TWF)

battle ensued, they managed to slay the skarn before it did major damage, and the Warforged ranger tore the NPC warforged into pieces in single combat. the kenku was slain after trading blows with the dwarf rogue. (rendering him to - 1 before the barbarian attacked)
the elf fighter eventually entered the fray and they destroyed the knight and the warforged ranger.

the party was fairly low on health and the bard had used more than a few of his spells.

within the area they were fighting over was a stable house... they decided (at behest of the elf fighter) to rest.

to which I replied.
"are you sure you want to rest here? you know, in the courtyard of the castle you just invaded?
party: yea pretty much.
Barbarian: I go and open the stable house.
me::smalleek: :smallamused:

I then read what I have prepared for whats inside the stable.
within the stable, you see several alcoves for horses lining the walls, at the back of the stable, you see a chained and shackled wyvern. also, standing in the middle of the stable, staring at you hungrily. is a 5 headed hydra. roll for initiative.

party: :smalleek: :smalleek: :smalleek: :smalleek: :smalleek:
-session ends-


tl:dr - my party ran into a hydra while trying to find a safe place to recuperate, what have your players done to get themselves killed?

[TheCountAlucard]

You could call this the "3.5 CLUE files." :smalltongue: Depends, really, on how "smart" these failed plans are supposed to be. :smalltongue:

[Daremonai]

From where I'm sitting, it looks like the wyvern and hydra just came out of nowhere - did the party have any reason to think that there was anything more in there than just horses?

[Crow]

From where I'm sitting, it looks like the wyvern and hydra just came out of nowhere - did the party have any reason to think that there was anything more in there than just horses?

Agreed. I'd be like "Really?".

[Silva Stormrage]

One plan that failed horribly for my party was when they attempted to kill a player thrallherd that went evil and betrayed them. The thrallherd was flying with all his minions on top of a soarwhale (giant flying whale). They decided that the best option was to use dimensional door right next to him. Then since dimensional door ends their turn it was the thrallherd's turn. One rapid chained fully augmented dominate person later and the entire party was dominated. The thrallherd laughed and pushed them off the soarwhale flying off into the distance.

[TwylyghT]

During a campaign that featured a heavy dose of sea travel and piratey flavors, the party ship was destroyed by a pirate cannon barrage, surviving they managed to escape to a small island by life boat.

The next morning, the players notice the pirate vessel on the horizon approaching the island, presumably to finish them off. They attempt to scavenge something to fight them with and with a luck roll come up with a barrel of powder that washed up on shore dry enough to use. They rig up a trap involving decoys, the life boat, and the powder into a kind of mine, clever enough I let it work.

BOOM, a hole blown into the pirate ship capsizes it. As the party celebrates, the rogue stops, looks around at the deserted island they are on, back out to the ship sinking into the water, and make the note.

"Uhm guys.... that was the only lifeboat"

[big teej]

From where I'm sitting, it looks like the wyvern and hydra just came out of nowhere - did the party have any reason to think that there was anything more in there than just horses?

well, slightly, two players at the table are aware of the history of the place.

essentially, that this place is something akin to a holy place for fiends... (and the sides of the mountian did run red with blood, blah blah blah)

and they had JUST fought 4 baddies of equal power.

it's more of "why would they assume the stable was safe" rather than "why would they know a Hydra is in there"

because they had no way of knowing what was in there, but they had every reason in the world to assume they're in hostile territory.

also, for the record, the wyvern isn't fighting them, it's chained up in the back.

[Ravens_cry]

Agreed. I'd be like "Really?".
Indeed, fiends or not, they have no reason to think their would be bloody hydra in a stable. Realistically you would want that in a separate area as most horses are spooked by fire and there is lots of straw and other things that could be easily set alight. Also, if you have to rest in enemy area, a stable makes a lot of sense. Lots of smells to cover the PC, as well as a masses of a loose material, straw and/or hay, to hide in.
Even if this was planned ahead by the DM, it really makes no sense whatsoever.

[Crow]

Indeed, fiends or not, they have no reason to think their would be bloody hydra in a stable. Realistically you would want that in a separate area as most horses are spooked by fire and there is lots of straw and other things that could be easily set alight. Also, if you have to rest in enemy area, a stable makes a lot of sense. Lots of smells to cover the PC, as well as a masses of a loose material, straw and/or hay, to hide in.
Even if this was planned ahead by the DM, it really makes no sense whatsoever.

Well technically, it wasn't a Pyrohydra, so they wouldn't have to worry about setting the straw alight. :)

[Ravens_cry]

Well technically, it wasn't a Pyrohydra, so they wouldn't have to worry about setting the straw alight. :)
That's one worry less. But still, not making with the sense making for me. One might as well stick a gelatinous cube in there.
Come Squishy, wiggle onward my trusty steed . . . to Victory!

[Crow]

That's one worry less. But still, not making with the sense making for me. One might as well stick a gelatinous cube in there.
Come Squishy, wiggle onward my trusty steed . . . to Victory!

DM: "Obviously the gelatinous cube was there to clean up the horse droppings!"

[Ravens_cry]

DM: "Obviously the gelatinous cube was there to clean up the horse droppings!"
That's what Otyugh (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/otyugh.htm) are for. They are also intelligent, so they are less likely to eat the horses and other steeds.

[Everest]

I just began running the Sunless Citadel for my D&D group (after deciding that I'm not adequate to DM my own stuff). After convincing the stubborn guy in our party not to split up, we came upon our first locked door. It was a stone door, but the party samurai didn't want to let that stop them. So, after about an in-game minute (and a good deal of time in real life) breaking down that stone door (it went fairly fast, all things considered, since this was an OA samurai with pretty good Iaijutsu checks. Everyone else attacking it might as well have not attacked it), we went inside.

Inside was a small room with an iron keg. Having done all that work to get inside hoping for something to justify that effort, the players wanted what they (jokingly or not) presumed to be alcohol. We got the keg opened . . . and out came a water mephit. The group was four level 1's, so we should have been able to handle the fight, though perhaps with some sizable injuries. But I forgot to have my DMPC cleric ask if anyone needed healing after the previous fight. But no one said so, either (for those who haven't played the Sunless Citadel, the previous fight consisted of a dire rat, and the one before that three, so you'd think no one would need healing that badly). And apparently the samurai did. After the mephit thrashed my cleric (who was the one whose Strength check successfully opened the keg), it took down the samurai in one hit (while healing from the two blows that had already been dealt to it). The swordsage and the bard both fled and left the samurai and cleric to have their throats torn out.

It was the third battle into the adventure and half the party died. The moral of the story? If a door is putting up that much of a fight, leave it be.

[HalfDragonCube]

Oooh, I have lots, since my character currently makes 'plans' in almost every encounter, but the two Leeroy Jenkins almost always turn it into game of Xanatos' Speed Chess (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/XanatosSpeedChess).

Sleepy... I'll post some tomorrow.