Should I fudge this?

[Togath]

In a pbp the enemy my pcs are fighting ended up using forced pain transfer(pathfinder psionics) to both halve the damage it takes, and force one of the characters to take the damage it doesn't.
Due to a series of strong hits(one set my the person afflicted with the pain transfer, and the other by a different player) the character with the pain transfer on them has just been reduced to -7hp.....this is the first fight of the campaign, should I fudge this to keep them alive a little while longer?, The party also lacks any healing as far as I can tell, so it would be hard to keep the character from bleeding out.
I think I may have mis calculated the creatures CR which may have contributed(I estimated it to be about CR 8, but looking back, it's probably CR 16[VS. a three person level 10 gestalt group], due to having full level 14 psion manifesting on a construct frame with 30 int)

[Kelb_Panthera]

How much manifesting are we talking here?

Ultimately, if that thing's as powerful as I suspect you're about to confirm, then you're going to end up having to either play it -way- below its int or fudge the whole rest of the fight.

I think you might've shot yourself in the foot on this one.

That is to say, unless there's a good chance the others will kill it anyway don't bother fudging, they're all dead anyway.

[silverwolfer]

Have it run away

Create a NPC Hero that mysteriously heals folks , and then runs away

Act of god healing

[Strawberries]

Weeeelll.... I can only say "it depends", I think.
What are the premises of the campaign? Is it supposed to be extremely lethal?

If you don't want to fugde the dice, can you come up with some other way to keep the character alive?

Or alternatively, straight up tell the player: look, I messed up, and I don't want to kill you off in the first fight. Let's say you stay unconscious for the rest of the combat, but you don't bleed out.

[Togath]

I think I'll have it run away(the party did at one point think it had vanished, so it disapearin would fit, and if i fudge it's dr I can leave the injured PC in a state of not being dead)

The campaign was meant originally as only a standard lethality one, and the golem did attack from ambush(it pretended to be inanimate until one of the PC tried to go up the stairs it was guarding).

[Eurus]

It seems like your party isn't thinking very tactically, here. If you're hit by Forced Share Pain and fail your save, why on earth are you still standing there slugging it? You should quickly retreat out of the effect's range, so that it ends, then come back. I'm honestly not sure whether you should be gentle with your party since they're not really thinking things through, or just wipe them and hope that they get the point. o_0

[Togath]

Aye that was the main confusion, though I'm not sure if the PCs realized the duration of the effect was still active(none of them are playing psionic characters). Two of them do have levels in tier 1 caster classes though(full levels on one half of their gestalts) so it seems like they should have had some ability other then "hit it with swords"
edit: just realized there is actually an npc which could come help as well(she's standing about 15 feet away, at the door, along with one of the player's hippogryphs)

[Strawberries]

I'm honestly not sure whether you should be gentle with your party since they're not really thinking things through, or just wipe them and hope that they get the point. o_0

In a play by post? Please don't do it. Combat in pbps is complicated enough, and enough games tend to die as it is. A TPK would be a major turnoff, I think.

Possibly mention it in the OOC, if it bothers you so much: "hey guys, just some friendly advice for next time...."

[Togath]

Aye. I'll have the fairy come help them, and mention my mistake in the ooc.

[silverwolfer]

You should invite me as a wizard/wild soul

to come save the day.... mmhmm

[prufock]

Is this going to be THE villain of the campaign? If not, you should make him so. A solid trouncing by the BBEG (without killing anyone) can motivate a party while at the same time putting a bit of fear into them. Give them a way out:
- the BBEG gets a message from an underling requiring his immediate and direct attention. Make this an important plot point relevant to the villain's goals for the campaign. Make sure the PCs overhear some of it.
- the BBEG doesn't want them dead; he wants something from them. It could be a bargain - he's obviously too powerful for them. "I will spare you your lives if you do me one little favour. Bring me X." Why doesn't he do it himself? He doesn't have time. Lots of things demand his attention. Or perhaps he wants to convince them to join his side. Or they have information he needs (or thinks he does).
- the BBEG gets cocky, and starts monologuing. Yes, you heard me. He boasts about his plans and how they are pathetic and could never stop him. They get in some cheap shots while he's doing this, he realizes his mistake, and gees the eff oh.

In all cases he can dispel the pain transfer effect, the dying character can stabilize normally, and he could even incapacitate the rest of the team somehow.

[Togath]

That's actually a fairly decent idea(originally is was just meant to be a mook, but a silent golem with inhuman thought processes could make an interesting bbeg), it also is a better option then having the fairy who hired the group(since she was too weak to retrieve the macguffin herself)

Having the fairy come back and heal them back to consciousness after the golem has left could also help move the story(since she was both who hired them, and is part of a fairy yakuza gang in the city the campaign is in currently)

[Kelb_Panthera]

That's actually a fairly decent idea(originally is was just meant to be a mook, but a silent golem with inhuman thought processes could make an interesting bbeg), it also is a better option then having the fairy who hired the group(since she was too weak to retrieve the macguffin herself)

Having the fairy come back and heal them back to consciousness after the golem has left could also help move the story(since she was both who hired them, and is part of a fairy yakuza gang in the city the campaign is in currently)

I'm sorry, does the bolded text say "FAIRY YAKUZA?" As in, a group of criminals aligned to an organization that is composed primarily of fey creatures?


You sir, win one internet and 25 awesome points. You have blown my mind.

[prufock]

Having the fairy come back and heal them back to consciousness after the golem has left could also help move the story(since she was both who hired them, and is part of a fairy yakuza gang in the city the campaign is in currently)

I like this. It skirts away from being a deus ex machina, which players tend to hate.

[Tar Palantir]

Not to criticize, but what on earth made you think a 30 Int creature with 14th level psion manifesting was CR 8?

[Togath]

Not to criticize, but what on earth made you think a 30 Int creature with 14th level psion manifesting was CR 8?

Honestly, I hadn't expected a psion golem to be so effective(I'd never played a psionic character or run a psionic creature above level 3 until now), Though I had also expected better tactics from the players, and hadn't realized that if the pcs aren't optimizing, gestalt isn't as big of a power boost as I had expected


I'm sorry, does the bolded text say "FAIRY YAKUZA?" As in, a group of criminals aligned to an organization that is composed primarily of fey creatures?


You sir, win one internet and 25 awesome points. You have blown my mind.

it was actually originally comprised just of creatures I called "fairies" which are about three to four feet in height, look halfling like and have moth wings. Though now that you mention the fey yakuza, I think I'll include fey in it as well.

[Sith_Happens]

Honestly, I hadn't expected a psion golem to be so effective(I'd never played a psionic character or run a psionic creature above level 3 until now),

It's more or less the same as if you'd made a 30 Int wizard golem. Psionics ~= Magic.

[prufock]

Honestly, I hadn't expected a psion golem to be so effective(I'd never played a psionic character or run a psionic creature above level 3 until now), Though I had also expected better tactics from the players, and hadn't realized that if the pcs aren't optimizing, gestalt isn't as big of a power boost as I had expected
In case you didn't know, the quick rule of thumb: CR = levels in PC class. So a 14th level manifester would generally be at least CR 14. Obviously not all classes are built the same, but that's a basic guideline. Boosted stats should increase that a bit, and you'd add whatever LA and HD to the creature as well.

[Togath]

LA is never added to cr actually.
But your other ponts are valid casting/manifesting equal to hd is probably about 3/4-1 CR per HD even without the large hd, high bab, and uber stats.

[prufock]

LA is never added to cr actually.
But your other ponts are valid casting/manifesting equal to hd is probably about 3/4-1 CR per HD even without the large hd, high bab, and uber stats.

Right, my mistake. LA is for player characters. PC levels just add 1 to CR.