Lord Lemming
2014-11-10, 08:41 PM
And it didn't even start in a tavern.
Well, technically, it wasn't my first session as a DM, but considering how our previous attempts were all sporadic and short-lived at best, it may as well have been. In any case, our party consisted of three level 1 characters: a chaotic quirky gnome bard played by a person more interested in role playing than combat (fine by me); a suicidal violent human barbarian with 16 HP, 2d6+12 damage and obscenely lucky rolls, with a player who is mostly interested in killing things (fine by me) and almost no sense of self-preservation (not quite so fine by me). Finally, we have a lawful good human cleric played by our most experienced player who keeps trying to reason with orcs. (We're playing Pathfinder, BTW)
So the party was traveling with a caravan of farmers heading along the north road to the coast town of Latherbay, when they were ambushed by an overwhelming number of orcs and captured. The purpose of this whole sequence was just to set up the adventure, so there was no reasonable way to win the encounter. Now, this is something I was a bit leery about doing, actually. On one hand, I'm not making this a 'do it my way or TPK' sequence, the party is swarmed by about 30 orcs and subdued with nonlethal damage along with the rest of the farmers, and the orcs are more or less a mechanism to transport the party to the next section. On the other hand, for the first 30 minutes of the game, the party didn't really have any agency in the game. What do you guys think, is this an acceptable way to start an adventure?
The gnome bard hides for the beginning of the fight, then gives up when she is discovered. The cleric leaps atop his combat-trained bison (?) and is immediately knocked out by a lucky hit, having only 8 hit points. The barbarian on the other hand immediately kills three orcs before being totally surrounded, and then disarmed by the leader of the orc band (half-orc fighter 3). She then proceeds to throw a javelin at the half-orc for most of his hit points, before being subdued.
Next, the party and the famers are taken to the orc camp, a cave with one main chamber with a great pit in the center, and two adjoining chambers. They are stripped of their gear and thrown into one of these adjoining chambers, told that they are now slaves, and any defiance will result in them being fed to the wolves, and locked in. And here is where the adventure actually begins, because now it's on the players to find a way to either escape on their own, or somehow manage to overcome 20-ish orcs in order to rescue the farmers as well. While the number of orcs in the initial engagement was very non-specific, after this point there are a limited number of enemies to deal with: 20 orc warrior 1s, 2 orc warrior 2s, and 1 half-orc fighter 3. In addition, the orcs have 3 wolves kept in kennels. Obviously, the party doesn't have a chance of taking the enemy in direct combat, but that's the point of the mission; they get to use their wits and the environment to try and find their way out. Does this sound like a mission at all appropriate for three 1st level characters?
The gnome bard amuses the half-orc leader with her quirkiness and is considered a non-threat. She finds a hidden, small-sized fissure in the cave walls that leads to the half-orc's chamber and steals back a couple of daggers and the cleric's divine focus. The cleric tries to reason (?) with the orcs and convince them of the virtues of civilization. He is unsuccessful, but gains a measure of respect from the half-orc leader, and through the diplomacy skill manages to improve his attitude to indifferent. The barbarian is thrown, stripped of her armor and weapons and at 7 hp, into the fighting pit for the orcs' amusement. Her opponent is a fully armed and armored orc looking to whip her into unconsciousness to prove his strength. The barbarian knocks his head off with a half-burnt piece of firewood. She then proceeds to kill one of the wolves and another orc before being subdued again. This impresses the half-orc leader, her throws her back into the prison. Afterwards, the group sneakily manages to kill one of their guards and hide his body with the cleric's decompose body spell. Once again, the kill was made by the barbarian, who snapped his neck with her bare hands (and not even in rage!)
So, the odds aren't really as badly against the party as they look. The orcs are stupid, the party has several tools at their disposal to wreak havoc, and the barbarian is scary good at killing things. So, opinions? Does this sound like a disaster in the making, or is this something you would try?
Well, technically, it wasn't my first session as a DM, but considering how our previous attempts were all sporadic and short-lived at best, it may as well have been. In any case, our party consisted of three level 1 characters: a chaotic quirky gnome bard played by a person more interested in role playing than combat (fine by me); a suicidal violent human barbarian with 16 HP, 2d6+12 damage and obscenely lucky rolls, with a player who is mostly interested in killing things (fine by me) and almost no sense of self-preservation (not quite so fine by me). Finally, we have a lawful good human cleric played by our most experienced player who keeps trying to reason with orcs. (We're playing Pathfinder, BTW)
So the party was traveling with a caravan of farmers heading along the north road to the coast town of Latherbay, when they were ambushed by an overwhelming number of orcs and captured. The purpose of this whole sequence was just to set up the adventure, so there was no reasonable way to win the encounter. Now, this is something I was a bit leery about doing, actually. On one hand, I'm not making this a 'do it my way or TPK' sequence, the party is swarmed by about 30 orcs and subdued with nonlethal damage along with the rest of the farmers, and the orcs are more or less a mechanism to transport the party to the next section. On the other hand, for the first 30 minutes of the game, the party didn't really have any agency in the game. What do you guys think, is this an acceptable way to start an adventure?
The gnome bard hides for the beginning of the fight, then gives up when she is discovered. The cleric leaps atop his combat-trained bison (?) and is immediately knocked out by a lucky hit, having only 8 hit points. The barbarian on the other hand immediately kills three orcs before being totally surrounded, and then disarmed by the leader of the orc band (half-orc fighter 3). She then proceeds to throw a javelin at the half-orc for most of his hit points, before being subdued.
Next, the party and the famers are taken to the orc camp, a cave with one main chamber with a great pit in the center, and two adjoining chambers. They are stripped of their gear and thrown into one of these adjoining chambers, told that they are now slaves, and any defiance will result in them being fed to the wolves, and locked in. And here is where the adventure actually begins, because now it's on the players to find a way to either escape on their own, or somehow manage to overcome 20-ish orcs in order to rescue the farmers as well. While the number of orcs in the initial engagement was very non-specific, after this point there are a limited number of enemies to deal with: 20 orc warrior 1s, 2 orc warrior 2s, and 1 half-orc fighter 3. In addition, the orcs have 3 wolves kept in kennels. Obviously, the party doesn't have a chance of taking the enemy in direct combat, but that's the point of the mission; they get to use their wits and the environment to try and find their way out. Does this sound like a mission at all appropriate for three 1st level characters?
The gnome bard amuses the half-orc leader with her quirkiness and is considered a non-threat. She finds a hidden, small-sized fissure in the cave walls that leads to the half-orc's chamber and steals back a couple of daggers and the cleric's divine focus. The cleric tries to reason (?) with the orcs and convince them of the virtues of civilization. He is unsuccessful, but gains a measure of respect from the half-orc leader, and through the diplomacy skill manages to improve his attitude to indifferent. The barbarian is thrown, stripped of her armor and weapons and at 7 hp, into the fighting pit for the orcs' amusement. Her opponent is a fully armed and armored orc looking to whip her into unconsciousness to prove his strength. The barbarian knocks his head off with a half-burnt piece of firewood. She then proceeds to kill one of the wolves and another orc before being subdued again. This impresses the half-orc leader, her throws her back into the prison. Afterwards, the group sneakily manages to kill one of their guards and hide his body with the cleric's decompose body spell. Once again, the kill was made by the barbarian, who snapped his neck with her bare hands (and not even in rage!)
So, the odds aren't really as badly against the party as they look. The orcs are stupid, the party has several tools at their disposal to wreak havoc, and the barbarian is scary good at killing things. So, opinions? Does this sound like a disaster in the making, or is this something you would try?