They are not prepared...

[korvanos]

Like seriously. My group I'm dm for did zero prep before running off to the bbeg dungeon. They're not broke, although they are close. They decided it would be a good idea to take everything they earned so far and buy plate armor for the warrior. I just shook my head.

So they've got no potions, no nothing. They had to rest after the first battle, and i had to heavily suggest they don't just camp for the night in a random tunnel the under-dark.

These guys aren't greenhorns, but they're kinda acting like it. Should I go easy on them? Module as planned is like to kill them...

[Chugger]

You're kind of darned if you do and darned if you don't. Yeah, splint and mucho heal pots would have made sense - not one set of shiny plate and nothing for everyone else. I don't know what to tell you.

[Dungeon-noob]

What level are they at and how do they compare to the BBEG? If they're a lot behind and still have a lot of story to go, the BBEG may just laugh at them when they show up. Loudly. And for longer then they expect. And then throw them out for the underdark predators to finish them off (read, give em a harsh underdark fight and let them live). If they're actually a credible threat to the BBEG at this point, but rushed ahead without thinking, just kill em. Death isn't necessairily a bad thing, and stupid players get to live (or die) with their decicions. Might help put the suspense back in the game, if they feel like they can't really "lose", which doesn't sound implausible from what we know.

I'd give them some IC warnings (have the guards and random encounters smack them around, maybe have a similar party faiil spectacularly in front of them, etc), and if they go ahead, just kill em. If you start pulling punches, many players find the game less fun.

[Malifice]

Like seriously. My group I'm dm for did zero prep before running off to the bbeg dungeon. They're not broke, although they are close. They decided it would be a good idea to take everything they earned so far and buy plate armor for the warrior. I just shook my head.

So they've got no potions, no nothing. They had to rest after the first battle, and i had to heavily suggest they don't just camp for the night in a random tunnel the under-dark.

These guys aren't greenhorns, but they're kinda acting like it. Should I go easy on them? Module as planned is like to kill them...

Id drop hints. In game and out of game [guys; you really shouldnt rest inside the dungeon]

Then I'd hit them hard (but not hard enough to kill them).

Then they get stomped.

[hymer]

These guys aren't greenhorns, but they're kinda acting like it. Should I go easy on them? Module as planned is like to kill them...

My instinct is definitely to change nothing. Buying a permanent item makes a lot of fiscal sense, so it's a calculated chance they've taken. Now they have to live with it.
Maybe they will retreat somewhere along the line, and they can then go back with what loot they got and buy some healing. Maybe they'll fail in their goal this time around. Maybe they'll die, or some of them will. And maybe, just maybe, they win.
This attitude is of course a lot easier to accept for players, if they realize that failure is always an option. If you usually play modules that start a certain way and end a certain way, then they may have more reason to be upset. But if so, the module may be rather too hard, if eight or ten healing potions make the certain difference between victory and defeat.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/cedAVx7sRB8/hqdefault.jpg

[Cozzer]

Honestly... I would say that, by the time the heroes go into the BBEG's dungeon, expectations should already have been set. If the "screw potions, just charge" attitude worked for them until now, you can't expect them to change it so late in the game to adapt to a difficulty spike they can't know about. If they have been more careful in the past, and they became reckless just now, then it's a genuine error on their part and they'll deal with the consequences.

[Incorrect]

Change nothing but don't block their escape.
(maybe even remind them that escape is an option)

As a poster above mentioned, they made a choice of what to do with their gold, now they have to live or die by that choice.

[Chugger]

Resting in dungeons is what Rope Trick and Leom's Tiny Hut are for (the latter is a ritual, even, though it can be seen - rope trick's hiding spot, though only good for a short rest and burns a slot, is invisible and undetectable - and if the whole party heals up it's worth the one lvl 2 slot).

[korvanos]

Resting in dungeons is what Rope Trick and Leom's Tiny Hut are for (the latter is a ritual, even, though it can be seen - rope trick's hiding spot, though only good for a short rest and burns a slot, is invisible and undetectable - and if the whole party heals up it's worth the one lvl 2 slot).

Unfortunately neither the artificer or sorc have those spells. The whole group is running optimized damage style characters, except the cleric, who is the actual green horn.

So far they ussually try to sneak their way past as much as possible, nuke the end of the dungeon, and run away. It's cost them, but they have survived. They're level 4s with 1 or 2 magic items each.

In the past the bad guys have escaped or attacked while they napped inside a dungeon. But they don't seem to be getting the message that it's not a safe place to camp out.

[smcmike]

Depends HOW underprepared they are. If they aren't meant to fight the BBEG for several levels, and he can currently take the party:

When they wake up, the BBEG is sitting in their camp, brewing tea over a small fire. He has a polite conversation with them. If anyone tries anything, he smacks them into next week, and smiles.

[Easy_Lee]

Unfortunately neither the artificer or sorc have those spells. The whole group is running optimized damage style characters, except the cleric, who is the actual green horn.

So far they ussually try to sneak their way past as much as possible, nuke the end of the dungeon, and run away. It's cost them, but they have survived. They're level 4s with 1 or 2 magic items each.

In the past the bad guys have escaped or attacked while they napped inside a dungeon. But they don't seem to be getting the message that it's not a safe place to camp out.

You running AL or something? Yeah, just do the campaign as normal and let them live with it. How else they gonna learn?