A tale of incredible bad luck

[Sahe]

So I recently started playing DnD and in my first adventure I was a glorified meat-shield.

My character is a Tiefling Barb, hardly optimal, but I like the idea that her rage stems from her demonic heritage. I run around with 15 Str, 15 Dex and 14 Con, have an AC of 16 with my sword/board setup (boy am I glad I didn't go for a two-handed weapon).

We played a little adventure and had four encounters: 2 Goblin Ambushes with 4 and 2 of the ankle biters another one the Sorceror pretty much nuked and the final one with like...6 Goblins, a Bugbear and giant wolf thing. The rest of the Party was a Bard, a Paladin, a Sorceror and a Ranger. We leveled up from 1 to 2 during a short rest. Over the course of the adventure I took a total of 50+ Damage (stopped counting after that), I should've taken even more but the GM misinterpreted the Dodge Rules. I was critted twice. I dropped unconcious once (with a crit that would've instakilled me if I had been any other class thanks to Rage Resistance and by the end pretty much all of the healing had been expended on me. Disadvantaged Attack Rolls against me didn't really seem to matter and on the other hand the few attacks I could do a whopping 3 of them landed...all of them while raging, all of them doing 6 damage.

If you're wondering why so much of the attacks where focused on her, it was because I was playing her as the protective mama bear she is. A former Mercenary she watched her unit get slaughtered and doesn't like losing her fighting companions and is pretty stubborn and usually first into the fray. Add to that the environment was dominated by caves and a paladin who rolled 1s on his initiative checks twice in a row.

All in all, the session felt sorta underwhelming and as if I had a magnets strapped to my body making sure that every attack hit me. Rage barely made a dent except from saving me from certain death that one time, which was nice. I think I barely had such bad luck in a game, where pretty much all my good rolls happened during Skill Checks that didn't even matter that much. I guess I can congratulate myself in that the rest of the party barely took any damage.

[the secret fire]

First level is always hard, and it sounds like you did your job well. Good luck going forward.

[ProsecutorGodot]

Anyone can fall over in just a single hit from first to third level pretty easily, don't feel bad. Goblins can also be pretty tough for a first level party, I've had a few characters in campaigns I've run go down to some lucky goblins.

All things considered, the fact that all of you are alive means it went really well.

[DarkKnightJin]

The second table I play at is 2nd level now. We've fought a buncha Goblins and a single half-orc for the most part. Those fights, my Fighter was thr only one that wasn't making death saves at some point during the fight.

Then last session, we foolishly went up against a 'mummy' undead, with 3 & a half PC's out of 5. The Warlock had been Blinded by his actions, and the Cleric seemed to be cursing the rest of us to be Blinded if she was within the tomb with us, so she stayed outside.

My Fighter ate a crit, somehow managed to live through that.. and then went down in the next round.
They managed to kill the thing by lighting it on fire using the torch I dropped when I went down.
Unfortunately.. I didn't pass my saves, and was given a second chance by way of making a deal with a shady Great Old One. Or at least a Lesser Old One, that's still capable of being a Warlock Patron.

So, I salute your capability to stay upright and not have anybody die.

[Unoriginal]

So I recently started playing DnD and in my first adventure I was a glorified meat-shield.

My character is a Tiefling Barb, hardly optimal, but I like the idea that her rage stems from her demonic heritage. I run around with 15 Str, 15 Dex and 14 Con, have an AC of 16 with my sword/board setup (boy am I glad I didn't go for a two-handed weapon).

We played a little adventure and had four encounters: 2 Goblin Ambushes with 4 and 2 of the ankle biters another one the Sorceror pretty much nuked and the final one with like...6 Goblins, a Bugbear and giant wolf thing. The rest of the Party was a Bard, a Paladin, a Sorceror and a Ranger. We leveled up from 1 to 2 during a short rest. Over the course of the adventure I took a total of 50+ Damage (stopped counting after that), I should've taken even more but the GM misinterpreted the Dodge Rules. I was critted twice. I dropped unconcious once (with a crit that would've instakilled me if I had been any other class thanks to Rage Resistance and by the end pretty much all of the healing had been expended on me. Disadvantaged Attack Rolls against me didn't really seem to matter and on the other hand the few attacks I could do a whopping 3 of them landed...all of them while raging, all of them doing 6 damage.

If you're wondering why so much of the attacks where focused on her, it was because I was playing her as the protective mama bear she is. A former Mercenary she watched her unit get slaughtered and doesn't like losing her fighting companions and is pretty stubborn and usually first into the fray. Add to that the environment was dominated by caves and a paladin who rolled 1s on his initiative checks twice in a row.

All in all, the session felt sorta underwhelming and as if I had a magnets strapped to my body making sure that every attack hit me. Rage barely made a dent except from saving me from certain death that one time, which was nice. I think I barely had such bad luck in a game, where pretty much all my good rolls happened during Skill Checks that didn't even matter that much. I guess I can congratulate myself in that the rest of the party barely took any damage.

So, your character got pummeled by everything the world could throw at her, yet she kept getting back up ready for the next attack, and managed to save her party several times from an amount of damage that would have straight up killed them if they were the target? To the point they barely took any damage at all?

That's awesome! Why feel bad about it? It's a very impressive feat for a lvl 1-2 character, and seeing your PC go through that yet survive probably must have looked amazing, in-universe.



Anyone can fall over in just a single hit from first to third level pretty easily,

True. Though the things who can down a raging 3rd level Barbarian in one hit are not numerous, at least at CR 3.




Goblins can also be pretty tough for a first level party, I've had a few characters in campaigns I've run go down to some lucky goblins.

One Goblin alone is a Medium encounter for a lvl 1 PC. Two goblins vs a lvl 1 PC is a straight up Deadly encounter.

[Marlowe]

Congratulations and well done. You preserved your party that they might preserve you. You got the worst of everything so they did not. And you lived. You're attacked, because you can take it. You're healed, because they appreciate it. A stoic protector. A cloak against the fire. A Dark Knight.

[Sahe]

Well, it didn't feel all that awesome because besides getting pummeled I didn't accomplish much else. I was a rock running around trying to hit goblins with a wet noodle.

Tanking hits like a mad woman and keep going was cool...poking goblins with the wrong end of my sword doesn't really invoke the fantasy of a fierce warrior and mercenary veteran.

Also rolling 6 damage when I need 7 to down a Goblin on the few hits that I did get felt like the game mocking me for not going for an Optimized Race/Class Combo.

[Consensus]

I know how you feel, barbarian can be suprisingly un-tanky at lower levels, in a short three session campaign with a moon druid, sorcerer, and me the bugbear barbarian, I was focus-fired pretty often, but thats expected. Still I was going very low on hp very often and was the closest to death. (It was a third level game, I was a barb 2/figher 1 because I wasn't going to level up in the game) Unrelated gripe, man theres something wrong that the moon druid is tankier than a raging barbaian fighter. Although I didn't have a sheild I was doing a 16 AC with 14 dex and half-plate.

[Unoriginal]

Well, it didn't feel all that awesome because besides getting pummeled I didn't accomplish much else. I was a rock running around trying to hit goblins with a wet noodle.

Tanking hits like a mad woman and keep going was cool...poking goblins with the wrong end of my sword doesn't really invoke the fantasy of a fierce warrior and mercenary veteran.

Also rolling 6 damage when I need 7 to down a Goblin on the few hits that I did get felt like the game mocking me for not going for an Optimized Race/Class Combo.

You were lvl 1. A goblin is only slightly less good as a warrior than a lvl 1 PC.

I understand that it's frustrating to not manage what you wanted, but it's just some bad rolls. Managing to make so a group of lvl 1-2 PC only get minimum damages, though? That' an actual achievement. Especially vs goblinoids, who have less troubles reaching the PCs in the back than some other enemies.

[Unoriginal]

I know how you feel, barbarian can be suprisingly un-tanky at lower levels, in a short three session campaign with a moon druid, sorcerer, and me the bugbear barbarian, I was focus-fired pretty often, but thats expected. Still I was going very low on hp very often and was the closest to death. (It was a third level game, I was a barb 2/figher 1 because I wasn't going to level up in the game) Unrelated gripe, man theres something wrong that the moon druid is tankier than a raging barbaian fighter. Although I didn't have a sheild I was doing a 16 AC with 14 dex and half-plate.

The Moon Druid is tankier than the Barbarian at lvl 2, but only twice a day, and extremely weak to focused fire.

And smart enemies focus fire the suddenly appearing Bear because, well, it's a Bear.

[Consensus]

The Moon Druid is tankier than the Barbarian at lvl 2, but only twice a day, and extremely weak to focused fire.

And smart enemies focus fire the suddenly appearing Bear because, well, it's a Bear.

Rage is only twice a day as well, I guess I'm really mostly complaining about moon druid at low levels. (MORE HP AND PACK TACTICS I HAVE TO RECKLESS ATTACK TO GET THAT) :(

[nickl_2000]

Rage is only twice a day as well, I guess I'm really mostly complaining about moon druid at low levels. (MORE HP AND PACK TACTICS I HAVE TO RECKLESS ATTACK TO GET THAT) :(

Moon Druids are ludicrously powerful at level 2-4. Some of the forms beat everything else out there (ahem Deinonychus). However, once you level into 5 their power levels off to be more normalized. They will always be able to take more damage than Barbarians, but they will also get hit more than barbarians. A Barbarian at level 6 should have at least AC 17, beast forms at CR2 will max AC at 15 and most are 14 and below. That is a huge difference in the amount of hits that they take. Also, barbarians bonus to hit will be higher and they will be attacking twice a round.

They are different characters in how they interact with combat, but after about level 4 I don't think that there is as much of a power difference.


As a side note to the OP. I'm a level 6 (just leveled to 7 Moon Druid) and in the last two sessions I've taken over 100 HP worth of abuse each not. It isn't always the most fun to be beaten all up, but I'm doing my job keeping everyone away from the Warlock and Sorcerer who are nuking the bad guys. Plus my Ape Artillery is doing a great job reining death down on my enemies :smallbiggrin:

[Sahe]

One thing I wonder is...at what time can I go for a two handed weapon.

I mean the main reason I didn't was because we were sorta limited for our starting gold. We went with double number the of dice you roll * 10 + what you get from Background so I had 50.

So I didn't have the money to go for a Great Sword (I could have gone for the Maul or Greataxe, but this was a matter of style). So I went for the Sword and Board combo. I'm really glad I did, because those two AC were critical, especially in the final fight, where the last four attacks I received all barely missed with a 15 or 16. Even without lucky attack rolls and bad luck seemingly stacked against me, I have a hard time seeing how it could ever be worth it giving up those +2 to AC.

Also Reckless Attack seems plain suicidal at this point.

[Unoriginal]

One thing I wonder is...at what time can I go for a two handed weapon.

I mean the main reason I didn't was because we were sorta limited for our starting gold. We went with double number the of dice you roll * 10 + what you get from Background so I had 50.

So I didn't have the money to go for a Great Sword (I could have gone for the Maul or Greataxe, but this was a matter of style). So I went for the Sword and Board combo. I'm really glad I did, because those two AC were critical, especially in the final fight, where the last four attacks I received all barely missed with a 15 or 16. Even without lucky attack rolls and bad luck seemingly stacked against me, I have a hard time seeing how it could ever be worth it giving up those +2 to AC.

Also Reckless Attack seems plain suicidal at this point.

Well, if you had chosen one of the two-handed weapons, you would have likely caused more damage, and so prevented damage being done to you. It's a trade-off.

Reckless Attack let you pummel your opponents, but if you can't end them they'll be able to hurt you bad. Again, trade-off.

In any case, your character made me think of this speech (mostly the second half):


https://youtu.be/vJHkTtvnUqA

[Coec]

It sounds like you did a great job. You tanked for the party and absorbed most of the damage freeing the rest of the party to attack. And based on what you said about your character background you role played well. Low levels are hard to get through and depending on what you do tend to lead to at least one death. Be proud you of the accomplishment, well done.

[Requilac]

I am sorry if this sounds aggressive, but if I am being honest, your whole character concept was "I sponge up all the damage to protect my friends" so it really shouldn't be a surprise that you absorbed all the damage so that your friends didn't get hit. This was what you wanted when you created that character, right? If you create a character with the specific purpose of being a complete tank, then they take a lot of damage, its part of the job description. If you are unhappy with this style of play then I would advise that you ask your DM if you can create a different character, because you are going to have a lot more of these experiences in the future if you continue playing this way.

[SociopathFriend]

One Goblin alone is a Medium encounter for a lvl 1 PC. Two goblins vs a lvl 1 PC is a straight up Deadly encounter.

I no longer feel bad about basically pulling my teeth out and nearly dying when me and a friend (lvl 2 each) were guarding camp had 8 Goblins jump us. That was one of the most micro-managing, tense, and facing certain-death battles I'd ever been in as we tried our damndest to avoid... well death.

The DM keeps insisting he's doing the CR system right, I happen to disagree but I don't know how it works, somehow I doubt 8v2 is a fair fight when only a few hits will put us down.

[Unoriginal]

I no longer feel bad about basically pulling my teeth out and nearly dying when me and a friend (lvl 2 each) were guarding camp had 8 Goblins jump us. That was one of the most micro-managing, tense, and facing certain-death battles I'd ever been in as we tried our damndest to avoid... well death.

The DM keeps insisting he's doing the CR system right, I happen to disagree but I don't know how it works, somehow I doubt 8v2 is a fair fight when only a few hits will put us down.

Well, no, 8 goblins vs 2 lvl 2 PCs is far beyond the start of the "Deadly" category.

That being said, if your DM has decided to put you against deadly fights, it's their prerogative.

[quark12000]

The Moon Druid is tankier than the Barbarian at lvl 2, but only twice a day, and extremely weak to focused fire.

And smart enemies focus fire the suddenly appearing Bear because, well, it's a Bear.

Um, Wild Shape recharges on a short rest, as well as a long one. Can be a lot more than "twice a day".

[SociopathFriend]

Well, no, 8 goblins vs 2 lvl 2 PCs is far beyond the start of the "Deadly" category.

That being said, if your DM has decided to put you against deadly fights, it's their prerogative.

His prerogative is all fine and dandy, but I don't think he understands the CR system to actually figure out what level a fight actually is, that or the system is screwy; I've never been sure.

In a past game under this DM we had like 50+ Giant Frogs (no, not exaggerating btw, just uncertain of exactly how screwed we were) attack us when I think everyone was level... I wanna say 4 because I had a lightning bolt and I was 1 level higher than anyone else so I would've been 5. There was only 4 or 5 of us.

Needless to say, most of the party was viciously mauled and it was only when faced with a possible TPK that he decided the rest of the frogs would leave.

[TheCleverGuy]

Well, it didn't feel all that awesome because besides getting pummeled I didn't accomplish much else. I was a rock running around trying to hit goblins with a wet noodle.

Tanking hits like a mad woman and keep going was cool...poking goblins with the wrong end of my sword doesn't really invoke the fantasy of a fierce warrior and mercenary veteran.

Also rolling 6 damage when I need 7 to down a Goblin on the few hits that I did get felt like the game mocking me for not going for an Optimized Race/Class Combo.

I know that feeling. My Hill Dwarf Fighter didn't land a hit with his maul for my first two sessions, and was knocked unconscious by goblins in our first battle. But in session 3, my first hit ever was a natural 20.

[Samayu]

On the good side:
The team won the fight.
You took a ton of damage that would have wiped out the rest of the party, including the people that were doing the healing.

On the bad side:
Your attack rolls were poor, so you felt like you weren't helpful.
The DM's attacks were good, including two crits.
The team might have had to use up some expendable healing?

Rolling poorly is not fun, but there's only one of those things that counts in the long run - you won the fights. We've all had bad nights. Wait til you die of someone else's stupidity! My beloved barbarian died of three failed death saves mixed with a "but the tiefling told me it was a healing potion!"

[Unoriginal]

His prerogative is all fine and dandy, but I don't think he understands the CR system to actually figure out what level a fight actually is, that or the system is screwy; I've never been sure.

In a past game under this DM we had like 50+ Giant Frogs (no, not exaggerating btw, just uncertain of exactly how screwed we were) attack us when I think everyone was level... I wanna say 4 because I had a lightning bolt and I was 1 level higher than anyone else so I would've been 5. There was only 4 or 5 of us.

Needless to say, most of the party was viciously mauled and it was only when faced with a possible TPK that he decided the rest of the frogs would leave.

Seems like your DM doesn't understand the CR system, then. Or he just wants to kill your characters.

[DarkKnightJin]

Well, no, 8 goblins vs 2 lvl 2 PCs is far beyond the start of the "Deadly" category.

That being said, if your DM has decided to put you against deadly fights, it's their prerogative.

Sure, it's their prerogative to make the fights Triple Deadly if they want.
It's NOT their prerogative to insist that it's anything else than that.

If I sent you, alone, against 5 UFC fighters, without any training, and tell you it's 'a fair fight', what'd be your reaction?

[Sahe]

I am sorry if this sounds aggressive, but if I am being honest, your whole character concept was "I sponge up all the damage to protect my friends" so it really shouldn't be a surprise that you absorbed all the damage so that your friends didn't get hit. This was what you wanted when you created that character, right? If you create a character with the specific purpose of being a complete tank, then they take a lot of damage, its part of the job description. If you are unhappy with this style of play then I would advise that you ask your DM if you can create a different character, because you are going to have a lot more of these experiences in the future if you continue playing this way.

I'm not that upset that I took a lot of damage. She was always at the front of the group for a reason. What did bother we was that she was tough, but the attack rolls and damage I had didn't make her look like a Mercenary Veteran and more like Hodor aimlessly flailing his sword around. Considering how I consistently dealt 6 damage against 7 HP goblins felt especially cruel...like the game mocking me for going with a suboptimal race instead of the better suited Goliath or Half-Orc. When someone you envisioned as an at least somewhat competent fighter is completely betrayed by the dice it is rather annoying.

In a similar fashion, last night we were playing Dark Heresy and a friend and I introduced two new characters, both soldiers who had been working together for quite some time. They were both supposed to be experts in fighting against Psykers, Demons, etc. and where specifically requested for the mission because of their expertise. We face the Psyker-turned-Demonhost and we bot spectacularly fail our Fear-Tests, granted almost everyone did. But then we get the worst result in the entire group and we're forced to run away. Luckily my character snapped out of it pretty quickly and at least got to involve herself in a cool sword-dance/duel with a shadow that went on forever and ever. But my friend...well they kept rolling worse and worse each round, being unable to do anything. Eventually the GM decided she'd snap out of it so they could participate again. But it was really, really frustrating. At the end of the evening we went through the tests they made and low and behold they only passed a total of 3 rolls that entire evening. Everything else misses.

Sometimes dice can tell an amazing story. Like in that same fight, the priest wasn't touched once by the demon, didn't get any insanity or corruption (and delivered the final blow). Or my soldier who held her own in a duel with a shadow, parrying every attack the creature threw at her (albeit struggling to get solid hits herself). And other times, the dice just seem to want to screw you over and let you keep failing at the thing your character is supposed to be at least proficient in, that can lead to a lot of frustration and make you wonder why you bothered at all to think of a character concept or something like that.

[Ionathus]

...Sometimes dice can tell an amazing story...And other times, the dice just seem to want to screw you over and let you keep failing at the thing your character is supposed to be at least proficient in, that can lead to a lot of frustration and make you wonder why you bothered at all to think of a character concept or something like that.

Sounds like you're already aware of the core issue here: you had a bad night with the dice. If it's any consolation, I don't think that your character concept is at all cheapened by your tough luck. The story that's told, as others have said, is still a good one -- your character doesn't want to see teammates fall, so you soak up the damage yourself and pay for it.

Maybe the bad attack rolls can be part of that story? You were so focused on protecting the others that you weren't focused on your attacks? What I like about the dice is that they can change the conventional outcome (the barbarian does massive melee damage) into a new situation that you need to do some story legwork to justify.

[Requilac]

@ Sahe

Ah I understand. Unfortunately that is the nature of a game which involves die rolls (or just luck). Sometimes you just fail because the dice weren't your friends. We have all had those experiences. I wouldn't worry about it to much really, its not anyone's fault.

If it makes you feel any better, I once managed to get a DM to go from making our characters roll for stats to using point buy because the first three character I ever created by rolling for stats didn't even have one ability score higher than eight. Needless to say, none of them typically lasted longer than the first few fights.

[Sahe]

My explanation for it was that she was hurt so bad that she had trouble properly fighting back.

[Sahe]

So another evening went by and by barb Tiefling is at least consistent. Eating damage left and right like a walking punching bag and barely able to hit the broadside of a barn. At least I can now deal a bit of automatic Fire Damage with my Desert Storm Demon Raging. We're halfway through roughing up the Redbrands in Phandalin and I already took a total of 42 damage.

On other news the four hits I had with my Longsword, I always rolled a 2 for damage.

I now also have a greatsword. At least I hit with it once out of my two swings and dealing 9 damage (yay!), although I qickly switched back to sword and board, because for some mad reason the bandits we face have multi attack. Funny enough except for one attack, all attacks that hit me dealt max or near max damage.

I had a small moment of triumph when I burned three bandits with my hellfire nice and crispy. So far the only things she killed if you don't include outside of combat stuff.

Another fun thing, the Dragonborn keeps rolling 1's for initiative checks in caves, cellars (but normal outside).