Being upfront, foreshadowing, or surprise

[Mike Miller]

I am just looking for opinions on how to handle a certain sort of situation. As DM or player (me as DM), how would you feel about the following?

Something dramatic happens unexpectedly which dictates 2 or 3 sessions of play without being able to rest. Would you rather be upfront with the players / be told ahead that you will need to ration resources, give some foreshadowing such that maybe the party will be extra cautious (or not), or just let the dice fall where they may?

Alternately, what if it wasn't a sudden unescapable event but rather a series of events that need to be dealt with (for reasons) and ends up being longer than first expected (again, 2-3 sessions). Foreknowledge, foreshadowing, or staying in the dark and dealing with it?


I can't decide what I should do in this sort of situation, which is why I am hoping for opinions. No wrong answers, I just need some brainstorming.

[Elkad]

A little of both.

If the BBEG is completing the ritual to summon Cthulhu in 24 hours, the party probably knows in advance that they'll have to push through his entire lair to get to him.

If I just want to push them a little, I might stick two nighttime encounters on them after they have already had a hard day.

Incidentally, I like those days. The ones when the 11th level Elf Wizard resorts to breaking out his longbow because the party is 7 encounters into the day and he doesn't have anything else left.
Turn them all into Mundanes for a while.

[MisterKaws]

It's nice. Makes the prepared casters stay on edge.

Wanna know how else to do that? Use the exact same encounter twice or thrice in a row. Makes spontaneous casters vastly superior in cases where it's a gimmick encounter to which the Wizard would only have prepared a single "I win" voucher.

[Psyren]

Incidentally, I like those days. The ones when the 11th level Elf Wizard resorts to breaking out his longbow because the party is 7 encounters into the day and he doesn't have anything else left.
Turn them all into Mundanes for a while.

Well, at 11th level he should really have stuff like wands, pearls, reserve feats etc.

And that's an important data point for the OP - what level is the party? Past a certain point, they should be planning for the unexpected; at a certain level of heroism, the expectation should be that they are able to put out fires, and that the bad guys will take enough notice of them that they can expect ambushes, curveballs and the like.

[jintoya]

I'd have the player with a map roll a knowledge cartography or even just a wisdom check to notice the distance any mention that they should be prepared if he makes the save.

If he fails it, I'd drop a few scarce resources and let them scrape by on some pheasants and a few wild taters, suffering a small temporary hit to an ability, nothing huge, but they are unlikely to forget to prepare next time they consider a big trip.

(I'm using ration purchasing as an example here if one type of being "prepared" but it works for anything, just give em a slap on the wrist and let them learn)

[Mike Miller]

Well, at 11th level he should really have stuff like wands, pearls, reserve feats etc.

And that's an important data point for the OP - what level is the party? Past a certain point, they should be planning for the unexpected; at a certain level of heroism, the expectation should be that they are able to put out fires, and that the bad guys will take enough notice of them that they can expect ambushes, curveballs and the like.

As for the level of the group, let's break it into under 9th level, 9th-16th level, and 17th+

[Psyren]

As for the level of the group, let's break it into under 9th level, 9th-16th level, and 17th+

"Under 9" could be 8 or 2 - big differences there. Can you be more specific?

For the other two - those are high enough that they should be contingency planning.

[MisterKaws]

After about 13th-level, Most casters could realistically have infinite spells, unless the DM blocks their access to stuff. Mostly planes with time dilation and some items. Earlier if you start going into TO.

Before that point, it's really up to the group. If you feel your group is too relaxed, start pushing them a bit more. If they're struggling, either keep up the same rhythm if they like the struggle, or lighten up a tiny bit once in a while until they get used. You got to adapt to your players, especially if they're not prepared casters with infinite versatility.

[Dimers]

My decision would have to be based on what I know about the players. What are they looking for in a game? Emotional drama? Mechanical success? Just the chance to spend time with friends? An engaging story? Some of my gaming friends would much prefer the surprise, some would want whatever is most wacky ... me, I like easy wins, so I'd rather hear ahead of time.

[Elkad]

After about 13th-level, Most casters could realistically have infinite spells, unless the DM blocks their access to stuff. Mostly planes with time dilation and some items. Earlier if you start going into TO.

Before that point, it's really up to the group. If you feel your group is too relaxed, start pushing them a bit more. If they're struggling, either keep up the same rhythm if they like the struggle, or lighten up a tiny bit once in a while until they get used. You got to adapt to your players, especially if they're not prepared casters with infinite versatility.


After 13th level, you can expect the BBEG to be in a lair with Forbiddance or similar to prevent scry-and-die tactics being used against him. So getting inside and not being able to hop out to your fasttime plane, or even duck into your Rope Trick and sleep, is still an issue. Heck, you can't even get more wands out of your Haversack.

I'm far more likely to give the party an easy retreat&rest at low levels. At high levels I expect them to push on, know to conserve resources on the easy encounters, or sometimes be up against serious time pressure.
10 minutes for 10 encounters. No, you don't have time to loot, do that at the end.

[MisterKaws]

After 13th level, you can expect the BBEG to be in a lair with Forbiddance or similar to prevent scry-and-die tactics being used against him. So getting inside and not being able to hop out to your fasttime plane, or even duck into your Rope Trick and sleep, is still an issue. Heck, you can't even get more wands out of your Haversack.

Isn't it standard practice to put wand sheathes all over your body and keep wand bracelets on both hands?