So I died. Grrr. Trying to make this a teachable moment. (and vent)

[Spo]

So my character died last night (level 11 sorcerer - my first one). My first death in years - my last one being a level 3 monk to an intelligence devourer.

Some background: this was a tier 3 adventurers league game at a hobby store. I have heard horror stories about AL games but my experience has been pretty positive. It’s a supplement to my every-other-week regular game with my friends and allows me to try different builds I’m curious about.

I’ve been leveling up my sorcerer past couple of months and this was the first tier 3 game the store was going to run since it started AL. In looking at the Warhorn online signup sheet I was already concerned because of the team makeup: monk, 2 range rogues, 1 range fighter (aracroka sp?), 1 melee fighter and me (aberrant mind sorcerer) all lvl 11.

So two people flaked and didn’t show without cancelling on Warhorn and giving anyone a chance to jump into the game (monk and one of the rogues). Although they didn’t provide any support/healing more damage and an off frontliner would have made our experience less painful.

The adventure was Durlags Tower with our objective for the night getting into the tower before a giant and his army arrives to grab the object in the tower. There were 6 seemingly deserted buildings around the tower that perhaps held the key to getting inside this tower that no one could find entry into for 100’s of years.

While the 4 of us searched around, we were attacked by 2 assassins with greater invisibility using range attacks while we walked outside. Practically all my spells require me to see the creature. Then there was 3 chained demons with there 100 foot reach attacks with 6 barbed chains that grappled pets, two ogre type demons flanked with a undead beholder. Of course you have to have some area of effect traps that still hurts you even if you made the save.

We finally make it into the tower (which I think the Dm felt sorry for us because we didn’t find any pieces to unlock the front door so we just thieves tooled it and used bigbys hand to force it open). All of us down hit points with me and another player wanting to short rest but one other player (Mr Insane sneak/hide assassin rogue was the healthiest) insisted time was of the essence so no short rest.

Of course after solving the final puzzle without triggering another trap, a boss demon with minions is guarding the object we are sent to retrieve. He moves right before me in initiative order (was going to cast mirror image), claws me to -3 hp then then bites me = 2 failed death saves. Then my “teammates” attack him (knowing I have 3 healing potions on me) and a minion does a AOE attack which kills me and takes down the melee fighter. The flying range fighter has 2 hp when the assassin kills the boss has the minions flee. Evening ends with giant and army arriving outside the tower.

Replaying what I/we could have done differently. Should have insisted on a short rest more strongly (started that last fight with only 19 hps). Alternatively, should have anticipated a final boss fight while solving the last puzzle and drinking the potions as a precaution.

On the positive side, learning the weaknesses of my current build and the need for more control and AOE attacks and realize I’m not always going to have the trinity tank/damage/support dynamic on my team. Fortunately, death in AL is not as bad as in a regular game so this is more an ego bruise than anything else.

Thanks for reading my rant.

[MrStabby]

So I don't really know the set up for the adventure, or really anything much about adventurer's league so some caution to taking my comments too seriously:

1) Pushing forwards might have been the right thing to do. You had an adventure wth a tight clock so to "win" you really may have needed to push. In this case, your error was not in ushing forwards, but rather in being somewhat profligate with resources as a party (including HP) earlier in the day.

2) Yeah, your spell selection wasn't optimal and your party composition wasn't great for deling with assassins. I think that for somthing like advenurer's league with pre-written content you need to cover a few more bases, but it sounds like you picked that up. One of the other issues you might have had is that assassin type NPCs can be a bit speedy, so some spells like Fear might also not work as well as you might expect. The good news is aberrant mind sorcerers actually get a lot of spells.

3) Bigby's hand is a very expensive Knock spell, in terms of party resources.

4) I don't know that it was unreasonable for players to not use healing potions to heal you. Firstly, you had them, not the other players. I am not sure that all DMs would allow rummaging around in anoher players bags, identifying the appropriate bottles, oppening them, opening the mouth of an unconscious character and pouring the contens in to all take place within a 6 second round. Even if the DM would allow all that, I can't blame the other players for thinking they might not. Secondly, as a party you were getting spanked - but it sounds like enemies were injured. From a defensve perspecive, taking enemies out of the fight sounds like a nesescity. Thirdly, no one was playing a healer - no one had decided that what they wanted to spend their actions doing was healing... so they didn't. Even if it wasn't optimal I can't be that harsh on people opting out of a role in the game they don't find fun.

5) Anticipating the boss fight? Maybe. Anticipating is maybe the wrong word, but it does seem like the cost of being at higher HP was pretty low. Yes, you use a potion but without a healer and with the time pressures of the adventure you didn't have a lot of other options for healing (unless one of the monks was a mercy monk).

[Psyren]

Not sure what you mean by "undead beholder" (If that was a death tyrant, they're CR 14!) and I don't know the level of the assassins or what the "ogre demons" were (...Oni? CR 7 each?) but that doesn't sound like a reasonable encounter for a level 11 party at all, especially not one that's down two members.

[Keravath]

Interesting read :)

You definitely should have insisted on the short rest before the final encounter. All you need to say is "If you want to go on in, go ahead", most AL players won't push ahead on their own since the odds are good they will die. Even if time is of the essence, the DM will usually let you know if a short rest is possible - the module usually lays out the timing of elements like that. (In this case, from what I can tell, there should have been no issue as long as the DM was ok with it).

19 hit points is not enough for a tier 3 encounter and if you don't have any healing spells, a short rest is your only option (healing potions would have helped a bit but the short rest would be better).

At 4 level 11 characters, your party was very weak for this adventure so some adjustments in encounters might have been made to accommodate that (though there actually weren't very many adjustments for a very weak party listed).

In AL play, it is generally assumed that characters keep healing potions accessible so that another character could spend their action to administer it. (I run my home games more or less that way too).

The module is designed around a 5 player party with APL 13 (average party level) and would be scaled back for a party with 4 characters at level 11.


It's interesting that the DM had you looking for an item. The actual objective of the module is to clear the way to the elevator and secure the main floor of the tower. Durlag's tower is the first half of two linked modules, the second is Durlag's tomb where the character's descend into the tomb.

The module allows the characters a long rest before attempting the second/next module if they are being played consecutively so the Baron isn't arriving all that soon so a short rest during the tower module should certainly be possible.

Other than that, it does look like it could be a tough module. There are warnings that some of the encounters might be very deadly for some groups and the DM may need to make adjustments as a result, particularly the last encounter.

Possible encounters:
Beholder Zombie and 2 Tanarukks
2 Chain devils
Several traps of various sorts
2 wandering assassins
The final encounter was a Nalfeshnee, Quasit and maybe a Vrock (DM instructions are to scale this back as necessary to make it really tough but doable - it should be scary and threatening but not impossible to succeed). In this case, having only 2 characters die and the rest succeed isn't a terrible result given the party).

[Samayu]

I was going to say that with only 19 HP, you definitely should have been getting out of there, but I'm assuming you never had an action after the demons appeared?

[PallyBass]

What's this chain demon that has multiple pets, is this the chain devil or something else? It sucks to die from a decision you did not agree with. Since time was of the essence to race to the maguffin before the evil army there can be some consolation about the decision to rush forward even when badly injured.

[Eldariel]

Not sure what you mean by "undead beholder"...

Sounds like Zombie Beholder.

[Waazraath]

I understand the wish of other players to push ahead while doing an adventure running against the clock. 19 hp is really low though - if that was the case, I'd definitely used my potions before continuing, at least 2 out of 3. My current party also learned 'prioritizing healing somebody who's down' also the hard way (with somebody who could have saved dying due to area of attack). Personally, in a team game, I think it's both smart (and manner) to heal somebody back up asap, even when you don't have (or don't like) the healer role, but ymmv.

[Gignere]

I understand the wish of other players to push ahead while doing an adventure running against the clock. 19 hp is really low though - if that was the case, I'd definitely used my potions before continuing, at least 2 out of 3. My current party also learned 'prioritizing healing somebody who's down' also the hard way (with somebody who could have saved dying due to area of attack). Personally, in a team game, I think it's both smart (and manner) to heal somebody back up asap, even when you don't have (or don't like) the healer role, but ymmv.

This definitely this, use your potions and try to start new encounters with near full hps. I would say that’s probably your biggest error especially since this was a pick up game and not a long running campaign you really can’t have any expectations from other PCs especially if they are not healers to heal you at all.
So you need to play as if you don’t trust them and the only one you can rely on is yourself and so I would have down those healing pots without even a second thought once the party declined the short rest.

[da newt]

AL is it's own special kind of DnD. "Team" is not always an intrinsic focus of the party / PCs. Some of the adventures are very poorly written, balance is accidental at best, and the DMs don't have as much freedom to adjust as you'd assume. You never know who will show up at the table, and their skill / knowledge / what they want from the game is all over the spectrum.

It also teaches / rewards selfish play. You have to look out for your PC because you can't count on the other PCs.

Bottom line - IMO, AL shouldn't be taken too seriously. It's good for what it is, but it's not an in-depth, character arc, immersive role play, epic adventure. It's very basic DnD and a good place for new folks to learn which dice to roll when. Don't think too hard about the plot (keep your 'I believe button' close at hand), and don't become too attached to your PCs.

[KorvinStarmast]

Not sure what you mean by "undead beholder" (If that was a death tyrant, they're CR 14!) and I don't know the level of the assassins or what the "ogre demons" were (...Oni? CR 7 each?) but that doesn't sound like a reasonable encounter for a level 11 party at all, especially not one that's down two members. There is a scaled down version of beholder who is undead that is a CR 5 monster: Beholder Zombie. That might have been the monster.


1. Paralyzing Ray. The targeted creature must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or be paralyzed for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.

2. Fear Ray. The targeted creature must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.

3. Enervation Ray. The targeted creature must make a DC 14 Constitution saving throw, taking 36 (8d8) necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

4. Disintegration Ray. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw or take 45 (10d8) force damage. If this damage reduces the creature to 0 hit points, its body becomes a pile of fine gray dust.
If the target is a Large or smaller nonmagical object or creation of magical force, it is disintegrated without a saving throw. If the target is a Huge or larger nonmagical object or creation of magical force, this ray disintegrates a 10-foot cube of it. Depending on the random roll, his critter can be kind of tough

[lall]

When I go sorcerer, I go divine soul. Makes this less probable.

[Spo]

When I go sorcerer, I go divine soul. Makes this less probable.
When I started this character out she was a divine soul but the rebuilt her into aberrant mind because of a mind/mental power thing I wanted to go for. I think now in an AL setting where you are playing with pickup players, divine soul would have been better.

[Corran]

Not taking th short rest was not necessarily a terrible idea. Assuming you have a way to get out of there even though the enemy forces just arrived it might be a good idea. Obviously not for the characters that died if you dont have a way from bringing them along and raising them, but even if that's the case, a pyrhic victory is still a victory. Sort of. From an in-world perspective, the dilemma here is if letting the enemy clash with the tower's defenses and then fighting the survivors would be a better idea than trying to commit to a sort of heist mission yourselves. And to answer that you'd need all the relevant information which I assume that you dont have at the start of the module, but given the nature of the game I think it's safe to assume at the start of the advnture that all this has been done to some extent and that's why the nature of the mission is to do it heist-like. From an OoC perspective this depends on how badly you hate losing characters. If that's a big detriment to fun, you could still enjoy games with high pc mortality rates by maybe playing very cautious characters. Adventure goals may not be reached as often as you'd like, but your character is still probably alive more often than expected and you are still pressumingly enjoying the thrill of being a bit reckless and/or the thrill of trying to keep your pc alive in a very dangerous world.

Yes, using the potions on hindsight would be a good idea. You'd still want to keep at least one just in case someone gets dropped (probably for the person with the yo-yo healing, or assuming you have no person with yo-yo healing in the first place). Maybe even two. Would one or two more potions make a difference? In this case they might (weight in the the DM might not have the minions flee though if your party was not too down on their luck), but it's such an edge case scenario (the fact that you just barely got dropped and eventually taken out) that I dont see it as the big takeawat from your experience. It's still a takeaway though: Try to manage your resources as efficiently as you can, even when it comes down to the most basic ones (ie healing potions).

What should be the biggest takeway IMO? Well, you didn't lose characters the moment they failed their 3rd death save. Not even necessarily the moment you decided to enter the final encounter while being low on resources (although it would be nice to know that the final encounter would be more than it first looked like; if you cannot know it, because sometimes you cannot, you could at least expect it; much like you might expect statues to come to life, or undead to spring through a sealed mysterious crypt, etc etc). Such experiences hone your gaming instincts but that happens automatically, whether you want it to or not. Anyway, the biggest takeaway should be the encounters themselves, and how they gave you more trouble than they could have (if for example you have acted or prepared differently, or even if you were playing different characters).

For example, how did you handle the 2 invisible assassins? Fighting them outside sounds more trouble than a lot of parties would handle efficiently. See invisibility on your own ranged dpr(s) along with using cover more efficiently than the enemies might do it. Dispel magic could/would work if you could pinpoint their location (so either combining it with see invisibility or readying it while luring the assassins to some extent; such as by taking cover that would limit the distance from which the assassins would be able to engage, so probably by taking cover into one of the buildings; though this can backfire since time is not only running against the assassins -ie gr invisibility's duration, but also against you since enemies are on the way to the tower). So your options so far are fighting back, luring them to be pin/debuffed (debuffing does not restrict itself to just dispel magic, faerie fire is another option though it's hard to stick to just a couple elite ranged enemies, and restraining effects will be decent against mobile archers who can also hide with their bonus actions), and waiting their buff out. Another option is to try to ignore them (until the point that pinning/debuffing bcomes viable). How you do that? Remember, the goal at this point is to enter the tower. Leaving the assassins alive is not necessarrily bad because unless they are allied with the enemies on their way to the tower, it could very well mean that they might be able to inconvenience the coming enemies, so winning your party a bit more time and/or hurting the other enemy. How do you ignore them? Probably with obscurements. This takes away much of their offenssive power since it both cancels out their advantage and their ability to shoot at you from great ranges (which in turn is what makes it difficult for you to damage them quickly and/or debuff them). So you use something like darkness which can last up to 10 minutes per cast, to protect you while you go from building to building searching for soemthing that will allow you to enter the tower. If the opportunity presents itself during this time you might want to engage them, particularly if you know that the assassins wont attack the coming enemies or if you fear too much being tracked(/hit) by them while leaving the tower.

In all likelihood there are more ways to deal efficiently with the assassins encounter that I cannot think of right now. And it's very likely that your party ocmposition might not allow for lots or even any of these options. But that's the takeway here. Other than thinking of ways to engage (or not engage) in the most efficient terms, think of these kind of resources that are good for these kind of situations that become less of a niche as you advance in levels, and try to make sure that your party includes at least some of them. Probably difficult to know ahread of time in an AL game, and playing a sorcerer does not make it too easy to include contingency options, particularly if you dont know all the details of the party ahead of time. But at least it's a thought exercise that can help you in your other games.

[Quietus]

AL is it's own special kind of DnD. "Team" is not always an intrinsic focus of the party / PCs. Some of the adventures are very poorly written, balance is accidental at best, and the DMs don't have as much freedom to adjust as you'd assume. You never know who will show up at the table, and their skill / knowledge / what they want from the game is all over the spectrum.

It also teaches / rewards selfish play. You have to look out for your PC because you can't count on the other PCs.

Bottom line - IMO, AL shouldn't be taken too seriously. It's good for what it is, but it's not an in-depth, character arc, immersive role play, epic adventure. It's very basic DnD and a good place for new folks to learn which dice to roll when. Don't think too hard about the plot (keep your 'I believe button' close at hand), and don't become too attached to your PCs.


When I started this character out she was a divine soul but the rebuilt her into aberrant mind because of a mind/mental power thing I wanted to go for. I think now in an AL setting where you are playing with pickup players, divine soul would have been better.

Sadly, all of these things are very true, if you're doing a drop-in style AL game. They can be fun, but they're mostly an exercise in mechanics, with a little touch of emergent story, most of the time. It's possible to find a steady AL crew, if that's what you want, and in doing so you might be able to get closer to a more standard ongoing story, albeit one that still has to cleave very close to what's written in the module at hand.

The whole "No way of knowing what skill/knowledge/etc level a given player is at", thing, is EXTREMELY true, in my experience. I've played with players at all ends of the spectrum - people who have been playing 20+ years but still don't know how sneak attack works. People who took Moderately Armored on their Rogue, only to IMMEDIATELY multiclass into Ranger and get the benefits the next level. And then the full opposite end, people who use the mechanics available to them to cherry-pick magic items and play extremely optimized top-tier gamebreaking builds. I do not envy the GMs that run for pick up groups, it could be very difficult to balance spotlight on everyone with that kind of massive power level disparity/showboating.