Results 31 to 34 of 34
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2021-09-09, 09:58 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2006
- Location
- Wandering in Harrekh
- Gender
Re: I am doing something wrong and I don't know what
This is pretty close to my thoughts on the situation - Kobayashi Maru is a pretty apt comparison. Kirk refuses to believe in unwinnable scenarios; he charges in or tries to cheat fate every time. Your players are running under that way of thinking. Terry Pratchett would be another good way to look at it. I think they want to be playing in Discworld, where heroes know that the million-to-one shots are the ones that pay off.
I'd talk to them about this; ask them if that's the sort of game they'd rather be playing. If they're still having fun regardless, that's okay; but (as a DM) you don't want to have hours of planning go into the trash because they decided to rush the BBEG before they were ready.
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2021-09-12, 02:21 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2019
Re: I am doing something wrong and I don't know what
I have a different solution.
My world was generated by my Sandbox World Generator (see DriveThruRPG). So when horrible monsters show up, I just shrug and say, "That's what the computer said was there."
They know the encounter wasn't constructed for them; and they know if they don't like the looks of it, they can go to some other encounter. So if they bite off more than they can chew, it's on them.
Not only does this keep them honest, but it gives them a sense of agency.
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2021-09-13, 08:55 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2016
Re: I am doing something wrong and I don't know what
It looks like the morale of your players just gave out and they tried to jump the rails.
They had too many frustrating experiences and during each of the TPKs they basically, as the previous posters wrote, enforce a decisive battle. If I were a player in this campaign, I would be ground down by the constant low-medium risk, low-reward gameplay. You run from an Overwhelming Enemy and all you can do is sacrifice stuff and people just to stave off the inevitable failure. That's not fun.
The waves of undead coming after them - no reward, those battles just stave off failure. Not fun.
And having a Danger Pocket (something hostile which is extremely dangerous to your PCs) actively come after them is maybe not exactly the best idea.
From what I read, your players only have low-reward options in their available decisions. All they can do is managing risks, and you appear to have pretty strongly determined, what the most risk-free way of action is already. So they search for a High-Risk, High Reward action to score some meaningful victory, which probably would improve morale of your players immensely in that moment. They even ignore your flat-out telling them it is actually No-Risk-but-automatically-fail to get a bit of success. They want to actually succeed, not just delay failure.
So I would offer them decisions where they can actually improve their situation by themselves. TPK 1: Maybe there is a mountain monastery nearby, which is hallowed and well-protected against undead by Forbiddance or somesuch. Getting there would be a detour, and it is besieged by allies of the Bone Knight, and the PCs only have one shot to break through the siege to get the orcs to temporary safety. They would still be almost alone in hostile territory, maybe aided by some monks and clerics, but that would be a success (orc tribe is safe, at least for some days). It doesn't have to be easy, it can be high-risk, but the outcome should be a no-strings-attached, meaningful improvement of their situation. And make sure they can actually decide (and have enough information), if they want to continue their escape or find temporary safety at the monastery. That sort of thing.Dragonspear Depths OOC:
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...ear-Depths-OOC
Dragonspear Depths IC:
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...pear-Depths-IC
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2021-09-13, 03:53 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2007
- Location
- Terra Australis
- Gender
Re: I am doing something wrong and I don't know what
That's...a very different reading than what I took away from OPs synopsis.
Funny how two people can read the same thing and have such different takeaways. That's not meant as a criticism, just something I find quite interesting. Obviously different people, and different groups, have very different gaming styles and expectations.My winning competition entries: Kinvig Arrumskor | The Great Pumpkinhead | Wynfrith d'Acker
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