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1 year ago ::
Jan 14, 2012 - 9:11AM
#21
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Date Joined:
Jul 18, 2011
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Speaking as a player, I can say that I would be almost insulted if you didn't present this as an encounter - the amount of molly-coddling in this thread is quite astonishing; most players I've met would much rather fail to take a subtle(ish) hint than succeed after being told outright that I have no chance. Give your players some credit for their intelligence.
As a DM I would agree. For a start, it breaks immersion for an encounter with a hostile beast to be considered different to another. Don't let your campaign catch video-gameitis. Your campaign should feel like a living breathing world, and that means that sometimes the creatures met will not be level-appropriate, nor will you have any indication that they aren't apart from the fact that it's a gargantuan fiery beast shrugging off falling boulders; i.e, an in universe reason.
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1 year ago ::
Jan 14, 2012 - 12:41PM
#22
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Date Joined:
Aug 29, 2010
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When you let them know they're in for a fight, it's surprising what your PC's can do. My two wizards actually sent up our two defenders using their invisibility daily powers, putting in place the heavy hitters with our control wizard following not far beyond. With two heavy hitters in place the control wizard cast Icy Rays on the foe, paralyzing it for the heavy hitters to get some good strike in and for everyone else to get in place. I was rather impressed.
I've also given terrain advantages in the past. In a fight against a cadaver collector for example, there was a balcony which could give them protection against its physical attacks... if they could to it, anyway.
Though I think the real trick is letting them know in game. I prefaced this campaign by letting them know they may come across enemies that could kill them rather easily and that it's not always, if ever, wise to just charge headlong with your axe. Though often I'll do it with description of the enemy. I trust my PC's enough to know they probably ought not take on a "towering arch-demon, wielding a sword of bromstone and a whip of fire that booms of thunder with each mighty crack."
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1 year ago ::
Feb 07, 2012 - 5:41PM
#23
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If they try to engage it in combat, run the combat. But... as it approaches them, have it break big, hard-to-break things - smashes a mighty stone wall with an easy sweep of its lightning-sword, its flame-whip melts a massive iron statue with the barest touch, its every step leaves the rock under it soft and red-hot, etc. And, yeah - if you have an expendable NPC nearby (or even better, some other monsters the PCs have been fighting), they can die first to really show what sort of business this is.
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1 year ago ::
Feb 17, 2012 - 3:16PM
#24
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Date Joined:
Jul 16, 2010
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In my last game I included a monster above my players' level. When I described it, I made sure I emphasized that it was powerful enough that they couldn't harm it. My players were smart enough to realize it was a plot device and quietly snuck away. Had they ignored my warning, combat would have commenced, one or more characters would have been bloodied in the first round and they'd probably attempt to flee. Which I would make an easy DC.
The game isn't only about combat. It's what your players enjoy. If they only enjoy combat then make sure every encounter has a combat option. If they enjoy thrilling chase scene style skill challenges put some of those in.
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1 year ago ::
Feb 26, 2012 - 5:16AM
#25
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Date Joined:
May 19, 2011
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You wanna frighten your players, beat them to within an inch of their life. Because if you kill them there's nothing to be afraid of anymore.
If the monster's tough enough it's likely to one-shot a player. Just pull its punches. If your players see something that's rampaging towards them deflecting blows and tearing pieces out of your players like they were kit kat bars their self preservation should kick in.
I've ran encounters against players where their chances of survival were reduced to absolute zero if they stuck around to continue to fight. They decided to break contact, and withdraw to a safer place beyond the reach of the monsters where they fortified and rested.
Have faith that your players want to keep playing the game and will likely avoid death.
Failing that, give them an out. If you really want this monster around and want to drive the point that it's beyond them. When they see it describe overwhelming sensations of doom, some kind of dark aura pulsating towards them. Once, when I presented a party with something that very well could end them I described it as such:
One player says "What do I feel when I look at this thing?"
I say "As it meets your gaze you feel its eyes as if they are looking through you, and the hairs on the back of your neck are standing straight up."
1p (who can be a little slow on the uptake) says: "What?"
Other player says "Dude, it doesn't even care about you, and you feel terrified of it."
1p : "Oh..."
In geek terms, "Your spider-sense is tingling!"
Have them take a few hits (don't kill anybody, maybe at the most drop someone to 0 have them make death saves, then the thrashing monster collapses the tunnel between itself and the players. When it happens the monster immediately begins slamming at the debris, clawing for a way through. Roaring. Give the players time to help the "dying" player as a tentacle, claw, tendril, snout, pokes through the rubble. If one of them makes a swing at an exposed appendage then the creature only seems enraged by the attack, burrowing faster and faster.
If this doesn't drive the point home then tell them to prepare for a final stand because they're going out like a spartan.
But, have faith in your players. As long as they're not denser than asphalt, chances are they'll make the "right" choice. (Right in regards to how you want to progress this.)
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