This time around our party came better equipped. We managed to recruit a cleric and our avenger changed over to a fighter. The rogue in the party decided to come in with a frost short sword and I bought some fire beetle potion and some flamebane potions. We still ended up in a TPK.
I think our tactics were right and we definitely came prepared, we just couldn't get any good rolls that night. Not only this but the DM also included a second hell hound since we had met the minimum requirements for PC numbers. Over the period of 12 rounds I don't think I rolled over a 10 to hit more than 2 or 3 times. It was absolutely terrible to watch and it was all in the luck of the dice.
Even though our fighter had really good intentions of hitting hard on the front line it just wasn't happening. The fire aura of the hell hounds was killing him. Then combine the ongoing fire damage with their breath weapon and it just tore him up. The cleric in the party used up almost every one of his healing powers just trying to keep the fighter alive. He must have taken the hardest beating out of all of us. As the ranger in the group, I was actually able to keep a fair distance from everything enough to be able to stay out of the aura trouble I just couldn't hit the broad side of a barn that night.
I ended up in a discussion with my buddy John who was playing the fighter. I asked if it was his “typical” character style and he said he normally plays a warlock which focuses on fire spells. Not a very effective character against fire enemies so he went with “tank” type characters. I flipped through the pages of the PHB and found some great cold spells that would accompany a wizard. I don't know if he will come in this week with that character or not. I just think in the Lair Assault campaign it would be prudent for player to focus on their playing style strengths which would be their preferred classes.
This obviously can make for an unbalanced party, but at least we are starting off with our particular choses classes that we are comfortable with and know how to work them to their greatest advantage. The ranger isn't really all that great of a class in close quarter situations like the map for Lair Assault, but I've been playing the class for so long I know fairly well how to get around that situation. I'll keep playing the ranger.
