OOC I

[dmw71]

hadnt even had time to realize it is 2 weeks till santa.

Wait. There's only two week?!

[Zhym]

I thought the metal clinking was coming from the area in the southeast of the map, not from behind one of the doors. Am I wrong?

[AleBelly]

That's my understanding. But Bingus was holding the door to avoid being attacked on two sides. He was motioning for those with ranged weapons to take out anyone approaching from the SE.

[dmw71]

You're both correct.

The sound is coming from the unexplored southern passage on the far easternmost section explored.

[Zhym]

For some reason I thought AleBelly/Bingus was suggesting that the clinking was coming from behind one of the doors. That'll teach me to read the forums early in the AM.

[Zhym]

Bingus follows with hand on the shoulder of the person in front of him, quite unnerved by the inability to see.

YEAH. THAT WOULD SUCK.

Wait, different game...

[AleBelly]

The irony of typing that did not escape me.

[dmw71]

Sorry. Forgot company holiday party is tonight, so there probably won't be an update today.

I'll move the game again sometime this weekend.

[Inferno]

Hi,
Happy holidays everyone.
I’m going to be traveling for the holidays and unable to post frequently. I'll be back by January 5th.

If I'm slowing things down, please NPC my character to keep things moving.
Xhalh is itching for glorious, chivalric honour on the field of battle.
Thanks!

[dmw71]

I think both of my games are going to slow down somewhat. It just happens during the holiday season.

I do attempt to keep them moving leading up to and immediately following a holiday, just to not let the game grow stale, but am a lot more relaxed because I understand everyone's schedules grow complicated.

[dmw71]

Update will come tomorrow. Probably morning.

[dmw71]

Happy holidays, everyone!

I plan to make at least one update this weekend (either today or tomorrow), and will probably resume at a 'mostly' daily pace next week, until after New Years weekend. For the most part, I should be able to post, or at least check-in, every day, and will move the action along as I'm able.

The game should resume to normal on Monday, January 4, 2016.

[GreyWolfVT]

Alright well looking forward to it then

[Zhym]

Well, I'd say it's been fun, but since it took more time to create both characters than I got to spend playing them I don't think that would be entirely honest. Heck, I don't think Lúthon and Malfindel even got to win a single battle before dying!

Thanks for the game anyway, Dave. I'll just say the game was too short.

[GreyWolfVT]

I'm at that same point myself Dave. So what ^ he said. Just Edit Character Names to Dorin, Relve & Dagg.

[dmw71]

Sorry, guys. Really.

While I did realize the adventure was going to be tough, I did feel better about your chances once the party grew to seven. It happens, I guess. (Apparently a lot when I'm the DM).

[Zhym]

The first step to recovery is recognizing you have a problem.

If you're at all interested in a post-mortem (literally), I think the combination of a magic-user with a sleep spell and group initiative is what did in the South group. With no saving throw and the ability to affect an entire party of first-level PCs at once, sleep is insta-death for low-level PCs. Still, we might have survived had we been using individual initiative. Then there would have been a chance that some of the party members could have gotten a shot in on the MU before he got his spell off—especially if we also used dexterity bonuses for initiative. But with group initiative, it reduced our survival to a pair of initiative rolls.

That's the biggest problem, IMO: not only have our PCs died early and often* but in many of those deaths there wasn't anything we could have done. It's one thing to be outmatched in a fight. It's another to die before getting a chance to act. The latter isn't that far removed from "rocks fall, everyone dies."

Finally, I didn't think we had decided to split the party when it did. I suppose I should have been clearer with my characters to say explicitly that they wouldn't leave the main group. Maybe it was a result of finally trying to do something after farting around too long wandering back and forth around that chasm. But it seemed to me that you might have been too quick to call that a party split when I don't think it was intended.

Anyway, those are my thoughts on the latest TPK.

*Maybe Dave runs his game like Chicago runs its elections?

[Zhym]

I just read through the spoilers for the northern group. Holy _____, did you really throw a wolverine at them? I think I underestimated your level of sadism!

A couple of years ago, back when the Westeros Against the Giants game was still going on, the druid used a wolverine form to disable large numbers of giants. Putting one up against first-level characters...oy.

Musk, +4 to attack, claw/claw/bite sequence...the PCs never stood a chance.

[GreyWolfVT]

I really didn't want Rummus to go in there Zhym and I really didn't want to go in to try and save him either.... reluctant dwarf dies in the end I suppose? Guess it didn't pay to play either way cautiously and like a "hero" boldy charging in both ways got me killed 3 times dang.

[Inferno]

Thanks, Dave. I had fun while it lasted. You always leave your players wanting more.

Zhym, between Tomb of Horror and Ravenloft, it's fun to see you call another DM sadistic!

Seriously though, I think it's just B/X. It's brutal. This doesn't happen to Dave in his 2e game or his Pathfinder game.

Happy New Year, everyone.

All the best,
Inferno