Some difficult encounters…

I ran an tricky adventure this week. Two player characters were killed, though luckily in two separate encounters. I hate it when PCs are killed off and especially when my games kill them off. That is, when ‘I’ kill them off. After all, this is a co-operative game, one we play to have fun, and character advancement, growth and identification is key.

Well, it is to us, anyway.

Whenever something like this happens, I look back on the ‘failing’ encounters to see what went wrong, or right. In general, this review process is vital to improve DMing skills and ensure that mistakes – whether in play or design – aren’t repeated. Of course, you have to make sure you don’t dive into the old analysis-paralysis soup that leads nowhere.

So what was the results of this?

Well, both encounters were different as regards terrain. One was swamp, with some dry land (several sections of Ed Bourelle’s (Skeleton Key) swamp and deciduous forest), the other a forest with a number of paths (a Paizo map-pack). Both were meant to be fairly tough: one at +2 levels above party level; the other, the climax of this adventure, at +3 above. In both the party was outnumbered with, minions thrown in to harass the party in conjunction with the heavyweights.

In the swamp the party started together and set up in a slightly weak position, and were kept in bad terrain by assailants shooting from cover and who juggled from island to island; the heavyweights stayed on dry land and pinned the party. In the other, the party started off in the clear, able to set up and move as they wanted, and the assailants were stuck in undergrowth, forced to come out to face the party – or be attacked singly within the forest.

Two very different encounters.

So what about the most dangerous assailants? Well, the first had a trio of crossbow-armed minions shooting from across the swamp. They were in range of ranged weapons and magic. In combination with a skirmisher, they took down the party’s vulnerable wizard (controller) in the first round and kept him occupied when the party’s leader (a shaman) healed him. The second had some orc minions giving flank support to some greataxe-armed raiders. Sure, there was a barbarian and an Eye, but it was the orc raiders who proved most troublesome.

The terrain, as ever, was challenging. Sure, the players might have used better tactics in both, perhaps moving to firmer ground in the first, perhaps taking on individuals in the forest in the second. And the luck of the dice might have been a bit better for the party in both. Movement was good: the defender was pinning down the body of attackers very well, the controller was keeping back and trying to control, and the shaman/leader was positioning his spirit well and using his group powers superbly.
But common to both was a problem I’ve seen and been party to in the past: lack of focus.

Whilst the combats were being run, I was conscious that I was having to keep track of damage to all the assailants. Damage was being spread out amongst them all. The party made vague statements to the effect that they were focusing, but (imho, remember), for example, the rogue and wizard took too many opportunity attacks away from the object of focus, and the shaman kept picking on the assailant the defender was marking.

As a result, minions remained standing for long after they should and no one attacker was taken out of the fight early on. This means that every assailant was able to act and attack for many rounds.

Spreading out damage works ok for the lighter encounters, or the ones where there is little risk. And if the group is up against a sole, damage is focused automatically. But in the more difficult, multi-assailant encounters this is disastrous. It’s a basic rule of 4e combat: don’t spread your effectiveness, but focus; don’t target multiple opponents, target one at a time; don’t shift focus unless it’s absolutely obvious you’ve picked the wrong opponent – and only do so then if it’s absolutely necessary.

It’s a useful reminder. And one that’s a general rule of conflict throughout games and life.

But… Are we completely finished? No. There’s more – about the fundamental reasons why this happened in the first place. But this one’s long enough!

Look out for our next instalment, soon!
pective,

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