The Definition of anti-climactic

[bluegargantua]

Hi,

The Ancient Gargantuan Blue Dragon?

Didn't quite last a full 3 rounds.

Lots of no-save, no SR orbs, maxed out, doubled, extended multi-round acid attacks and a critical ice burst crossbow shot, a couple of huge elementals and a dwarven berserker who took something like 250HP of damage before going down...just heinous.

The blue couldn't catch a breather to heal himself and go back to the fight. He took out 9 guys, but it was all over by the second round.

Next time: 12 12th level fighters. We'll have to run it a few times to find the optimum mix.

[EDIT: CRAP! My original cunning plan to defeat them was discarded after I said, "meh, the spells don't work that way". But they DO! They DO work that way and I totally could've clobbered them. Well...maybe not, those barbarians were pretty fierce, but still. Ah man. There'll have to be a re-match someday.]

later
Tom

Comments

[woodwardiocom.livejournal.com]

-Hey, taking out 38% of the party in two rounds of attacking is nothing to be ashamed of.

-And I, for one, had a lot of fun.

[sweetmmeblue.livejournal.com]

Bummed

[neuromancerzss.livejournal.com]

Orb Spells = laaaaame

Not the people using them, the idiots at WotC that designed them. "You know what sucks? That evocation is the best school at evoking. It also sucks how monsters can have defenses against magic. Now what would be cooler would be if wizards could just win..."

[drwex]

Agreed. Those spells need serious nerfing.

[mikecap.livejournal.com]

No way dude... the end of The Warriors is the definition of anti-climax. When the killer reveals his reason for shooting Rufus at the beginning - that's anti-climatic.

[bluegargantua]

No, no, that's the most powerful, poignant part of the whole series. He did it "just cause". It underscores just how pointless and desultory the whole street gang life really is.

later
Tom

[mikecap.livejournal.com]

Perhaps.

[dirkcjelli.livejournal.com]

How did the party see through its Mirage?

[bluegargantua]

Everyone bought a scroll of True Sight. I mean, right after Elemental Resistance it was the next thing on everyone's shopping list.

[dirkcjelli.livejournal.com]

and some had contingent effects which cast "remove fear", who then cast the same spell on those who subsequently failed their saves?

[bluegargantua]

Yeah, they bought potions for that.

later
Tom

[drwex]

Yep, about like I predicted. Knowing the enemy in detail and being able to prep essentially guarantees a PC win.

[dimers.livejournal.com]

The phrase "If you stat it, they can kill it" -- there's gotta be a name for that law of gaming reality -- does imply that the PCs in question can find out about the stats in question. As a PC, I take every opportunity to learn about potential foes ... As a GM I try to discourage too much preparation with the technique of "when things slow down, send some guys through the door with guns". =)

[drwex]

Yes, I totally understand this dilemma. Mostly I work with players mature enough to separate what they-the-player know from what their characters know, and act accordingly. This does still lead to some funny moments, like when the sorc rolls near-max damage on his lightning bolt and the target creature grows larger...

I also encourage the players to use the in-game mechanics to deal with this. One of my player's characters keeps a meticulous list of every creature she's fought and reviews that whenever possible. Others use the d20 'Knowledge' mechanic and just put ranks into things like Knowledge: Monster Lore.

[doctor-toc.livejournal.com]

Hey, he got to eat Eamon, so it's not a total write-off :-)