Typical player mindset
-
::: spoiler Transcription The GM: *Makes a clearly overpowered monster, intending for the party to flee.*
The Party:
[Picture with the text “Hit him with your crossbow Steve!” overlaid, of a large octopus/squid-like creature with tentacles raised out of the ocean. It towers over a pair of humanoid figures, one holding a staff in one hand and pointing at the squid with the other, the other person aiming a crossbow at it.] :::
-
::: spoiler Transcription The GM: *Makes a clearly overpowered monster, intending for the party to flee.*
The Party:
[Picture with the text “Hit him with your crossbow Steve!” overlaid, of a large octopus/squid-like creature with tentacles raised out of the ocean. It towers over a pair of humanoid figures, one holding a staff in one hand and pointing at the squid with the other, the other person aiming a crossbow at it.] :::
-
Why not legendary creature? It surely is legendary as a meme
-
::: spoiler Transcription The GM: *Makes a clearly overpowered monster, intending for the party to flee.*
The Party:
[Picture with the text “Hit him with your crossbow Steve!” overlaid, of a large octopus/squid-like creature with tentacles raised out of the ocean. It towers over a pair of humanoid figures, one holding a staff in one hand and pointing at the squid with the other, the other person aiming a crossbow at it.] :::
“Yes! A critical hit!”
-
okay, the Kraken takes 1 damage.
-
“While it is usually immune to nonmagical damage from +0 bolts, because you rolled a 20, the kraken will recognize you next time you’re nearby. It is currently too busy gleefully dismembering dozens of legendary adventurers to respond to your provocation. The captain, noticing that the titan’s gaze is fixed directly upon you, has put it to a vote whether to toss you off the ship. 0 damage, by the way.”
-
Many whelps! Handle it!
-
::: spoiler Transcription The GM: *Makes a clearly overpowered monster, intending for the party to flee.*
The Party:
[Picture with the text “Hit him with your crossbow Steve!” overlaid, of a large octopus/squid-like creature with tentacles raised out of the ocean. It towers over a pair of humanoid figures, one holding a staff in one hand and pointing at the squid with the other, the other person aiming a crossbow at it.] :::
I had a thing set up with a Illithid giving the party a quest, hitting them with a psionic holding ability to coerce them and one of my players threw a fit about being held when he had a feat that specifically said it only prevented him from being held by magic spells, and not spell-like abilities or psionics or any other “magic but not really” mechanic.
So I let him move. He attacked the Illithid. So he also died.
-
::: spoiler Transcription The GM: *Makes a clearly overpowered monster, intending for the party to flee.*
The Party:
[Picture with the text “Hit him with your crossbow Steve!” overlaid, of a large octopus/squid-like creature with tentacles raised out of the ocean. It towers over a pair of humanoid figures, one holding a staff in one hand and pointing at the squid with the other, the other person aiming a crossbow at it.] :::
I had a friend who would go straight to the final boss in Chrono Trigger at the start of the game. Somehow he knew how to stalemate the fight so that he could keep the party alive for hours even though everyone was level 1 and impossibly outclassed.
-
Why not legendary creature? It surely is legendary as a meme
it’s weird they didn’t use either the WoW trading card
or the Hearthstone card
which are both part of real games.
-
it’s weird they didn’t use either the WoW trading card
or the Hearthstone card
which are both part of real games.
Because the kraken art in op post is from a mtg card. I forgot the name but I have it somewhere in my binders
Edit I’m not that sure anymore, I might be hallucinating I cannot find it anymore
-
::: spoiler Transcription The GM: *Makes a clearly overpowered monster, intending for the party to flee.*
The Party:
[Picture with the text “Hit him with your crossbow Steve!” overlaid, of a large octopus/squid-like creature with tentacles raised out of the ocean. It towers over a pair of humanoid figures, one holding a staff in one hand and pointing at the squid with the other, the other person aiming a crossbow at it.] :::
Some stuff to remember, if you don’t want a TPK
Never expect that the party will surrender.
If you tell the party it’s dangerous don’t go there , you can bet they’ll be there by the end of the evening
Ignore the critical fail rules when a PC use explosive
-
Some stuff to remember, if you don’t want a TPK
Never expect that the party will surrender.
If you tell the party it’s dangerous don’t go there , you can bet they’ll be there by the end of the evening
Ignore the critical fail rules when a PC use explosive
Fourth thing to remember:
If your party suffers an avoidable TPK once, they won’t do it again
-
“While it is usually immune to nonmagical damage from +0 bolts, because you rolled a 20, the kraken will recognize you next time you’re nearby. It is currently too busy gleefully dismembering dozens of legendary adventurers to respond to your provocation. The captain, noticing that the titan’s gaze is fixed directly upon you, has put it to a vote whether to toss you off the ship. 0 damage, by the way.”
“Shoot him again Steve!”
-
Because the kraken art in op post is from a mtg card. I forgot the name but I have it somewhere in my binders
Edit I’m not that sure anymore, I might be hallucinating I cannot find it anymore
It’s by Craig J Spearing on Bloomburrow Commander’s Octopus token: https://scryfall.com/card/tblc/14/octopus
-
It’s by Craig J Spearing on Bloomburrow Commander’s Octopus token: https://scryfall.com/card/tblc/14/octopus
OH it was a token, that’s why. Many thanks.
-
Fourth thing to remember:
If your party suffers an avoidable TPK once, they won’t do it again
If your party suffers an avoidable TPK once, they won’t do it again
Maybe not the exact same TPK, but some will definitely find another very avoidable TPK and try to solve it via headbutts
-
::: spoiler Transcription The GM: *Makes a clearly overpowered monster, intending for the party to flee.*
The Party:
[Picture with the text “Hit him with your crossbow Steve!” overlaid, of a large octopus/squid-like creature with tentacles raised out of the ocean. It towers over a pair of humanoid figures, one holding a staff in one hand and pointing at the squid with the other, the other person aiming a crossbow at it.] :::
It’s kinda a game flaw. Combat is usually encouraged by most modules, and fleeing is typically a bad option mechanically. So what else do players do?
The only solution is to make running the painfully obvious choice
-
It’s kinda a game flaw. Combat is usually encouraged by most modules, and fleeing is typically a bad option mechanically. So what else do players do?
The only solution is to make running the painfully obvious choice
The other solution is to have an alternative ‘out’. Like if the overpowered enemy doesn’t actually want to kill the players, but knock them out and capture them. Or if there’s an established (non–deus ex) rescuer who can come in and save them…preferably in a way that forces them to escape without removing the threat from being there in the future.
-
The other solution is to have an alternative ‘out’. Like if the overpowered enemy doesn’t actually want to kill the players, but knock them out and capture them. Or if there’s an established (non–deus ex) rescuer who can come in and save them…preferably in a way that forces them to escape without removing the threat from being there in the future.
Enemy clerics and paladins can be so tremendously badass. “I will bring you back to life just to kill you again for having the audacity to invade my temple, you Godless worm.”
Then they keep gloating until the wizard casts Dimension Door or Boblin the Goblin shows up with his friends and throws a molotov.
