AD&D: End of the Line?

I've been testing the waters recently in my 1st edition campaign to see if the players are truly ready for high level play. We started the "Against the Giants" series last year and finished G1 after a number of very long and involved "power sessions." They seemed to have completely defeated the hill giants using tactics atypical of a standard D&D group. I added a few new elements to the old module (setting a series of ogre caves down slope of the steading, hinting at other underground locations nearby off-map, etc.) but the players more or less followed the clues provided, missed almost all the hidden treasures (as expected) and did manage to foil the alliance with the cloud giant who wisely left after the chieftain was slain in his sleep (taking his enchanted blade with him).

From there they were to go to the frost giants. However, they balked at using the magic chain to get there, citing that they had no idea where it was and they could not form an exit strategy or bring their mules. So they decided to head north through the mountains in the first month of winter (yeah, I know....) and made it through the pass without much incidental violence. When they arrived in Reedle I decided to up the ante. Using a converted 3rd edition module (specially designed for 11th level characters) I introduced them by means of attacks on the town. Then I hooked them by having a little girl ask them to rescue her daddy taken by the giants before the attacks began. The father was a member of a patrol lost north of town. Enter the border fort....

The party made some interesting tactical decisions, and the monsters I used were non-standard, although faithful to the module as written (roper, bulette, wereboar-hill giant, etc.). They managed to bypass most of the deadly creatures (and the hidden treasure) because they were looking for survivors from the patrol. Assuming that the patrolmen were still alive, they pressed on through combat after combat, taking heavy hits from the giants they encountered and wasting all their spell resources. Realizing that they had only a single shot at this, they pressed on through adversity, even losing one of their fighter henchmen, the dwarf Gustav, to a hill giant shaman's scarab of enraging enemies. They realized that they were most deadly against themselves!

The frustration of that battle was compounded when they located a drow skulking in the ruins of a former cell. I tipped my cards early with this one, but it was written into the module and I wanted to test them. The drow held his own fairly well, taking out the ranger and the thief with his poisoned dagger. It was what happened AFTER they dropped the dark elf that threw everything into a tizzy. Instead of keeping the elf alive for interrogation, the magic-user killed him with a quick dagger thrust. She then helped to loot his body and decided to smash his demon-head amulet made of terra cotta. I had written in an escape plan for the drow (one that he was loathe to use) in which it would summon a demon when the amulet was broken to teleport him back to his "mistress." Well, the dark elf was dead and the demon was summoned (type III) but since his contract for service was altered by the elf's death, he decided to have some fun before returning with some random soul. A terrible combat began, and the party was already down three members (1 slain, and 2 poisoned into unconsciousness). When it became clear that the party was in trouble, Chow-Lin sought to escape using a teleport, taking Hamlin with her for support while the others retreated. They were only supposed to teleport back to the bodies down the hall, but she blew the roll and teleported "too low". This would have meant instant death except for the fact that there was void space below this level. She ended up in mid-air falling to a stone floor in the dark, completely unsure of where she was. Thus two more party members were lost.

This left the druid (11th level), the cleric (8th level) and the 6th level fighter henchmen to face off against the demon. Needless to say they ran. But they didn't go far. They got just enough distance between them and the demon for the druid to start summoning a fire elemental. He finished the spell as the demon found them hiding in an empty room at the top of the stairs. We ended on a cliffhanger, deep in the battle with the demon. The demon was injured by the elemental and the holy water the party managed to throw, but he was hitting them more than he was being hit (having a -4 AC). It's fun to use a creature that I have never used before, but also demoralizing since having to play in character as the demon and taunting the characters leads to the party thinking I'm gonna end the campaign on a sour note. I honestly don't know how this is going to play out but I will be surprised if they don't all die.

On a side note, I finally found, in a single paragraph in the original module D1, the duration of drow sleep poison! It's listed as 3-12 turns, much too long to be of use in this round-by-round combat, although if they roll well enough, Falim and Katerina might be up and mobile just in time to save the party or bury the remains. The demon will be taking one of the party members back with him. I will NOT allow the party to simply slay the demon since the demon is not currently bound by its oath of service. Being EVIL and CHAOTIC, I've been rolling randomly for all choices such as attack targets and use of abilities, but at the same time being as cruel as possible with how they are being directed and used. For instance, I thought using pyrotechnics on the fire elemental would snuff him out and fill the whole dungeon with choking smoke. However, the spell seems too low to have such an effect on an elemental and I gave it a saving throw to see if only some smoke were generated (the elemental saved). I failed to summon additional demons when the elemental came into existence, so they at least lucked out in that regard. I'm surprised that the magic-user fled they way she did. Then again, I'm also amazed she killed the dark elf and broke the amulet. The thing is they have no one to blame for their current situation but themselves. The look of utter shock on their faces when the demon teleported behind the elemental to attack the party was priceless.... OK, so I am an evil DM at heart.

Once the party is defeated, what happens next? The player of the druid has already determined that he is not interested in "wasting time" playing "throw-away" characters. He sees the level-gaining as part of some ultimate prize to be won at the "end" of the game. The magic-user also does not want to see all the struggling and pushing to get a feeble magic-user to wizard level power go to waste. The ranger player is willing to re-roll and start anew, he has already died twice before. I don't know if I can go another 14 years to get a group to name level again. We're all a lot older now and time is the enemy. I shall defer judgment until I see the outcome. This very well could be the end of the campaign.

But seriously, how else are D&D campaigns supposed to end? There is always that next monster to battle, the next treasure to recover, the next trap to overcome. Ending a campaign happens either as a bang or a whimper. Either the players cut their losses and retire or everyone dies in one glorious battle. There really is no middle ground. The fun is the adventure itself, not the end of the adventure. Just like life - it's not when and how you died but how you lived that counts.