Lets assume that a party of adventurers has entered a dungeon and wandered around a bit, exploring some empty rooms and not finding much of interest. They come to a dark corridor that ends after 20 feet with a door on the right side. The door is closed but one of the characters is a ranger and notes a faint trail of footprints in the muck coating the floor. The party decides to approach the door as quietly as possible in armor and gear and ready themselves at the door for the possibility of combat. The thief is ushered forward to check the door (and corridor) for traps. He finds none. Approaching the door, the hooded lantern is held behind a draped cloak and the thief starts investigating the door to see if it's locked. Half the party is in the corridor or at the entrance to the corridor watching for wandering monsters. Listening at the door, the thief hears nothing. The thief declares the door to be unlocked and not trapped, then draws his dagger and takes position just to the side of the door. The resident strong fighter sheathes his sword and grabs the doorknob, nodding to the others to signify that he is ready to open the door. Succeeding in his Open Doors roll, the door is opened and a dark room is revealed. The lantern is exposed and shined forth into the room revealing a stone chamber lined with niches roughly 7 feet long and 3 feet tall contained within decorative stone arches. These niches are stacked one above the other, 2 per stone arch. Some contain bones, others wrapped humanoid forms, and others decorative pottery or bowls. Melted wax has dripped from the edges of some of these niches, likely burnt-out candles from long ago. Moldering skeletons begin to stir from their final resting places in these niches, pinpoints of red light glowing in their vacant eye sockets!
The party at this point would have to roll a surprise check as they would not be expecting such a thing as corpses rising in the shadowy catacomb beyond. The distance to the opposite wall of the chamber across from the door is 20 feet and the chamber continues to their left some distance into darkness. Since the skeletons are undead, they would not have made noise to be detected by the thief. The party cleric is actually down the corridor helping to watch for wandering encounters. The party members in the corridor all have slashing and piercing weapons, and the skeletons appear to outnumber those in the immediate doorway. Fearing that this encounter would cause problems, the party makes their surprise roll (scoring a 4) and they are not surprised. The skeletons are now standing in the room and armed with their rusty blades. The party is half in the corridor and half outside the corridor. They can't parley with the undead and the ranger's arrows are not likely to be much use here. They decide to shut the door and call the cleric forward. The party and skeletons both roll initiative - Party die = 4; Monster die = 5. The skeletons will thus be able to cross and be in the doorway before the party can slam the door shut. Since the first round was simply the skeletons crossing and the party rearranging themselves, the round ends. The skeletons are now in the doorway and preventing the party from slamming the door shut. The cleric has moved forward and drawn his holy symbol. The thief has slinked away from the door and the fighters across from the door have opted to draw melee weapons and prepare for a fight. The magic-user and the end of the corridor with a lantern is refraining from using his sleep spell since he knows its limitations against the undead.
The Dungeon Master knows that the undead here will attack any intruders who dare to violate the sanctity of their catacomb. Since they are undead, they do not have to check reactions and will not have to check morale - they will fight until destroyed. The second round of combat has the cleric declaring a turn attempt. Initiative is rolled - Party die = 4; Monster die = 2. The party has the initiative and the fighters wait to see if the cleric is able to turn the undead. A 1st level cleric has to roll a 10 or better on a d20 in order to affect the skeletons; he rolls an 18 and succeeds! A d12 is rolled and a 12 is the result! All the skeletons in the radius of the sound of his voice begin to shake and flee from the doorway, resulting in free attacks by the two fighters (who are both within the 10' melee range). The fighters attack but both miss the fleeing skeletons. Satisfied with the outcome, the party thief is called forth once more. As the cleric continues to hold his holy symbol aloft, both he and the thief enter the chamber. The cleric keeps his eyes on the undead while the thief begins to look about for treasures in the niches. One of the fighters enters the room as support while the ranger remains in the corridor. The strong fighter at the door has drawn his blade and is awaiting word to shut the door or support the others in combat.
[The DM has rolled 11 rounds for the turn duration but makes no mention of it to the players.] The DM states that it will take about 1 turn (10 rounds) to search a 20' square area of the chamber. The party decides to only check the portion they have immediate access to. The DM knows that the skeletons have little personal treasure except for a silver funerary urn in one of the far niches outside the search area of the party. While searching among the scattered bones and moldering linens of the niches, the thief finds little of value, and no actual treasure but some family heirloom trinkets and prayers scrawled on clay tablets.
Meanwhile, outside the corridor, a random encounter is rolled at the end of the turn resulting in a band of 8 orcs! These orcs are coming down a dark corridor that the party has not yet explored and see the light in the corridor ahead. They thus cannot be surprised. The 2 party members currently on watch at the end of the corridor (the magic-user with the lantern and the dwarven fighter) could be surprised by the orcs' sudden appearance. A surprise roll of 1 indicates that they ARE surprised for 1 segment! Neither of them has any reaction adjustment due to dexterity, so they are both surprised for 1 segment. [NOTE: the ranger was not among the watchers so his surprise mitigation ability does not come into play.] The DM rolls a 2 (on 1d3) for encounter distance, meaning that they become aware of the surprising orcs at 20 feet away (probably as they emerge into the room where the corridor exits). They are unable to warn the others of the approaching orcs since they were surprised and the orcs can make attacks. Rolling for reactions (and adjusting the dice roll by -25% due to the presence of the dwarf, hated enemy of the orcs), the result is 13, modified to a negative number, indicating immediate, violent attack! Using their hand axes, 2 orcs throw them at the two guards - one misses the armored dwarf, but hits the magic-user for 3 points of damage, dropping him in one shot! The other orcs move into the room and begin to cross, but they can only get 9 feet in the 1 segment of time. With the surprise segment ended, the dwarf fighter faces 8 orcs alone while the orcs sneer and begin to hurl insults at the lone dwarf in orcish.
Only having 6 hit points, the dwarf fighter is unsure of what he will do. He is of Neutral alignment and has no compunctions about fleeing. Behind him is his party, but also about a dozen undead skeletons who will not remain turned forever. Seeing himself caught between a rock and a hard place, he decides that fleeing is his best chance at survival! He decides to scream out his warning as the fallen lantern begins to sputter near the magic-user's body at his side. Initiative is rolled - Dwarf die = 4; Monster die = 5. The orcs will be able to complete crossing to the dwarf before he is able to flee although they still cannot attack (since they started just outside the range of 10 feet for a melee attack). They are now all armed with hand axes and/or short swords (for the ones who already threw their axes), and have moved in such as way as to block off escape! Four orcs surround the entrance to the corridor with the other orcs taking up positions at the other corridors from the room (they too must be cautious in the dungeon). Without hope of escape, the dwarf takes a step back towards the party as he shouts out his warning. The other members of the party can now act, turning to face the new danger but unable to see them well since the lantern has fallen on the floor (and a hasty save vs. normal blow indicating that the lantern is intact and has not extinguished yet). The thief declares no treasure was to be found and spends this round exiting the catacombs, followed slowly by the cleric and fighter who keep their eyes trained on the skeletons. The round ends and the party is now surrounded - the orcs at one end of the corridor and the skeletons at the other. Unaware that the skeletons are no longer affected by the turning, the party reunites in the corridor and weighs their odds. A dozen skeletons soon threaten from one front while 4+ orcs threaten from the rear. One of their number was taken out and he had the best chance of affecting the orcs with his spell.
Intentions are declared for the next round of combat. The dwarf is looking for a way out but sees no option but melee. The fighters have to cross to the melee with the orcs. One of the fighters will shut the door to the catacombs and hold it as best he can. The thief is asking to locate a possible secret door at the end of the corridor - maybe they can better defend themselves or escape! The cleric is seeking a means to cross to the fallen magic-user and maybe heal him if possible. The orcs are just going to attack the dwarf (their hated enemy) and then deal with the others. Initiative is rolled - Party die = 5; Monster die = 4. The party is able to close the door to the catacombs, the cleric crosses to the fallen magic-user, and the dwarf attacks one of the orcs with his axe, but misses. The fighters cross, but only one may enter melee range as the cleric is now in the other fighter's way. Three orcs may attack with their weapons in the corridor. One strikes at the dwarf missing pitifully with a 1. One strikes at the fallen magic-user (an evil and dastardly act) and slays him! The last orc must wait for a target to complete their crossing before he can attack. The round ends. The cleric arrived at the body of the magic-user as he was slain, thus preventing the spell he would have cast next round. The thief found no evidence of a secret door on the one wall opposite the door. He will continue searching for next round since he cannot enter combat with the orcs (the corridor is full).
Intentions are declared for this coming round of combat. The fighter at the door feels the skeletons pounding on the closed door and calls for help. The cleric must withdraw to allow the fighter to move in. The orcs and other party fighters at the end of the corridor are engaged in melee. Initiative is rolled - Party die = 2; Monster die = 1. The party maneuvers into position and is able to fully engage the three orcs. The dwarf hits and injures his orc. The first fighter misses. The ranger hits and slays his orc with his sword! The DM asks the fighter at the door to roll an Open Doors check to keep the skeletons from breaking through. He rolls a 1 and succeeds in holding the door shut! The orcs attack, scoring a hit on the dwarf for 6 points of damage and dropping him to 0 hp. The other orc misses and a new orc approaches to take the place of the fallen orc. The cleric moves to help the fighter holding the door. The thief checks the back wall for secret doors and, despite the DM rolling a 1, finds none (as there were none to be found).
Things look grim for the party! With their magic-user and dwarf fighter slain or downed, the party is now fewer than they began the fight and the orcs still outnumber them. The skeletons, if they are able to break through the door, could be turned by the cleric again (since he succeeded last time), but that will only delay the inevitable. Some really lucky rolls will have to happen to get this party out alive! They have no option to appeal for surrender to the skeletons - the undead will attack mindlessly until they or the intruders are destroyed. They are unlikely to appeal to the orcs either since they entered the combat as violently hostile, and the presence of the dwarf hurt their possibility of negotiations. Besides, the orcs killed off two of the party members and only lost one of their own. They now held the upper hand, especially since it seemed that they caught the party unawares and in the middle of combat with some other foes. If the party is defeated and the skeletons released, it is likely that the orcs would have to roll morale or flee from the undead threat which outnumbers them.
If the dwarf had won initiative on his first round, he could have made a break for an open corridor before the orcs were able to move into position. The closest orcs could have gotten free attacks on him as he passed by, but then he could have escaped into the dark tunnels, relying on his infravision to steer him in the gloom. He would have survived the encounter but left the others to their fates. Note that the orcs winning initiative allowed them to cut off escape by moving to intercept. Once in melee range (10 feet), you have little options for escaping. The cruel blow to the magic-user just reinforced the evil nature of the orcs - it would really be unfair to do to a 1st level magic-user PC unless the player was mature enough to see the reasons behind the attack. DMs must remember to keep the game fun and exciting, not kill off characters on a whim. But, since this is an example only, I can be as dastardly evil as desired! If the dwarf had fled, some of the orcs could have chased after him! This leads to a pursuit, although it's unlikely that they would have caught him as they moved at the same speed (9") unless the dwarf made a wrong turn in the dark and found himself in a dead end! Remember that you can't reference a map in the dark while running for your life...
Let's take another example: A party of adventurers enters a dungeon and eventually finds a staircase leading down into darkness. The party is a bit more experienced than the first party (say 2nd to 3rd level), but they have encountered some monsters and are not at full strength. They decide to descend the stairs and see what lies below. The party cleric cautions that he has but one cure light wounds spell remaining and some members of the party are slightly injured. They agree only to explore and leave if they find any trouble.
They descend the stairs and find themselves in a large chamber with several doors and corridors leading away into darkness. They examine the corridors and find them to be empty and heading off in different directions. Some bend, others run straight beyond their sight range. The doors are all closed, but not locked. The thieves in the party declare that they are not trapped. The party decides to open one of the doors and finds an empty room with no exits. They note this on their map and continue exploring. The next room contains some broken furniture and the remains of a campfire. There are no occupants and exploration of the room reveals no hidden treasure. However, the last door is larger than the others and there is evidence of light shining from under the door. One of the thieves hears deep voices within. The party was warned of a tribe of ogres lairing in the lower ruins (one of the rumors they received at the inn in town), so they prepare for a battle. Unable to be surprised, the party rips open the door and reveals 4 ogres armed with huge clubs sitting around a fire pit roasting a kobold on a spit. The ogres are not surprised, but are in a compromised position (sitting about). The party, aware that they would likely lose some members to the stronger ogres, decide to flee back to the upper level. Since the ogres must spend their round getting up and grabbing their clubs, the party essentially has a free round of movement. They wisely decide to flee back to the stairs and out of the dungeon. Initiative is unnecessary since the ogres could do little more than stand on their round. With the party's head start, the ponderous ogres decide to give chase for a few rounds before calling it quits. The party manages to flee out of the dungeon and survives to tell their tale and spend their gold. The location of the ogres is marked on their map before they head back to town.
It's important to note that the party made their decision to flee before they even went down the stairs. The party kept to their plan to leave if they encountered any trouble. This is important to surviving a dungeon - always make a plan and stick to it. The party could have engaged the ogres and even perhaps killed one or two, but against 4 ogres even a party at full strength would have been hard-pressed to win. Avoidance in this case was the best option.
If, on the other hand, one of the party members decided to parley with the ogres (knowing the ogre languages and having a good Charisma reaction adjustment), he could have tried to convince them to give information about the other corridors, where they go, and what lives down on this level. A Reaction roll could be rolled for the ogres, modified by the Charisma of the speaker. I believe that something more would have to be offered to the ogres - perhaps food or treasure - to get them to listen and not eat the intruders. Assuming that the speaker offers a small sack of silver coins and four days of standard rations to the ogres, the roll is made. A result of 74% is adjusted by the speaker's Charisma adjustment of +10% to 84%. The result is "friendly, immediate action" which results in the ogres conversing with the adventurer and telling him all they know about the surrounding rooms and what else lives in their immediate vicinity. The ogres thank the speaker for the loot and food and the party could leave peacefully. However, if encountered later, the ogres might just decide that the adventurers must have more loot and food, and the ogres might take it by force. Such an interaction might lead ogres on this level to charge treasure and food before anyone can explore their level, since it worked out so well the first time!
Not every encounter has to end in mortal combat. Peaceful interactions can occur between groups in the dungeon, with truces and allegiances made with the more agreeable monsters encountered. Players can also play groups against each other - perhaps the goblins and orcs in the dungeon war over territory and resources. By allying with one against the other, the party may tip the scales in the war if they eliminate a threat and report it to the other side. They can also feed information about one area to the other side, allowing them to attack a strong point of enemies while the adventurers slip in from another side to capture the treasure they guard. Avoiding encounters is also a means to success. If a party can avoid fighting a monster to survive and gain their experience, then they have successfully lived through the threat the encounter posed. Some DMs might give base XP award for knowing when to run; others might simply allow survival to be the reward. A party should never receive full experience for an avoided encounter - only when the encounter is defeated. Defeat, in this instance, does not have to mean death. Sealing off a corridor by causing a rockfall and trapping a monster within is considered a defeat. Retreating to a location into which a monster cannot (or will not) follow might also be considered a defeat. Luring a monster into a location and trapping it there (by falling portcullis, pit trap, or magic wizard lock spell) also counts as a defeat. Don't always think that one must kill their opponent to defeat it. With such a limited hit point pool at lower levels, it behooves the characters to think up strategies to defeat their enemies, rather than blindly blunder into an encounter and face the consequences of their actions. Sometimes, despite careful planning, the monsters have the upper hand, as was seen in the first example above. Regardless of how careful you are, eventually the dice may indicate that your time is up. But the danger and excitement of the encounter are what keeps people coming back for more adventures! And stories of noble deaths facing incredible odds are still told at gaming tables around the world!
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