Well - not really, as I had established in advance in my mind that the local lord of this region of the plane would be very interested in capturing the party ( and the Sorcerer they're assisting on his mission ), so the party is still alive - but we ended the session with the last two standing party members out the original 6 throwing down their weapons and surrendering, with everyone else being down and unconscious.
Not really surprised, as the party of 6 level 7 characters - pretty much down to about 30% of max HP, and almost totally out of spells - decided to throw down on 7 Erinyes, which represented a major force of the regional Devil lord.
I had a nice stealth/rescue mission planned out - party had made contact with one of the major human underground leaders, who could have smuggled them into the city in the trade caravans, but in a little quid pro quo action would have asked the party to help spring one of the underground's members from the local "sherrif"'s dungeons, have the party discover a little more about the local revolutionary political struggles, decide what side ( if any ) they were going to help, present them with some detailed local lore, give them some nice RP opportunities, some moral choices ....
Nope - just one long suicide run against a 3x Deadly force of Erinyes, whose presence was well telegraphed ahead of time ( "you spot 7 or the creatures ..." ).
Oh well - guess I have to sketch out possibilities for an escape-from-the-dungeon adventure now...
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a 3x Deadly force of Erinyes, whose presence was well telegraphed ahead of time ( "you spot 7 or the creatures ..." ).
A single Erinyes would be a serious threat to a 7th-level party, but the question is if the players had any reason to know this. Had they fought any erinyes at all before? What clues did they have that this was a force way beyond their might? It's easier to grasp with dragons ("No, this is a big dragon, and it looks old!"), but (in the player's minds) erinyes look like succubi with weapons, surely they can't be that much different?
According to donjon encounter calculator a single Erinyes against 6 level 7 characters rates as hard+ while according to Kobold fight club, a single ranks as easy, while 2 is deadly.
Yes, they had encountered and fought a single one before, successfully - and were quite aware of the the damage resistances, multiple attacks, poison damage, etc. They were also aware of the sheer amount of damage the creature absorbed, as they track damage dealt.
They had succeeded before mostly because the party's Arcane Archer had managed to get in a couple of critical hits on the creature as it closed to attack, and once engaged the party got in some really good rolls. Still the creature managed to put the Bard down ( stabilized, not dead ).
And, in this particular pocket dimension Erinyes do not look like succubi with weapons - I did some re-skinning so that the creatures in question were much larger, much more alien, and much more menacing - sort of a cross between the Overlords in Childhoods End with a frosting of some the design aesthetics of H.R. Giger.
These things did not look like pushovers, and the party was aware of that through previous experience. Plus. they were very aware - and even commented on it - that they were below full strength.
I get where you're going - and it's a valid thing to check, and make sure the DM didn't do - but I don't remotely feel like I as a DM failed to provide clues as to what they were up against, or how over their heads they were.
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
Well - not really, as I had established in advance in my mind that the local lord of this region of the plane would be very interested in capturing the party ( and the Sorcerer they're assisting on his mission ), so the party is still alive - but we ended the session with the last two standing party members out the original 6 throwing down their weapons and surrendering, with everyone else being down and unconscious.
Not really surprised, as the party of 6 level 7 characters - pretty much down to about 30% of max HP, and almost totally out of spells - decided to throw down on 7 Erinyes, which represented a major force of the regional Devil lord.
I had a nice stealth/rescue mission planned out - party had made contact with one of the major human underground leaders, who could have smuggled them into the city in the trade caravans, but in a little quid pro quo action would have asked the party to help spring one of the underground's members from the local "sherrif"'s dungeons, have the party discover a little more about the local revolutionary political struggles, decide what side ( if any ) they were going to help, present them with some detailed local lore, give them some nice RP opportunities, some moral choices ....
Nope - just one long suicide run against a 3x Deadly force of Erinyes, whose presence was well telegraphed ahead of time ( "you spot 7 or the creatures ..." ).
Oh well - guess I have to sketch out possibilities for an escape-from-the-dungeon adventure now...
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
A single Erinyes would be a serious threat to a 7th-level party, but the question is if the players had any reason to know this. Had they fought any erinyes at all before? What clues did they have that this was a force way beyond their might? It's easier to grasp with dragons ("No, this is a big dragon, and it looks old!"), but (in the player's minds) erinyes look like succubi with weapons, surely they can't be that much different?
I am one with the Force. The Force is with me.
According to donjon encounter calculator a single Erinyes against 6 level 7 characters rates as hard+ while according to Kobold fight club, a single ranks as easy, while 2 is deadly.
Yes, they had encountered and fought a single one before, successfully - and were quite aware of the the damage resistances, multiple attacks, poison damage, etc. They were also aware of the sheer amount of damage the creature absorbed, as they track damage dealt.
They had succeeded before mostly because the party's Arcane Archer had managed to get in a couple of critical hits on the creature as it closed to attack, and once engaged the party got in some really good rolls. Still the creature managed to put the Bard down ( stabilized, not dead ).
And, in this particular pocket dimension Erinyes do not look like succubi with weapons - I did some re-skinning so that the creatures in question were much larger, much more alien, and much more menacing - sort of a cross between the Overlords in Childhoods End with a frosting of some the design aesthetics of H.R. Giger.
These things did not look like pushovers, and the party was aware of that through previous experience. Plus. they were very aware - and even commented on it - that they were below full strength.
I get where you're going - and it's a valid thing to check, and make sure the DM didn't do - but I don't remotely feel like I as a DM failed to provide clues as to what they were up against, or how over their heads they were.
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
Excellent reply, I have no further questions.
I am one with the Force. The Force is with me.