I'm a full advocate of allowing the players to choose their destiny. Sometimes the decisions that are made don't work, sometimes they are lethal. I might warn the players about the hazard of an encounter before they set out, but if they respond with "we're going to do Thing-X", then that's what they do. Even if it means we start a new adventure with new PCs next week.
The task that you are left with is to assess your encounter balance, composition and layout, and decide if you made an encounter, or series of encounters, that can be beaten in "only one way" or one that could be beaten by "any reasonable way". (There is a gulf of difference between the two.) If you are confident that you built something that was level appropriate, and winnable by any reasonable means,start trying to create ledgends about the party that might meet it's untimely end in the ocean, fighting the good fight.
P.S. If the fight is below water, why can't the dragon fly away? Like the PCs delay BBE and the dragon bolts outta there. They are supposed to prevent the dragon from death right?
So that is a story element these powerful dragons are using their own life for to keep a greatwrym dragon locked behind a gate. Because of this the link ties them to their lairs in a small radius around it. So unfortunately it can not get away.
I feel that your story elements are what is driving the feeling of frustration by your players. The party has only one way, or limited ways, to defeat (read as: solve) the challenges you've placed before them. They couldn't cure the curse of lycanthropy on one dragon, because it was non-removeable, by any means. Duped into burning resources fighting an opponent that didn't need fighting, and currently, they are having to go toe-to-toe with an opponent that knows where the flags (dragons) are, knows the flags can't move, and knows that the party can't keep up. With no way of changing the conditions of the game. This is the part about the encounter being reasonable that my previous post mentioned. All of the story elements are fine, all of the encounters are fine. It's the requirement for a specific resolution that is maybe unreasonable and might require another objective assessment.
The party should feel challenged, absolutely yes. The encounters might not be unwinnable, or unsolveable. If we, as DMs, set challenges and obstacles in the path of our players, they get to choose how to ovecome them. When we set a specific victory condition, and don't make that public knowledge, that will very likely feel like adversarial DM-ing. The party should feel like they have a 30% chance to succeed and a 70% chance of death, when in reality they have a 70% chance to succeed and a 30% chance of death. Feeling lethal and being lethal are worlds apart. A Kobayashi Maru encounter isn't fun, just frustrating.
Good luck in your game. Hope you and your friends have fun!
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“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
They do have that 70% chance of winning. The problem isn't the encounter for the whole party. Everyone else in the party was so happy they made it in time to protect the dragon. The one player we were originally talking about gave them that shot at protecting it. But the player in question rather than taking the win and seeing what they just accomplished is complaining that they can't help in the fight that he just provided for the party. Idk if he understands that without what he did there would have been a 0% chance of saving the dragon. Now it's at least 70%. The rest of the party is very excited, they got the ocean battle they wanted and they get to fight alongside a dragon for once. The dragon crit on one of its legendary actions and the party was screaming for me to crit smite as well and I was like hell yea I am. So in the long run the party is having fun. This one single player just feels like they aren't participating. I just feel like he isn't targeting the right people. Also when saying that the party is stuck not succeeding you have to realize this is an ancient aboleth with like 20 intelligence and a party of no clerics for healing or curse breaking and the aboleth knows it. He is going to outsmart them from place to place. It's up to them to put the pressure on him when they can and this is their first opportunity in awhile. The aboleth knows that even with his armor he is not as physically strong as the party. The party is way strong than their level so he has to play games and trick them or weaken them before he fights them.
They do have that 70% chance of winning. (1)The problem isn't the encounter for the whole party. Everyone else in the party was so happy they made it in time to protect the dragon. The one player we were originally talking about gave them that shot at protecting it. But the player in question rather than taking the win and seeing what they just accomplished is complaining that they can't help in the fight that he just provided for the party. Idk if he understands that without what he did there would have been a 0% chance of saving the dragon. Now it's at least 70%. The rest of the party is very excited, they got the ocean battle they wanted and they get to fight alongside a dragon for once. The dragon crit on one of its legendary actions and the party was screaming for me to crit smite as well and I was like hell yea I am. So in the long run the party is having fun. This one single player just feels like they aren't participating. (2)I just feel like he isn't targeting the right people. (3)Also when saying that the party is stuck not succeeding you have to realize this is an ancient aboleth with like 20 intelligence and a party of no clerics for healing or curse breaking and the aboleth knows it. He is going to outsmart them from place to place. (3)It's up to them to put the pressure on him when they can and this is their first opportunity in awhile. The aboleth knows that even with his armor he is not as physically strong as the party. The party is way strong than their level so he has to play games and trick them or weaken them before he fights them.
The problem is the encounter for the whole party. You don't have a whole party in the encounter. 2 of your members are flying surveillance over the surface, while the rest are underwater.
You might be objectively correct in your assessment that the player could be targeting the "wrong" people. You have perfect knowledge of what is correct and incorrect. Your PCs and players do not. Deciding that your players are not playing "right" is a very insightful statement. Also, the requirement for a cleric to be in the party to provide a solution might be part of what I'm illuding to here. Forcing the party to make a choice (kill a cursed entity) isn't the same as the making a hard choice.
I do realize what an intelligent entity can, and would, do. I've event pointed out the idea that BBE will be doing things that the party has no way (read: unwinnable) of stopping. Including ditching this current target, dissappering from the map and reappearing somewhere else, unannounced, and unknown by the party. Taking that target, then going back to the current target while the party is investigating the latest "hit". A supergenius will be seven steps ahead of their opponents either by design or by force of will.
Your original request was for things that you could do to "solve" the problem. Several people have attempted to give you the insight that you requested, without knowing everything you know. Which, on it's own, is a tall task, not to mention that thus far, every solution has been rebutted to some form or another.
My suggestion will not change, regardless of it's acceptance by the requester: Be the leader that convinces your frustrated player that what they did was for the benefit of the party and get them back in the game. They aren't having fun. Maybe throw them a hint, maybe grant them some inspiration, whatever you gotta do to get them back in the fight. They, and their mount, are currently a detractor to mission success simply by their being absent from the fight. Secondly, take an objective assessment of why this current state of affairs has come to be. Is it your story elements, is it encounter balance, is it lack of player understanding? Running this back to the player making "bad, wrong" decisions might shed some light on what might have gone askew here.
You have the best day that you are able to. May your game be fun for all.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
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No they don't have legendary resistances
Highlighted the important bit.
I feel that your story elements are what is driving the feeling of frustration by your players. The party has only one way, or limited ways, to defeat (read as: solve) the challenges you've placed before them. They couldn't cure the curse of lycanthropy on one dragon, because it was non-removeable, by any means. Duped into burning resources fighting an opponent that didn't need fighting, and currently, they are having to go toe-to-toe with an opponent that knows where the flags (dragons) are, knows the flags can't move, and knows that the party can't keep up. With no way of changing the conditions of the game. This is the part about the encounter being reasonable that my previous post mentioned. All of the story elements are fine, all of the encounters are fine. It's the requirement for a specific resolution that is maybe unreasonable and might require another objective assessment.
The party should feel challenged, absolutely yes. The encounters might not be unwinnable, or unsolveable. If we, as DMs, set challenges and obstacles in the path of our players, they get to choose how to ovecome them. When we set a specific victory condition, and don't make that public knowledge, that will very likely feel like adversarial DM-ing. The party should feel like they have a 30% chance to succeed and a 70% chance of death, when in reality they have a 70% chance to succeed and a 30% chance of death. Feeling lethal and being lethal are worlds apart. A Kobayashi Maru encounter isn't fun, just frustrating.
Good luck in your game. Hope you and your friends have fun!
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
They do have that 70% chance of winning. The problem isn't the encounter for the whole party. Everyone else in the party was so happy they made it in time to protect the dragon. The one player we were originally talking about gave them that shot at protecting it. But the player in question rather than taking the win and seeing what they just accomplished is complaining that they can't help in the fight that he just provided for the party. Idk if he understands that without what he did there would have been a 0% chance of saving the dragon. Now it's at least 70%. The rest of the party is very excited, they got the ocean battle they wanted and they get to fight alongside a dragon for once. The dragon crit on one of its legendary actions and the party was screaming for me to crit smite as well and I was like hell yea I am. So in the long run the party is having fun. This one single player just feels like they aren't participating. I just feel like he isn't targeting the right people. Also when saying that the party is stuck not succeeding you have to realize this is an ancient aboleth with like 20 intelligence and a party of no clerics for healing or curse breaking and the aboleth knows it. He is going to outsmart them from place to place. It's up to them to put the pressure on him when they can and this is their first opportunity in awhile. The aboleth knows that even with his armor he is not as physically strong as the party. The party is way strong than their level so he has to play games and trick them or weaken them before he fights them.
Your original request was for things that you could do to "solve" the problem. Several people have attempted to give you the insight that you requested, without knowing everything you know. Which, on it's own, is a tall task, not to mention that thus far, every solution has been rebutted to some form or another.
My suggestion will not change, regardless of it's acceptance by the requester: Be the leader that convinces your frustrated player that what they did was for the benefit of the party and get them back in the game. They aren't having fun. Maybe throw them a hint, maybe grant them some inspiration, whatever you gotta do to get them back in the fight. They, and their mount, are currently a detractor to mission success simply by their being absent from the fight. Secondly, take an objective assessment of why this current state of affairs has come to be. Is it your story elements, is it encounter balance, is it lack of player understanding? Running this back to the player making "bad, wrong" decisions might shed some light on what might have gone askew here.
You have the best day that you are able to. May your game be fun for all.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad