Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Death in the Bowels of Yem

I hate to call it a TPK, as there were only two characters, but the whole party died last night. It was quite the bittersweet night, as Pik and Urist breezed through the dungeon, learning the main secret and slaying the kobold masters with ease. Alas, the last holdouts took their valiant lives in the end... They were so close to the much desired treasure too.

Of course, this is one of the great things about Basic/Expert D&D as well. Life is a fragile thing and it is not for the faint of heart to delve into catacombs rife with untold dangers. In newer editions, particularly 4e, it is nearly impossible to kill a character. A DM must me rather sadistic to do so, say by having monsters continually attack the unconscious body. As long as you are above you negative bloodied value (half your total hit points) you can be brought back with a cure light wounds, starting at zero hit points. I forget how AD&D and 3e go, but I assume it is fairly similar.

The problem there is two-fold. One, characters in newer editions are able to risk danger more easily. Two, any schlep of a character can reach 20th level. Frankly, I had forgotten how bad-ass you have to be (not to mention lucky) to reach 2nd level.

I hate to see them go, but Boot Hill welcomes you. Pik and Urist shall be missed.

3 comments:

  1. To be totally fair, Pik could have made a run for it, but he didn't want to leave the fallen body of Urist behind. The dwarf was carrying valuables.

    I have to say that I love the meat grinder of Basic D&D. Dungeons are crucibles where hordes of fallen characters litter the halls.

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    1. And who knows, since the dead tend to hang about in Yem we might see these two again?

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    2. I might incorporate their passing into Monday's adventure somehow, depending on how things go.

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