Shit shit shit almost TPK

I want to ball up in a corner and cry

[patpat]

@Zachiel It happens to everybody sometime. Don't beat yourself up about it.

They kept rolling under 4, especially the defender and ranger. And I kept critting.

And not once they passed the knowledge check to know that a certain spirit was in service of the cleric and would have disappeared if the cleric was slain, despite everybody trying a knowledge check on their turn

I've been looking at a few posts of the Stack relating to fudging rolls.

I take it this was 4E, so a strategic retreat wasn't something they would think to do?

Really D&D in general has that video game esque "always forward" posture.

@Zachiel Aaand this is why I stopped requiring failable checks for crucial info.

lol

@Zachiel I feel like an improvement here could have been you portraying the spirit as obviously subservient during the battle. Not everything has to be about skills.

If they want it to be about skills, then bring Sense Motive or equivalent into it.

@Grubermensch immobilized warden failing all his saves, including the shaman-granted ones? The ranger and the sorc ran away

@Grubermensch In that case I would often have the cleric summon the spirit as a free action on the first round.

@BESW good idea

4e's lax attitude toward letting the GM just make up what monsters can do lends itself very well to inventing mechanics to illustrate story ideas.

@Zachiel That's a pickle, then. Does give you an opportunity to run a prisoner rescue operation in the future though. Splitting the party is often narratively interesting, at least.

Aye, that's another thing: the TPK can just as easily be a TPC.

@BESW Even just the cleric shouting commands or even coordinating (a good tactician can read that enemies are synchronizing too well to not be communicating) presents opportunities.

@Grubermensch One tool I used to mitigate apparently overpowered NPC combos while still making things interesting was to use warlord-like powers: the cleric uses his move action to slide the spirit 6 squares, or sacrifices his standard action to grant the spirit a basic attack, while the spirit has an opportunity action to intervene and take a blow meant for the cleric.

@Grubermensch splitting the party is not good on 4e but I planned to have the survivors team up with temporary allies to free the captured ones. The attackers were followers of the god of prisony after all.

Giving creatures powers which only work when they interact with other creatures is a great way to showcase tactics and relationships, and to speed up the end of combat because creatures become less powerful as their allies get taken out.