Eickler's page

My players, after five years, have only managed to get into one TPK (and that was a Paizo module where they split the party). Anytime I've written the endless wave of enemies scenario they find someway to circumvent it. The most notable was when they had to fight an endless spawn of kobolds in a cave system. The alchemist and fighter used various knowledge checks to figure out how to start a cave-in, and cut off one of the major kobold reinforcement lines. They marched through every part of that encounter. In regards to retreating from a difficult fight, the party came across a hydra as a random encounter and the oracle hypnotized it so they could get by. I rewarded them full experience and they carried on.

It really depends on the players and the DM. I don't advise constantly designing unwinnable fights. I use them sparingly to create dramatic tension for the story (the kobold encounter was designed to introduce them to a powerful boss for later in the campaign). In conjunction, I constantly remind them that they don't need to kill everything to win the encounter and sometimes, retreating and regrouping is an option. When my players hit situations like this, they tend to at least make an attempt to sabotage the enemy that forced them to retreat.

We're fighting our way through a Drow stronghold. The Drow have enslaved several elves and using diabolist rituals to summon a powerful entity. We make our way to the armory and, in traditional adventurer fashion, start looting it. While we're sifting through gear and potions, a patrol comes by and notices us. The patrol leader asks rhetorically why we're looting heir armory. My human sorcerer, the party leader, shouts back, "Because you're dicks!" The GM looks up at me from across the table and asks, "Did you just call them dicks?" I affirmed y characters retort and everyone starts rolling initiative as the party starts laughing.