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EC has been pretty brutal for us so far. Admittedly I'm running for all new players. One built a sorcerer with 10 constitution and dex and has a tendency to run onto the frontlines for spells like burning hands. And I can't seem to roll lower than a 17 on the dice. So that may be too many asterisks for my case to be relevant.
But still. There are back to back severe encountes at one point, which is pretty harsh. They have got waaay more experience with the death and dying rules than I'd expect. No one has actually died yet, but good gosh have they come close. Last session three of the four PCs got knocked out, and the remaining rogue ran away and got the enemies to follow. Everyone managed to stabilize, some with hero points, and then I had an NPC cleric emerge while the coast was clear to heal everyone. Without that generosity, they all would be worm food.
I think that was the hardest chunk of that chapter though. The other fights look easier, so hopefully the players feel better from here. It did lead to amusing commentary... Gee, it is almost like we aren't mercenaries, we are circus performers.
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Level 1. 18ac 22hp cleric. Gets hit by trap at door. Death saves. Next, goblin triggers collapse in tunnel. 2 death saves.
Weird water electric snake thing. 2 party members dropped instantly.
DM pulls punches to let us rest in said cave. Boss fight. One character straight up dies.
I dunno how we suppose to be prepared for your stuff lol
Why is the healer the one going first and triggering the trap?
That said, a party without a way to be back to full HP with 1 or 2 10-minutes pauses between encounters will heavily suffer in Plaguestone.
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Most of the encounters in the Fall of Plaguestone game I'm running have resulted in at least one PC being brought to 0. A boar took down 3 of them, one-shotting each in turn, before I had it leave because it no longer had any targets (it seemed inappropriate for it to finish them off). They take a lot of advantage of the Medicine skill to heal up between encounters.
I'm hoping it evens out a bit in part 2. It's a bit demoralizing.
The best hope lies with the choices made by your players when they get to level 2. We made choices that made us better killers, better healers and that gave us synergy and it helped, along with using tactics that worked to our strengths.
I was surprised to see that my Bard/Sorcerer was the best melee-buddy to the Paladin due to having high DEX and a shield.
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I'm playing with an experienced group (most of them playing RPGs for 30+ years). They're not _great_ at cooperating, but are improving.
The barbarian, champion, and ranger got KOed by a single boar.
The champion was very nearly killed by the front door trap.
I don't think the lightning snake took anyone down.
The 'boss' took down the ranger because he ran forward and didn't see a trap.
They were beaten up by bushes enough that they had to spend an hour+ healing each other.
Some mutant wolves KOed 1 or 2 of them.
So, we're about halfway through and at probably 7 or so instances of someone being brought to 0.
Thank you for doing that! I was concerned about some of them, but the one hour edit timer had already lapsed, so I feared we were just going to have to carry on and hope for the best.
Whoops, good point. Probably should've spoilered my death toll.