Give The People What They Want!
Over the past few weeks I had something pretty unique happen not once, but twice. Each session ended with the players using all of the resources at their disposal, some great character synergy, and no small amount of luck and one way or another the big boss fight I had planned was over much sooner than I anticipated. It was truly memorable and enjoyable for the players, and rather frustrating for me as a Game Master, especially due to what feels like wasted prep. But here's the thing, it isn't important to me as a storyteller as long as the players are having a good time, making memories, and are able to tell a great story for years afterwards. Sometimes you just have to give the players what they want! Here’s how it played out.
Scenario one: The Yeeted Yeti
Our party of heroes is scaling a snowy mountain in search of a legendary artifact and have been being harassed by Yetis along the way when the spilling of Yeti blood awakens a particularly nasty ancient abominable Yeti who was slumbering nearby.This ancient Yeti begins actively hunting the party to seek its vengeance and slake its hunger. As the party approaches the summit of the mountain and their destination, who comes lumbering into their path, but a huge ice-crusted, hungry abominable Yeti! They party tries to reason with it as one of the players speaks Yeti (it’s a whole thing). The Yeti responds with one word: Death! Cue the roll for initiative. The Yeti rolls low. No worries, he has a ton of hit points, multiple attacks (including chilling gaze which can possibly paralyze a foe) and, oh yeah, Cold Breath which hits for 10d8 cold damage. The Wizard is up and casts Hypnotic Pattern. The Yeti fails his save and is incapacitated for a minute. Next, my players came up with a genius plan and I. Was. Not. Ready.
First, the Fighter gets into position and says that he has a plan. Next, the Bard inspires the Fighter so he can add a 1d8 to his skill check. The Paladin kneels down and says he will aid the Fighter in his skill check. The Fighter tells me he wants to shove a Huge Creature. I check the rules for shove, and remind him that you can only shove a character one size category larger than you are. He says “no problem” and uses Giant Might (a Rune Carver Fighter feature) to grow to large size and proceeds to roll well above 20 in his attempt to shove the Yeti. . .off the side of the mountain! I look at how high up the characters are and roll 60d6 resulting in 191 damage. More than enough to kill the Yeti. Encounter over. The players loved every minute of it and even asked if we could end a few minutes early so that we could end on a high note. It was spectacular.
Scenario two: The Perfect Counter
Last weekend I was running a private event for some new clients. Their story took them into the lair of a powerful Archmage surrounded by his elemental minions and with a powerful Elemental Cannon at his disposal. The villain monologued at the party before combat began, peppering it with veiled threats about their imminent doom and his “fully operational” Elemental Cannon. Initiative is rolled and the Archmage rolls low. Drat! Then, the Monk runs up, and several punches later the Archmage is down several hitpoints. I fire my Elemental Cannon at the greatest threat at the time, the Monk, who deftly dodges it. The minions get a few hits in, then the Tempest Cleric calls down the lightning for a whopping 50 damage thanks to his Destructive Wrath ability. Ouch! I try to counter the spell to prevent all of that damage, but the Gnome Wizard counters my counterspell! Next, the Warlock steps up from the shadows and casts Banishment on my two elemental minions and, because they are not from this realm, they are gone forever. Bye bye! The Ranger gets in a few hits with his bow before the Wizard chucks a fireball at my Archmage. The Fighter closes the distance, sword swinging. Now I’m in trouble. . .but I have a toolbox of options as an Archmage and the time to do it. So I cast Time Stop to take 1d4+1 additional turns to set up some defenses and end the turn by casting a Wall of Force, Globe of Invulnerability, or Teleport to “nope” out of there. The Gnome Wizard casts Counter Spell on my 9th level spell which requires a spell caster check. He gets to roll 1d20 and add his intelligence modifier of +4. He has to roll a 19 or higher to succeed. He has a 70% chance of failure. He rolls a 15 which is the exact number he needs to counter the spell. Which means my all-powerful Archmage stands there. . . bewildered as death descends upon him in the form of a series of swift kicks and punches from the Monk. Encounter over. One defeated Archmage lying face-down in a puddle of his own hubris. The players loved it! They were able to do cool things and literally counter the plans of an evil Archmage. Brilliant!
The Moral of the Story:
So as entertaining as these scenarios are, what is the take away from all of this? For me it’s a lesson. It’s always of the utmost importance to ensure that the Game Master playing a villain should never get in the way of the players having a good time. Some encounters need to allow the players to do their cool thing that only they can do and to trounce the bad guy soundly. I think this really showed me how fun and important synergy can be in roleplaying as each party member in each scenario was able to contribute something in their own special way. Always remember that your fun as a Game Master always comes second to that of the players and it always should. It is very rewarding to be able to revel in the victories of your players and, for me, that is what the game is all about.
Take Heart!
Karington Hess
Game Master and Founder of Open Heart Games
