Unlikely Encounters

Now, we've all seen PCs taken down by foes that were too clever, too numerous, or too downright powerful. But let's talk about those really embarrassing moments of defeat. Times when the party was taken out in less than heroic circumstances.

To start things off, let me tell you about the early days of the campaign I've been running. The PCs had journeyed to a small village in search of the reward posted for a mysterious monster which had been terrorizing the townsfolk. After receiving plenty of inaccurate information from the locals, the party set off into the woods. There, they were bombarded by patches of freezing darkness. Turns out there was not one frightening beast, but a pack of skiurids. For those unfamiliar, skiurids are squirrel-like creatures with shadow-based powers. After downing a few of the shadow-squirrels, the party was forced to flee to a cabin in the woods. They barricaded themselves in the cellar and quickly learned to keep it well lit after a few of the skiurids shadow-jumped in for some quick hits.

The next morning, the party tracked down the nest of the nocturnal creatures, a large tree. One PC nearly died attempted to set it on fire...while he was in it. The PCs limped home, smugly sure that their plan had worked. They would later hear word that everyone in the village was found dead.

Squirrels-1, PCs-0