A few months ago I wrote a post entitled 'Total Loss', in which I was
looking at the potential destruction of my current campaign world due to
the PCs' loss of a key battle for bad reasons; my exact words were
"unless the quality of strategic thinking takes a dramatic upturn over
the next few sessions".
Episode 11: The Greater Sadness; the battle of Gilead, loss of the
uranium mine and bomb factory.
Subsequently:
Episode 16: Combined Arms; the battle of Tir na n'Arracht, the players
pulled off a brilliant victory on the field, despite being surrounded by
an enemy who knew they were coming thanks to a spy, and having the enemy
bring out some nasty tricks towards the end.
Tonight:
Episode 25: Amazing Grace; the battle of Firestone Pit, where the
players faced the penultimate villain, Ithaqua the Windwalker (not the
original, but he's more than earned the right to use the name!).
He and his two lieutenants all went down in four rounds, with none of
the good guys suffering worse injury than bruises, and the outcome never
being for a moment in doubt. The battle wasn't won tonight; it was won
over the last three sessions of planning and preparation, in which the
players so wrought as to convert the situation from one in which they
were playing the enemy's game, to one where he was playing theirs.
"The victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been
won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards
looks for victory." - Sun Tzu.
Anticlimactic? Not in my book. One of the finest parts of GMing is when
your players surprise you with their cleverness; it is poor form to
blight the fruits of their well-earned victory.
And the upside of being a pessimist is that your surprises are more
likely to be pleasant ones ^.^
--
"Always look on the bright side of life."
To reply by email, replace no.spam with my last name.
|
