Impossible to Beat
written by Donat P. Fevre
August 12th, 2008 · 2 Comments
Perhaps one of the biggest things that Dungeon Masters should never do, or at least use very sparingly, are spells, creatures, traps, or anything else that’s impossible for characters to beat.
But why would a DM use such as tactic in the first place? Well, it definitely helps with trying to get players to follow a particular path. However, there are players who aren’t particularly fond of railroading. So while your story may progress the way you want it to, some players are going to feel like they’re just there for the ride, rather than taking a more active role in your adventure.
When using impossible to beat creatures, spells, or other challenges, you’re completely undermining a player’s sense of accomplishment. A player may have made his or her character in such a way as to be able to resist certain affects. However, if a player rolls a natural 20 and adds a very high modifier to it and still fails to resist the effect, it really puts a damper on the player’s mood and sense of fun.
I have actually experienced this myself recently, playing in a small campaign with my first ever dwarf character (D&D 3.5). With a high constitution, high base fortitude modifier, and the dwarf’s natural resistance to magic, he’d be able to shrug off even difficult spells that would effect a character’s fortitude. However, the Dungeon Master didn’t want anyone to be able to resist a particular spell that she made up, and as such it kinda ticked me off a bit. Thankfully, the dwarf was able to start resisting it like he should on a high roll, and in my opinion the adventure got a bit more interesting.
However, there’s still that matter of that poison… 
I Need a Job
I apologize for my silence since my last post. I’ve been struggling to find a job, with very little success. Along with that, I’ve been busy with things related to TeamBöNK as well, which includes a very challenging match tonight at 8:00pm against The Experiment.
Needless to say, I’ve been very stressed and frustrated. And I’m sorry for not having written anything in a while. 
Topics: D&D General
You make some interesting points. Usually I will reward the player with natural resist by giving them something before hitting them with the effect again and crossing my fingers they do not repeat history.
Such rewards could be with items: You managed to avoid my impossibly huge pit trap, and notice a bag of coins wedged near the wall you sprung to. After pocketing the bag you fall into an adjacent hole.
Or you resist the ’s sleep spell, and get a couple kills in before another one lands another sleep spell on you. (in this case the reward is bonus XP)
PS. also make sure to roll the dice and pause before the second effect, so the players think it was chance they were unlucky, and you are not just scripting it.