My D&D group's campaign ended in a total TPK last night

We were 8 sessions into this campaign in Seattle. The DM threw a beholder at us at level 5. Three of our party of five died in the first round. I was the last one standing and then a failed death save did me in. Has anyone else had a DM just completely misjudge an encounter like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

amymiller12d ago

Honestly, "a beholder at level 5" is less of a misjudged encounter and more of a targeted hate crime against your party. That's not a fight, that's the DM speedrunning the campaign to its logical, horrifying conclusion. Ngl, sounds like your DM was bored and decided to become a final boss themselves. Tbh, the real tragedy is you wasted eight sessions on what was essentially a really elaborate comedy bit.

christophermorgan12d ago

Gotta admit I used to think every bad session was just a rough night or bad luck, but @amymiller is right, this sounds intentional. A beholder at level 5 isn't a mistake, it's a decision. You have to actively ignore the monster's challenge rating and the party's level to do that. I used to defend DMs who pulled stuff like this, saying they were just trying to make things exciting. But eight sessions in, for a fight that ends in one round? That's not excitement, that's a waste of everyone's time. Feels like the DM just wanted to flex and didn't care about the story you all were building.