A strange phenomenon occurred about four years ago while I was the DM (3.5) of a campaign setting of my own design. I won’t bore you with the details of that setting, though I could for hours. But the PCs were accompanying a caravan across the largely unpopulated western region of the continent, with the caravan leader just discovered to be a rather evil individual. A big bad evil guy for certain, and a planned recurring villain for the future. Once the players discovered this, it wasn’t long before they initiated less than diplomatic means to end him. I had planned at least three escape plans (through magic items and spells) that would allow him to get away in the event that the players proved too much at the time, though I didn’t think that would happen anyway. Boy was I wrong. Continue reading →