My last session went horribly, I think I need basic DM advice.

[Kasz]

The Story so Far. 

Now, Session 4, Session 4 sucked horribly, and I don't think there was anything I could've done about it.

If you're familiar with the Dead Gods adventure, you'll recognise this.

The party exit Sigil and appear in a dank, oily, polluted area outside an abandoned mine.
They move through the mud and they notice a building, I hint at the impending overcast clouds and they consider the building for shelter.
A mindflayer rushes out towards them, his head implodes, they examine the corpse, they go inside and discover another, it telepathically communicates with them and they get some foreshadowing. They also get assaulted with random factoids as the god of knowledge dies and his knowledge leaks out.

I put in a couple details, upstairs there is a store of brains in liquid, preserved with persisted "preserve organ" as supplies for the outpost, remnants of peasant's clothes draped over human bones. The party manage to detect the magic of the one-way portal from Gehenna, but not details, they discern it's a one way portal, the rest is a mystery.

The party decide to rest here, it's like barely evening, but okay... the book says a Beholder shows up... ah. Cr 13, party of E6 level 6's. Okay.

Beholder shows up and charms Roku, Stanley flees upstairs and tells everyone there's a freaky eye monster.
Roku starts telling the Beholder what he wants to know.
Party run downstairs, Baha Abdur leaps off the stairs to attack and misses, Beholder retreats, disintegrates a chunk of the outside wall to make a point, bathes the entire building in an antimagic cone and demands to know what happened here.

Roku tries to stop Baha Abdur attacking the beholder, trying to trip him, the trip specialists go at it and Roku ends up with a facefull of mud.

I make sure the party appreciate this is a deadly creature, known to all adventurers by sheer reputation.

As the party talk to the aberration I tell those with high sense motive checks, that they get the feeling the beholder will try to kill them once it gets what it wants. (It's supposed to in the adventure). 
Well Baha Abdur hears this and thinks, "okay I will charge then."

I tell him, before you charge you consider three options. "Fight, Flight and Continue Talking"

So he charges, does damage and I think... wow... if I was this beholder, fuck this guy. So I hit him with sleep, he passes his save, that "attack" gives Roku a second save, so he snaps out of charm.

The party doesn't seem interested in restraint so they attack. They chip away at this thing with breath weapons (auto damage, halved often), spells that save for half, eldritch blasts that hit the woefully low touch AC as the creature rises above them, placing it's antimagic cone on them.

It disintegrates the warlock, he saves, health halved by 5d6 damage.
It Fingers of Deaths the warlock, he fails his save by 1, he dies, I remember the Favoured soul gave him a buff earlier, which included +1 to saves. I call him a moron, remind him about the buff, tell him he takes 3d6+13 damage instead. He falls to like...-1, the favoured soul closes wounds, he's on 8hp.

The fight continues, the only people able to contribute are the paladin (flying drakkensteed!) and the favoured souls wyrmling familiar. The Sorcerer gets into a point where he can hit the beholder, so he does, beholder ensures he is in the cone next round.

At this point the beholder is on about 7hp... and fleeing, it's 105ft up, using it's range and rays to cover it's retreat. The warlock eldritch blasts it down to 1hp (warlock sprinted to the edge of the antimagic cone. and has 250ft range)

At this point they spent 10 minutes arguing geometry with me. When asked I stated, the cone is a 90 degree effect in front of it, it's 105ft down to the ground, so it covers a circle 210ft in diameter. Quick math in my head, took about 15 secs, they argued it for a solid 5-10 minutes. I didn't have the will to tell them to shut the fuck up and continue.

The warlock had annoyed the beholder AGAIN, so he moves, barely putting him within 150ft range whilst keeping him outside the antimagic cone, and voila. Flesh to Stone. Failed Save. Warlock Statue.

The paladin rides in and crits the beholder with a magic rapier, dead beholder. It falls to the floor, caking people in mud.

The party is now considering returning to sigil, Baha Abdur wants to give the thing to the hunter's guild in return for membership... I can't really argue it...

So that's how my 7 level 6's killed a CR 13 beholder.... The melee were really bored, the casters were bored because antimagic... They didn't talk, they didn't run, they just got in enough potshots to kill it.

I was surprised beholders don't have spell resistance, immunities or damage reduction... I hope it wasn't just me using an out of date monster manual.... I pointed out to the players, there was a sleep, disintegrate, finger of death and flesh to stone that all forced saves....and only 1 party member "died", they got extremely lucky.

I feel like a crap DM, the whole fight took AAAGES, the whole session, I dropped hints to run, and then they freaking killed it... 7 turns to it's 1 turn... and just a vanilla beholder, but still.

is there any good way to "punish" people dropping character and chatting about other things, they all love the campaign but have the attention span of fucking chipmonks.
I'm going to bring back the no phones rule, too many "checking emails" for my liking, I don't know what to do when people just start "oh this reminds me...who's seen x film?" I don't want to impose punishments really, it seems petty...but I want to deter it.

I'm at a loss, I really want to DM this campaign and I want to prevent burnout before all this gets to me too seriously.

(apologies if this should be in the rants section... I am asking for GM advice.)

[Raineh Daze]

Well, at least you know something for future reference: don't send things at your players and expect them to run from it. Also don't rely on accurate geometry over huge distances if things are going slowly.

Also, congratulations on them for killing the thing. Have they unpetrified the Warlock?

[Kasz]

Well, at least you know something for future reference: don't send things at your players and expect them to run from it. Also don't rely on accurate geometry over huge distances if things are going slowly.

The problem is, the sorcerer moved and was like "Can I cast now" and I said no... so he took more and more movement asking if he could cast yet and I said no.

I told him the radius is bigger than that (he was 75ft away from centre) and he argued it couldn't be. I told him it was, told him the distance and my calculations and said now take your turn, he sat down and googled a calculator. I skipped over him (he'd double moved anyway) and went to the next person, but they started doing maths on their phone as well... so everyone is now doing simple geometry like it's rocket science and I just sit back and sigh. Eventually I'm proven right but too annoyed to care. I had basically said "No, now play" and they hadn't, maybe I need to be more authoritarian... but I don't want to come off as D&D IS SERIOUS BUSINESS.

Also, congratulations on them for killing the thing. Have they unpetrified the Warlock?

Nope, it's E6 so the only way to cast stone to flesh is through that E6 feat. 

Stone to Flesh
Prerequisites: 6th level, ability to cast 3rd-level arcane spells, Intelligence 18, Craft (Alchemy) 9 Ranks
Benefit: You can use stone to flesh, as the spell, with an expensive and secret
magical ingredient with a market value of 1000 gp and a casting time of 1 day.

 
 
I use Incantations, so it's basically an Incantation for a level 6 Wizard that also requires a feat slot and skillpoints.

It's going to be rare, expensive and they'll have to provide a 1000gp ingredient, then it'll take a whole day. At which point those Khaasta tracks will be long gone.

[phaedrusxy]

Given that they faced a CR 13 as an ECL 6 party, and only lost one member (to something fairly interesting and reversible), I'd say it was fairly successful.

Also, there should be other ways to get him turned back to flesh than the spell. IIRC, male medusas can do that, and I think either gorgon's or cockatrice blood can (or something like that). Those methods seem more interesting than just paying some spellcaster. Maybe the guy whose PC is petrified can play an NPC for that session.

[Kasz]

Given that they faced a CR 13 as an ECL 6 party, and only lost one member (to something fairly interesting and reversible), I'd say it was fairly successful.

Also, there should be other ways to get him turned back to flesh than the spell. IIRC, male medusas can do that, and I think either gorgon's or cockatrice blood can (or something like that). Those methods seem more interesting than just paying some spellcaster. Maybe the guy whose PC is petrified can play an NPC for that session.

If they want to research alternatives they can easily.

Luckily the warlock has a "cohort" he can play (not a feat cohort, just an npc I added to the party to cover some skills and drop quest info when needed), a Ghost character I made, Ghost 4/Master of the Unseen Hand 2. He's more optimised than the party because I made him... but he's a two-trick pony... those tricks are telekinesis and possession in an E6 environment though... so he's not boring. The Ghost's bound to a skull that is petrified though... but able to pass in and out anyway.

Downside of the ghost is he's got severe memory loss. I'm fiddling with his story but I'm leaning toward being killed by a Vecna powered ritual magic that basically removed him from existance... he left a ghost but the ghost's memories are all of things that couldn't have happened. The players just think he has Ghost Alzheimers.

Thank you for the suggestion with the blood and male medusas, will look into that.

[Nunkuruji]

Nice, I'll have to point my players to this, as we're trying to wrap up Age of Worms and then move on to E6 style.

Beholders typically need something like Fiendish to shore up their defenses.

[ketaro]

Honestly, I think everyone would have had a better time if not for the AMF.

AMF makes D&D too serious.

[Nunkuruji]

Honestly, I think everyone would have had a better time if not for the AMF.

AMF makes D&D too serious.

In E6 it's only going to show up for the most part on innate critters. So, it shouldn't end up being a typical mid to high level plague issue.
There's alternatives to vanilla beholder without AMF if you go grab LoM, etc.

[bhu]

For some low attention span people, you can gain their attention by quietly slipping insanity into your descriptions so that only part of them hear you.  After a few awkward situations, they'll pay a lil more attention so as not to get ganked again:


"Trodbury Tye. A farm building containing agricultural herds outside a small country town.  It is a quiet day, and you enjoy the light, cooling breeze.  Long has it been since you could relax, rest in the field, and sip lemonade while a local monk strangles a pig while screaming "Get thee behind me Vecna."

[Kasz]

Well, the Warlock will be playing an npc for a few sessions. The duskblade is going to use the beholder corpse to join Sigil's hunting guild / Gentleman's club. I'll have Sir Hunter Huntington (The pink haired, mustached gnome who is totally not using an alias) point them in the direction of seeking Cockatrice or Gorgon blood. 
"creatures with natural petrification abilities have blood that prevents them from petrifying themselves. With a little alchemy the process can be reversed"
He's right, but his reasoning is wrong, he's not the smartest gnome, but he wants them to think he knows everything there is to know about hunting.

I'll let them research an incantation at the archive. It's complicated and expensive, potential backlash, takes ages too.

They can try and get a being or wizard to help them, expensive and he'll want something in return, social challenges etc.

I'll drop a hook pointing toward a Gorgon in the outlands, they can't return to the prime at will, so they'll have to hunt this one. However this one is a full fledged Khalkotauroi, or at least my interpretation of one.
Flame-Spawned Gorgon (CR 9)

It's a dangerous foe, but with preparation... like being aware of trample tactics, it's petrifying breath and it's aura of heat, seven level 6's should be able to take it... 
 
What they won't be expecting is the Magma Para-Elemental they'll disturb if they do fight the beast on one of the Volcanoes near Torch. It's his domain and he doesn't take kindly to trespass.

Depending on how beaten up they are after the Gorgon he'll go 1 of 2 ways.
Either he'll cause the volcano to erupt in their direction, causing the platform they are fighting on to begin to plummet down the mountain, carried by a wave of lava, hitting rocks, breaking apart and dodging lava globules.

Or he'll jump onto the platform, do the above, and then fight them on the way down, taking healing if he is hit by any lava globules.

As the party will be all geared up with fire resistance anyway this shouldn't be an issue, as a "boss monster" he'll be killable, but have bonus actions, like the legendary action rules in 5e, something I've stolen from Angry DM ages ago.

If they go incantation I'll shelve the volcano stuff for a later date... maybe Gehanna.

Of course if they bring tribute to the Volcano's Magma Para-elemental they might be able to skip all this with diplomacy.... I doubt it. Adventurers...

[NunoM]

My gaming party also faced a lot of problems dealing with beholders.

A few notes:
- the beholder's AMF cone also affects it's rays, and IIRC the beholder can only choose to activate or deactivate the cone once/round.
- the beholder's body is naturally floating, so it would probably remain airborne or, at least, fall slowly to the ground (natural Feather Fall), so... no mud splash

That being said...
From what you told us, i can't really say you missed anything. You gave them a lot of fair warnings and hints, even bordering on "leading", IMHO (but thats ok).
They may be bummed, but a few bumps on the road may actually refrain them in the future. I'll try to explain...
An EL13 for a 7th level party and a single party casualty is pretty good. Kudos for you for selecting different targets or they could be looking at a TPK right now.
Your party seems to be very combat oriented, so you can't really blame them if they choose to charge in for the kill, instead of talking their way out of situations. If they've survived so far, they might have gained a sense of immunity, which motivates them even more to take the same choice (i.e. fight) time and time again.
A character dying may actually help them realize they're not immortal and that you won't hold back if given the chance. That can refrain them a bit, make them think twice and/or hear your descriptions/hints more attentivelly in the future.

Also, talking things through always helps.
I suggest you try to figure out the real reason for the bummed mood in the last session: was it the character dying? did the DM mess up somehow?
Point out that killing stuff may not always be the answer. Who knows? Maybe killing that beholder turned out to be a mistake, because he had some valuable information the party missed...

Whatever happens, you're always in control. It's perfectly natural to have friends that meet only once a week, to catch up on latest movies and gossip, but you're running the game. It's ok to say "Listen to me very carefully! I will say this only once!" from time to time

[Cesuke]

It sounds like your players are new... maybe they expect just fighting challenges like an online game, this is common. You may give them a lesson with the beholder... just no saves allowed, kill them all, then an opposite Good Deity bring them back to live and tell them... "u may chose wisely ur fights... now you must do a service for me..." and each time they want to do that kind of thing the god speak to their mind "Stanley is not the right moment to fight"

PD: i am not an english speaker so sorry for mistakes in grammar.

[keyes2k4]

Maybe it's just because I haven't had a legitimate D&D session in a while, but that sounds like a fantastic session.

However, mistakes were made by both sides which may have left a sour feeling in your gut at the end of the session.  The players got cocky and tried to take on a foe based on their own meta-knowledge of the game.  If they were truly in character then their spells suddenly not working and disintegration beams flying would be some of the most terrifying things they could have experienced and they should have ran.  Instead, they made the rash and cocky decision that they, as players, can take on this encounter. 

As a DM there are several easy counters to this meta-knowledge.  You could have made the players roll dungeoneering knowledge checks to try to determine the aberrant nature of beholders and determine what they actually knew and forced them to think along the lines of 'what would my character ACTUALLY know'.  Or you could have made them roll wisdom checks and pretty much told them that this is a futile encounter that they're likely to die in based on the situation.  Either way, this whole situation should have been avoidable through this kind of player-nudging.

The second mistake was letting the players try to math things.  As a DM I regularly shut down rules lawyering by simply determining yes or no and enforcing with the players that it's chosen whether or not the rules or geometry actually say it won't work.  Because a ray has a range of only 150 feat does this mean that the ray disappears in the air after that range? if so then how come it does full damage out to that range?  Honestly if somebody presented me with this logic I'd let it work beyond its effective range, but the numbers would be reduced to account for the changes.

The third mistake I will see from time to time is that the monster was trying to kite the players.  Honestly if I were that beholder I would have ran away after determining that I wasn't going to win the fight.  The beholder's motivation of 'angry animal try to kill annoying stinging warlock' could be countered by the beholder's own wisdom or intelligence scores.  If they players are still wanting to go look for the beholder at this point, they would have a chase on their hands, and potential to lose their warlock friend for good.


All in all, though, I think that the session should have been a good warning to the players that there is little messing around going on.  If you take on an encounter that you're not likely to win they you will likely perish.  The warlock has been made an example, and luckily he only lost a session or two while the party works on putting him back to normal.

[PlzBreakMyCampaign]

That session sounds good. I say, always throw overpowering monsters at your 7 member party and kill atleast one of them every time. You almost got 2. 

Honestly, I think everyone would have had a better time if not for the AMF.

AMF makes D&D too serious.

No. AMFs are wonderful. Everytime that can be legitimately used, they should be. DM fiat AMFs are not okay, though.