Death needs to be an almost constant threat, to make taking risks actual risk-taking. And so I provide opportunities. Every third or fourth encounter is strong enough to be deadly, and about one out of every eight or nine is over-kill and should be avoided.
The party is lost in the wilderness. One way teleporting gates have a way of doing that. They've cleared a dilapidated tower to provide shelter and a temporary base of operations. They trekked west a couple days, rolled well, encountered a pack of death dogs, triumphed and back-tracked. Then they opted to scout to the north. After two days of a steady rain the going was slow. Another moderately difficult encounter. Another success. Camp. During second watch they spotted a fire a mile or so away. The ranger opted to go explore - ALONE - and the party opted to LET HER GO! She got within about 60' of what appeared to be a cult ritual (complete with robed figures chanting in ancient Sanskrit) and failed her stealth check. Stepped on a twig? Kicked a rock? Flushed wildlife? The ritual goes full stop and the cult leader orders their guard dogs to attack.
And that's where we left it. So the ranger has a week to reason her way out of this and the rest of the party has a week to reason out a rescue plan. They're a mile away. The death dogs are 55' away and slavering at a dead run. And it's dark (a waxing crescent moon.)
Meta: The ranger is 5th level. The DD's are CR1, so five would be a deadly challenge. I COULD greatly reduce the number of DDs to make it survivable. The rest of the party is, at best 8 (?) minutes away. Ranger has a companion so a balance in the action economy would be two or three DDs. Think I'll throw five at her and see what happens.
To paraphrase Ivan Drago: "If she dies, she dies."
(posted a month late so as not to spoil)
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