Not Everything is Meant to be Defeated
Not every threat encountered is meant to be defeated with violence - or is ever able to be overcome with violence regardless of how 'good' the group is. Not every threat can be negotiated with. Not every threat can be avoided.
And this doesn't mean the GM is being malicious, or 'out to get the players' -- yes, there are game masters like that, but that's a different problem to discuss another time. No, this is the game master showing that - no matter how good the PCs are, there is always something out there bigger than them.
A good GM gives warnings -- signs that things aren't right.
You come across a village - one that's not on any maps. The colours are grey, the people fidgety and you see strained smiles when you walk in. One comes up to you, all smiles.
"Think happy thoughts," he says. "Only happy thoughts. Keep any angry thoughts or sad thoughts or anything else out of your head." He pauses, still smiling. "Or maybe consider leaving now, while you can."
His smile flickers for a moment, as if something crosses his mind. His eyes widen in horror, and he's about to scream in protest when his mouth disappears.
Now, having been presented with this event... the game master has given warning that something is quite wrong and that the threat is very powerful. The GM shows just how bad things are, but isn't going to flat out say 'no, you can't fight this'. He's laid out the parameters for survival, it's up to the PCs to decide what to do there.
Or how about someone that is immune to harm -- and instead inflicts that harm seven times over on the one who attempted to injure them?
You come across a battlefield. Hundreds dead, as if destroyed by titans -- split in half, bodies crushed and trampled as if by monstrous hooves. You see, standing in the middle of it all, the one they call the Morrigan. She turns and looks at the group, her eyes filled with pity.
"Leave now, You want no part of this."
"She's the one we were told to capture!" The Barbarian charges in, swinging his axe. She doesn't even attempt to defend herself, and the weapon strikes true. Her flesh remains pristine -- the blade should have dug deep, but it didn't.
Instead, the barbarian's side rips open, as if cleft by a titan's weapon. Blood sprays out as the force of the strike flings him dozens of feet, to crumple lifeless onto the battlefield. He groans in agony.
"I warned you." The Morrigan draws her spear out of one of her dead enemies. "You have one more chance to leave."
Is it fair to put an opponent like this up against the PC party?
Yes, it is. The game master should give some hint that something's not right, but isn't obligated to do more. The game master presents to the players what their characters see, hear, smell. The game master can provide rolls (Knowledge checks or what-have-you) to help get across something's wrong, but doesn't have to give the players any more than that.
There's a reason that, in a number of books and movies, there's someone that goes and does research before the group heads off into danger. For example, hearing that they're to defeat "The Morrigan", the group may want to find out just who this Morrigan is - what's her deal, and why she's being hunted.
And, finding out who and what she is - that they can't actually hurt her, they might need to come up with a plan B. And what if they discover that, no, she has no weakness -- no means to turn this ability off. That she is, in fact, invulnerable and any attempt to hurt her usually ends in the death of her attacker?
The group will need to come up with a different plan -- talk with her? Is she maybe vulnerable to non-damaging magic? Or will that reflect on the caster? What's her goals?
Then of course, you've got Japanese Horror and Cosmic Horror. J-Horror is one of my personal favourites -- the group stumbles upon a threat that isn't pointed at them - they're just in the wrong place at the wrong time and get overwhelmed by the forces at play. (Think 'The Ring' - you look at a tape, and you've got seven days to live - not because Samara's out to get you, but because you just happened to do the wrong thing. Or 'The Grudge' - you go into the house, you're doomed and become part of the curse. There's no escape. And those around you? Well, they might be unlucky enough to get sucked in, too.)
Cosmic Horror is another one - there's forces at play here that the characters won't ever comprehend, and can't ever defeat. They can, if they're lucky, stave off these threats for a time - and often at great price. If the PCs are lucky, they're just going to be witnesses, but at worst it's a TPK.
The group makes their way under the Blair House, through the tunnels that drip constantly with moisture. The tunnels seem to twist and turn in unnatural ways, and when they come to the exit, they see a cliff, with a twisted, treacherous path that leads down to a rocky outcropping.
There, they see the cultists chanting.
"Okay, let's hit them while they're distracted," the Rogue suggests.
The Warlock hesitates. "No, I don't like this." She can feel her patron in the back of her mind, screaming for her to leave now. Out in the waters beyond, she sees the waves grow frantic, as if something big is coming.
"We've got to leave. Now."
The Paladin is about to protest, when the waters break. A towering figure begins to rise from the depths, man-shaped, but with flesh that ripples and writhes and looks to stretch out to another place, as if the creature is not all here. It rises, and continued to lift itself out ... 20 feet, 80 feet, 200 feet tall, perhaps more. The cultists scream and cry out in ecstasy even as they die in madness just at the thing's presence.
The Thief stares, eyes blank, blood dripping from his ears and one nostril, his mind gone. The Paladin stares in horror, gripping her sword tight. "What is that?" Only her holy aura keeps her alive and sane.
"A titan," the Warlock replies. "We're doomed if we stay here. There's just no defeating that." She clung to her sanity as she looked away, heading back into the cave. "Let's go. If we're lucky, that thing will disappear into the depths in a week -- maybe a month. If there's anything left of this kingdom, we'll come back later. But for now ... we go."
Are the PCs heroes?
Sure. Why not? But that doesn't mean every encounter is a victory, or even meant to be engaged. Some things are to be witnessed, some things are to be avoided, and some things ... well.
So why would the game master bring something like this into the game, if it isn't for the PCs to defeat (one way or another)? Well, a good chunk of this is world building. It is a set piece, showing just how dangerous or strange the world is - that the PCs are never going to be fully in control of the world around them, no matter what power they accumulate.
A town controlled by a boy - who insists everyone must be happy and think happy thoughts, or he does things to them with just a thought. The PCs aren't going to beat him with sword or spell - he can take it all away in an instant.
An immortal woman, undefeatable in combat. No weapon will pierce her skin, no spell will overcome her. How will the group face her?
A creature older than time, summoned by foolish cultists. Just to witness it will destroy a person's mind - how will the PCs get away? What stories of warning will they tell others? Will they try to save the helpless people about to be overwhelmed by this ancient terror, or simply flee the kingdom?
Worse-case scenario, the PCs ignore all warning and go someplace they shouldn't, face something they were not prepared for, or do something they really should have avoided doing.
I ran a Call of Cthulhu adventure for my wife. It's a one-on-one adventure, and the PC encounters a ghoul. Not a hostile ghoul - but still a ghoul. When it saw the PC it fled to its barrows, and she chased after it.
The book explicitly says, "if the PC chases after the ghoul and enters the barrow, they die, torn apart by the ghouls within."
So, when she said she went into the barrow after it, I closed the book and said, "You die." This caught her off-guard. She wasn't used to the idea that a PC could just die without any rolls involved.
But, yeah. An unarmed person entering into a dark tunnel filled with cannibalistic terrors that can see her just fine. She didn't stand a chance, and any rolling would have been pointless.
Some gamers would say I should have let her escape.
"For the story."
I completely disagree. 'The Story' is 'this is the world, this is the person exploring it, and this is what happens to them.' There's nothing saying 'and they reach the end'.
Not every table can handle this, or want to. And that's okay. Different tables have different needs. In some, the heroes are guaranteed to make it to the end - if not come out the other side victorious. That's the kind of story the table wants, and that's okay.
But even then - it might be interesting to remind them - 'not everything can be defeated' along the way.
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