Yeah, I had a feeling that luck would play a big part in today's battles. It always does at lower levels; the squishier characters are only a crit or two away from death, and the amount of damage that occurs is more from the dice than from bonuses, so its less predictable.
So I specifically designed some of the encounters to be avoidable, in case things got hard and you needed to bypass a battle or two.
The rats you could have slammed the door on and avoided. No diamond, but partial xp for quick thinking.
The spider was pretty much mandatory. You could have waited for the next shift of guards, but then you'd just be trading one encounter for another.
The goblins were inebriated, and not really looking for a fight anyway, since they knew they'd lose (no armor, swords they could barely heft, general drunkenness). I figured that unless you just charged in there swords drawn you'd avoid them somehow.
As for Farkus, he was entirely optional. Put a nice little sign up so you'd know he was there, and freedom lay mere feet away. I figured there was a good chance you'd be pretty battered by this point, as well as low on spells, so I wasn't sure you'd be up to facing a 5th level spellcaster right at the end. Did fine though, he wasn't very well built or very smart. Spiritual Weapon wasn't even on his list of Spells Known.
Of course, if you
hadn't fought him, He'd have probably shown up later, and more powerful. Because I wouldn't begrudge you the opportunity to pound the guy who tried to have you burned at the stake.
