I have hit a dangerous spot in the D&D campaign I'm currently dungeonmastering. The players, thanks to an intentionally difficult combat and unintentional dice misfortune, have just about exhausted their abilities and still face the greatest challenge of the encounter (a zombie ogre). In their current situation, the fighter and druid are down to single-digit hit points (the sorcerer has that much at full health) and the archivist is struggling to get out of a pool of tainted water, with the assistance of the rest of the group. As the ogre's damage bonus along would knock any of them (except for the struggling archivist) out, they are in a race against it getting an attack on any of them.
Had it not been for their extraordinary misfortune with the dice, I think the situation would have been significantly different, with somewhat more of a sliver of hope. There are some strategic mistakes on their part (the failure to bring holy water to a situation that would certainly include undead and the archivist's choice of position between a zombie and the dirty pool), but dice matter in D&D.
Now I am stuck wondering if and how I, as the gamemaster, can help resolve the conflict in the players' favor. I am hesitant to see any of their characters bite the dust and loathe to bring about a total party kill. The only plausible means I have of intervention is with the introduction of another character, most likely run by me. The idea of intervening itself raises questions of dungeonmastering legitimacy as it risks coddling the players and preempting any sense of risk they may feel in the future (as well as a dissatisfaction over the apparent failure of their characters to manage on their own). Because of these questions, I feel the need to to check in with the main Dungeon Master (I am just an Assistant DM, substituting for the time being; he is currently playing the archivist the rest of the group is trying to save) and hear whether he's okay it.
If I intervene, new questions pop up, most notably how can I intervene without taking the spotlight from the players and their characters. Simply introducing a new character who comes in and saves the day bears the hallmarks of self-interest where the DM shows up the rest of characters for his own self-glorification. If I introduce a new character, that character must help through the other characters; in other words, the assistance is only useful through the participation of the original characters. Rather than lead the characters, the new one must support them and enable them to remain in the spotlight until they reach some kind of success (whether simple survival, a partial victory, or a full victory).
My ideas for intervention primarily revolve around introducing a supporting spell-caster (healer) with equipment that is useful to the rest of the party. In this case, that useful equipment would largely consist of vials of holy water and other means of damaging the zombie ogre. The caster could assist the rest of the group while retaining a background role. I anticipate no problems in terms of story legitimacy as the characters have been camped at the site for almost a week and have not been particularly covert about it.
What really strikes me about the situation is that characters were almost at full strength when they started this combat (with the exception of the druid, who fell during the climb into their current area and took 7 points of damage). I am surprised that it has taken so much of their resources to just get to where they are now. I have to question my understanding of the encounter's challenge, while considering the players' preparation for it.
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