My group has 8 members an we have been playing for more than 1 year, Icewindale. We have gorgeous memories and we are finishing our campaign. So far so good, the group cant be divided into smaller groups becouse it is a family gathering and the game is an excuse.
So roleplaying is relaying is relatively smooth while combat is difficult to level well. With somany players I wonder if I should do the following, since DC is calculated for 4 players. In the case of 8 players, I shall:
1. Multiply the HP of each monster by 2
2. Multiply the number of monsters by 2 (keeping their HP normal)
Wich method shall I use to have a better ballance?
I don't have a ton of experience, but raising HP has the advantage of not massively increasing the number of units you need to run during any given encounter, which is often a significant speed bump to play. That said, player action economy will still be a significant factor.
I’d honestly recommend abandoning a numerical system altogether for HP tracking. Get a vague number of rounds or health in the hundreds that you want instead, and then decide when the monsters die based off when you feel it would be right (this works a lot better for larger groups that will shred your bigger monster like paper). Or I also recommend spellcasters and less martial enemies, especially with summons. You can also always edit as you go along in the encounter, if you find you didn’t add enough goblins, have them call for allies etc. For boss fights, I‘d definitely recommend cushioning your boss with HP boost AND adding more smaller enemies. If it turns out the battle is too tough, encourage a retreat or start a revolt in the enemy lines, something that’ll even the odds. Encounter balancing is always hard though, so good luck.
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— δ cyno • he/him • number one paladin fanδ — making a smoothie for meta ——————| EXTENDED SIG |—————— Φ • redpelt’s biggest fan :) DM, minmaxer, microbiology student, and lover of anything colored red • Φ
The issue with simply increasing HP is that damage output remains the same. That means the players are getting (compared to four players) double health and double output, while the enemies are only getting double health. You could drastically increase HP...but then it's going to really drag out encounters.
You're going to have to compromise somewhere. TTRPGs don't cope well with large numbers of players, so no matter what, you'll have issues. The options as I see them:
Double health and damage output. This will disproportionately affect melee combatants, but keeps things simpler.
Double the number of combatants. This will be the fairest, but also means a lot of work to runt he combat, because instead of 7 goblins in that one quest, you now have to run 14.
Quadruple health. This will drag encounters on for a lot longer.
Upgrade the adversaries. Instead of Goblins, they have to fight Goblin Bosses. This is probably the best balance, but requires the most out-of -session work. You have to work out how much of a challenge an encounter will be, then work out how many of the new adversaries they'd have to face in order to get a similar challenge for more people.
Split the party. This would have to be done sparingly to avoid breaking immersion, but if you have an awkward encounter to rebalance or just don't have the time to prep a rebalanced one, this could work. Split the party into two (perhaps a trap cuts them off from one another, a caster casts Wall of Stone, etc), then each subparty has a copy of the original encounter to play through.
Every option has its drawbacks. You have to look at party composition (both as players and as characters) and see what you think would work best. For example, if they're pretty much all melee combatants, I'd just double health and damage - the increased load will roughly evenly distributed anyway, so you get the best of every world. If you only have two or three melee combatants, then that would be very unfair, so you'd have to look at something else.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
Hi!
I sincerely thank in anvance for any help.
My group has 8 members an we have been playing for more than 1 year, Icewindale. We have gorgeous memories and we are finishing our campaign. So far so good, the group cant be divided into smaller groups becouse it is a family gathering and the game is an excuse.
So roleplaying is relaying is relatively smooth while combat is difficult to level well. With somany players I wonder if I should do the following, since DC is calculated for 4 players. In the case of 8 players, I shall:
1. Multiply the HP of each monster by 2
2. Multiply the number of monsters by 2 (keeping their HP normal)
Wich method shall I use to have a better ballance?
Best regards,
Joe
I don't have a ton of experience, but raising HP has the advantage of not massively increasing the number of units you need to run during any given encounter, which is often a significant speed bump to play. That said, player action economy will still be a significant factor.
I’d honestly recommend abandoning a numerical system altogether for HP tracking. Get a vague number of rounds or health in the hundreds that you want instead, and then decide when the monsters die based off when you feel it would be right (this works a lot better for larger groups that will shred your bigger monster like paper). Or I also recommend spellcasters and less martial enemies, especially with summons. You can also always edit as you go along in the encounter, if you find you didn’t add enough goblins, have them call for allies etc. For boss fights, I‘d definitely recommend cushioning your boss with HP boost AND adding more smaller enemies. If it turns out the battle is too tough, encourage a retreat or start a revolt in the enemy lines, something that’ll even the odds. Encounter balancing is always hard though, so good luck.
— δ cyno • he/him • number one paladin fan δ —
making a smoothie for meta
——————| EXTENDED SIG |——————
Φ • redpelt’s biggest fan :) DM, minmaxer, microbiology student, and lover of anything colored red • Φ
The issue with simply increasing HP is that damage output remains the same. That means the players are getting (compared to four players) double health and double output, while the enemies are only getting double health. You could drastically increase HP...but then it's going to really drag out encounters.
You're going to have to compromise somewhere. TTRPGs don't cope well with large numbers of players, so no matter what, you'll have issues. The options as I see them:
Every option has its drawbacks. You have to look at party composition (both as players and as characters) and see what you think would work best. For example, if they're pretty much all melee combatants, I'd just double health and damage - the increased load will roughly evenly distributed anyway, so you get the best of every world. If you only have two or three melee combatants, then that would be very unfair, so you'd have to look at something else.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
For combat balancing you can use the Encounter-Builder right here on D&D Beyond. It's not perfect, nothing is, but it helps me build a baseline encounter grouping.
Thanks a lot. Now I can review more knowingly and relax.