I'm running a session for some fairly inexperienced players. I have a rogue, ranger and monk who will all be level 1. I want to create two combat encounters. I want advice on how many enemies I should use and any other tips
First encounter would be in a tavern against some corrupt mercenaries guards.
The second would be against some skeletons and a human Spellcaster (preferably a warlock as he has a pact with an evil fey creature)
The Noble doesn't engage in combat unless he has to except to use his Parry action to avoid getting hit. If the fight seems to be getting too dicey, you can have the rest of the enemies flee if the party beats up two or three of them.
The Noble doesn't engage in combat unless he has to except to use his Parry action to avoid getting hit. If the fight seems to be getting too dicey, you can have the rest of the enemies flee if the party beats up two or three of them.
That's very nice, except for one thing. If there are multiple enemies, you multiply the effective XP as shown on another chart before you look at that chart to see how tough the encounter is.
For 3-6 enemies, you double the effective XP value.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
I didn't use a chart. I just plugged 3 level 1 characters into this encounter calculator and then spent the budget it gave me. The calculator's math hasn't really lead me astray up to this point, so could you maybe explain your process better? What calculations end you up at what sort of budget?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"The mongoose blew out its candle and was asleep in bed before the room went dark." —Llanowar fable
I didn't use a chart. I just plugged 3 level 1 characters into this encounter calculator and then spent the budget it gave me. The calculator's math hasn't really lead me astray up to this point, so could you maybe explain your process better? What calculations end you up at what sort of budget?
I use the charts and formulae in the DMG.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
I didn't use a chart. I just plugged 3 level 1 characters into this encounter calculator and then spent the budget it gave me. The calculator's math hasn't really lead me astray up to this point, so could you maybe explain your process better? What calculations end you up at what sort of budget?
I use the charts and formulae in the DMG.
Yeah, but I would assume the calculator does too....so I'm not sure what you found off about my selections? I'm not trying to be confrontational or anything. I'm just confused at what the difference is?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"The mongoose blew out its candle and was asleep in bed before the room went dark." —Llanowar fable
Xanathar's Guide has a helpful chart for this sort of thing (less math than the DMG way of doing things).
A 1st level party facing multiple opponents in an encounter should be able to handle twice as many CR 1/8 creatures as there are party members, or an equal number of CR 1/4 creatures as there are party members.
So you should be able to use 2 guards (from the monster manual) for each player character in the corrupt guards encounter.
The mage and skeletons encounter is a bit trickier, since 1 skeleton (from the monster manual) for each player character would be a "normal" encounter, so putting in a mage would require doing something like using an apprentice wizard (from Volo's guide to monsters) in place of one skeleton, or making the encounter more difficult than "normal" by just adding a mage of some sort to the mix (which I'd still recommend keeping that mage at or below CR 1).
I have VGTM so will check out the apprentice mage. I thought it would be tricky for the final encounter as well. Maybe I need to think about a method for shortening the lifespan of one of the skeletons. The ranger has a panther who they don't control yet, but maybe it could go for one of the skeletons on its own.
I'm running a session for some fairly inexperienced players. I have a rogue, ranger and monk who will all be level 1. I want to create two combat encounters. I want advice on how many enemies I should use and any other tips
First encounter would be in a tavern against some corrupt mercenaries guards.
The second would be against some skeletons and a human Spellcaster (preferably a warlock as he has a pact with an evil fey creature)
Look in the DM's Guide.
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Tooltips (Help/aid)
What would be considered a "medium" encounter for a party of that number and level is around 150xp. So, with that sort of budget in mind:
Tavern Brawl Encounter (You pissed off the wrong guy!)
Wake-dancing to Thriller
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Tooltips (Help/aid)
I didn't use a chart. I just plugged 3 level 1 characters into this encounter calculator and then spent the budget it gave me. The calculator's math hasn't really lead me astray up to this point, so could you maybe explain your process better? What calculations end you up at what sort of budget?
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Tooltips (Help/aid)
Xanathar's Guide has a helpful chart for this sort of thing (less math than the DMG way of doing things).
A 1st level party facing multiple opponents in an encounter should be able to handle twice as many CR 1/8 creatures as there are party members, or an equal number of CR 1/4 creatures as there are party members.
So you should be able to use 2 guards (from the monster manual) for each player character in the corrupt guards encounter.
The mage and skeletons encounter is a bit trickier, since 1 skeleton (from the monster manual) for each player character would be a "normal" encounter, so putting in a mage would require doing something like using an apprentice wizard (from Volo's guide to monsters) in place of one skeleton, or making the encounter more difficult than "normal" by just adding a mage of some sort to the mix (which I'd still recommend keeping that mage at or below CR 1).
I have VGTM so will check out the apprentice mage. I thought it would be tricky for the final encounter as well. Maybe I need to think about a method for shortening the lifespan of one of the skeletons. The ranger has a panther who they don't control yet, but maybe it could go for one of the skeletons on its own.
Fantastic resources on donjon.
Random encounter generator based on terrain monsters etc...
http://donjon.bin.sh/5e/random/#type=encounter;n_pc=4;level=1;difficulty=any;environment=Underdark
encounter size calc
http://donjon.bin.sh/5e/calc/enc_size.html