Heyo fellow DMs! I'm currently new to DMing (playing for 6yrs) and I'm making a campaign to fight the Deamon Lord's (yes I big undertaking for a new DM) Unfortunately I'm running into a slight problem. My players (of 3) even at max level when they would only be able to fight one of them as hard the others deadly. I don't wanna make it obvious that the fight is being nerfed. Any advice? Would removing legendary actions make them easier?
Drop damage per round, but not the to-hit bonus. Monsters *feel* more dangerous when they always connect. Keep an eye on spell effects that might pull a PC out of the equation for too long. Giving your BBE movement abilities that allow for more battlefield coverage and maneuver might prevent the PCs from making contact and works to make the creature harder to reach. Attack riders that impose conditions can be useful to add to that feeling. Including a disarming attack, or reaction, can challenge your players without adding much in the ways of hit point removal. Abilities and features that cause damage, in a small radius, when the BBE takes damage also add to the feel of being dangerous. You can also use environmental devices that make the BBE vulnerable for a short time, or allow opportunities for the PCs to drop pillars or walls on BBE to knock big chunks of HP off the statblock, or at least allow for them to take a breather and heal up.
The idea is to make the monster feel and act dangerous, but hit like a q-tip. The party should feel like they have a 30% chance of success, when they are closer to a 70% success rate.
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“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
Another thing I've found helpful is to Add some secondary antagonists that are after your PCs and the BBEG; You can divert off to attacking the other enemies for a round or two if you are afraid you're about to drop the party too early. Your secondary antagonists can do some damage to the BBEG as well. Plus your spellcasters get to feel really good about getting a bunch of enemies in their AOE spells. If you've got a good talker in the party, they can even engineer a temporary alliance, that sort of thing. Wipe a bunch of those guys off the map with your BBEG.
It makes the whole fight feel more dangerous, but in reality, you've got a bunch of guys that are then 50% on their side. Chaos!
Heyo fellow DMs! I'm currently new to DMing (playing for 6yrs) and I'm making a campaign to fight the Deamon Lord's (yes I big undertaking for a new DM) Unfortunately I'm running into a slight problem. My players (of 3) even at max level when they would only be able to fight one of them as hard the others deadly. I don't wanna make it obvious that the fight is being nerfed. Any advice? Would removing legendary actions make them easier?
Drop damage per round, but not the to-hit bonus. Monsters *feel* more dangerous when they always connect. Keep an eye on spell effects that might pull a PC out of the equation for too long. Giving your BBE movement abilities that allow for more battlefield coverage and maneuver might prevent the PCs from making contact and works to make the creature harder to reach. Attack riders that impose conditions can be useful to add to that feeling. Including a disarming attack, or reaction, can challenge your players without adding much in the ways of hit point removal. Abilities and features that cause damage, in a small radius, when the BBE takes damage also add to the feel of being dangerous. You can also use environmental devices that make the BBE vulnerable for a short time, or allow opportunities for the PCs to drop pillars or walls on BBE to knock big chunks of HP off the statblock, or at least allow for them to take a breather and heal up.
The idea is to make the monster feel and act dangerous, but hit like a q-tip. The party should feel like they have a 30% chance of success, when they are closer to a 70% success rate.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
Another thing I've found helpful is to Add some secondary antagonists that are after your PCs and the BBEG; You can divert off to attacking the other enemies for a round or two if you are afraid you're about to drop the party too early. Your secondary antagonists can do some damage to the BBEG as well. Plus your spellcasters get to feel really good about getting a bunch of enemies in their AOE spells. If you've got a good talker in the party, they can even engineer a temporary alliance, that sort of thing. Wipe a bunch of those guys off the map with your BBEG.
It makes the whole fight feel more dangerous, but in reality, you've got a bunch of guys that are then 50% on their side. Chaos!
dabbler in diverse and detailed worlds