I'll be starting my first dnd campaign at some point over the next month and I've only played with either one player or a fully balanced party (Caster, Tank, Dps, Utility and so on). The problem concerning me is that my 3 players have chosen (starting a level 2) Drow Bard aiming for College of Whispers; Human Circle of the Shepard Druid; and Mountain Dwarf Wild Magic Sorcerer. I know that all of them, particularly the bard, CAN technically be melee, but I'm slightly worried about balancing encounters for a party of primary casters. Any Tips or Tricks from DM's that have done this before?
I don't have a wealth of experience with squishy groups, but you can begin by focusing on putting monsters out there with higher HP but less damage. That way, they aren't going to get annihilated due to their lack of AC/defense. Once you get a feel for things, you may able to put some more damage-focused characters out there. Alternatively, spellcasters are often better against...other spellcasters.
Keep in mind that the Shepherd druid ends up largely specialized in conjured creatures. These make excellent tanks as they're basically disposable meat shields. On top of that, it may not be too much of an issue overall, given the support and control available to both druid and bard. Overall, I'd say start slow and see how it goes.
As long as you stick to the encounter building rules in the DMG, you won't have a problem. The rules don't assume any specific party composition. Start with Medium encounters and then push up to hard and deadly only once you get a feel for how the players are handling combat.
Highly optimized parties (both in individual PCs and how the group synergizes together), work sort of like magic items in 5e. That is, you'll be hitting above your weight, allowing you to take on monster CRs higher than your level and XP levels past deadly.
I have a group with a Shepard druid in it, I don't think you will need to worry too much. Wildshape makes them very durable, and they have strong healing as well. With the bard able to provide healing as well, your group may just want lots of short rests, but they will be strong.
Thanks for the advice folks! I'll going to be starting them out on the medium stuff in terms of CR, with a few casters thrown in (it makes sense in the world anyway) and I'll see how they do. Its encouraging to hear that the party is actually more balanced than I thought.
Just note that CR isn’t really for building encounters, the xp associated with th CR and the number of monsters the party is fighting is how you want to build. CR is only there as a guide to the most powerful creature a party should face as the party may not be able to counter the abilities of a creature with higher CR than their level, even though it looks like they have the XP budget to face it. That will be especially true in a non optimized party.
I've found a lot of success in starting slow and building up. Throw a number of smaller encounters their way to see how they like to play these squishy characters, and with these easier encounters at the start you can have that war of attrition that allows you to modify encounters as you go without making the difficult ones too rough.
If the party is making things look easy, use creatures that are a bit stronger in the next fight (or have reinforcements come in.) If a PC spellcaster keeps using that one great spell, throw out something to negate it after the third time to force them to think differently.
And if you're worried about them being too squishy, starting off slow will help with them not all dying in the first fight you throw at them. ;) You'll find their balance and party dynamic quickly enough.
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I'll be starting my first dnd campaign at some point over the next month and I've only played with either one player or a fully balanced party (Caster, Tank, Dps, Utility and so on). The problem concerning me is that my 3 players have chosen (starting a level 2) Drow Bard aiming for College of Whispers; Human Circle of the Shepard Druid; and Mountain Dwarf Wild Magic Sorcerer. I know that all of them, particularly the bard, CAN technically be melee, but I'm slightly worried about balancing encounters for a party of primary casters. Any Tips or Tricks from DM's that have done this before?
I don't have a wealth of experience with squishy groups, but you can begin by focusing on putting monsters out there with higher HP but less damage. That way, they aren't going to get annihilated due to their lack of AC/defense. Once you get a feel for things, you may able to put some more damage-focused characters out there. Alternatively, spellcasters are often better against...other spellcasters.
Keep in mind that the Shepherd druid ends up largely specialized in conjured creatures. These make excellent tanks as they're basically disposable meat shields. On top of that, it may not be too much of an issue overall, given the support and control available to both druid and bard. Overall, I'd say start slow and see how it goes.
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I see it as a great way to add in a npc or two. As a group I would hire a guard or two. Hirelings are a great tool for combat and roleplay.
As long as you stick to the encounter building rules in the DMG, you won't have a problem. The rules don't assume any specific party composition. Start with Medium encounters and then push up to hard and deadly only once you get a feel for how the players are handling combat.
Highly optimized parties (both in individual PCs and how the group synergizes together), work sort of like magic items in 5e. That is, you'll be hitting above your weight, allowing you to take on monster CRs higher than your level and XP levels past deadly.
I have a group with a Shepard druid in it, I don't think you will need to worry too much. Wildshape makes them very durable, and they have strong healing as well. With the bard able to provide healing as well, your group may just want lots of short rests, but they will be strong.
Thanks for the advice folks! I'll going to be starting them out on the medium stuff in terms of CR, with a few casters thrown in (it makes sense in the world anyway) and I'll see how they do. Its encouraging to hear that the party is actually more balanced than I thought.
Just note that CR isn’t really for building encounters, the xp associated with th CR and the number of monsters the party is fighting is how you want to build. CR is only there as a guide to the most powerful creature a party should face as the party may not be able to counter the abilities of a creature with higher CR than their level, even though it looks like they have the XP budget to face it. That will be especially true in a non optimized party.
I've found a lot of success in starting slow and building up. Throw a number of smaller encounters their way to see how they like to play these squishy characters, and with these easier encounters at the start you can have that war of attrition that allows you to modify encounters as you go without making the difficult ones too rough.
If the party is making things look easy, use creatures that are a bit stronger in the next fight (or have reinforcements come in.) If a PC spellcaster keeps using that one great spell, throw out something to negate it after the third time to force them to think differently.
And if you're worried about them being too squishy, starting off slow will help with them not all dying in the first fight you throw at them. ;) You'll find their balance and party dynamic quickly enough.