I play a paladin in a group comprised of myself and six other players. Our DM took a vacation and I have been asked to DM a oneshot for our group. I am trying to go with a loose adaptation of Pathfinder's Crypt of the Everflame whereupon the characters are contacted to recover an eternal flame from an undead-infested tomb - the flame would have been stolen by a dragon worshipping cult.
I only have about four hours, so I will run combat in theater of the mind and will be chopping significant portions of the original module.
Our party composition is:
Monk 5 (some homebrew Way that only our DM is aware of), Bard 1 - 47 HP (AC 20)
Ranger ( Revised Beastmaster)/ Druid (Circle of the Moon) 3 - 40 HP, AC 16 - plus a homebrew snake companion that has about 30 HP
Paladin (Oathbreaker) 5 - 39 HP, AC 17 - will not be playing
So far, I have been thinking about throwing three to four combat encounters at them:
#1 A group of ogres to be met in the wilderness (3 ogre chain brutes, 1 ogre battering rams and 1 ogre bolter). They are illusions sent to test their worth, meaning the characters get a chance to fully recover from the wounds they suffer in this encounter
#2 (optional) a room filled with phantasmal beings (3 wraiths - replacing the Shadow from the original module)
#3 a great hall that hides the bodies of priests and a sacrificial pit filled with bones (1 giant skeleton, 2 mummies, a rug of smothering and 2 animated armors)
#4 BBEG - Conceptually, I was thinking this could be a draugr priest and a huge minion (beast, demon or something), but I am running a little dry on ideas. I was thinking about attempting to use a shadow red dragon and a caster that could be its controller (ideally, something similar to a cleric). However, I would have to nerf it down a bit.
Another option would be a Deathlock mastermind and a Beholder Zombie. Would that work?
Then I add 1-2 extra creatures, because I'm mean, and because the players have shown they can handle it.
You can then add anything that fits the requisite CR rating in the MM. Here on DnD Beyond you can even filter by CR range, and have the entire list of critters that would work.
For 6 players, averaging Level 6, @ Deadly strength, you want:
18-20 @ CR 1/8
12-20 @ CR 1/4
8-20 @ CR 1/2
5-14 @ CR 1
3-8 @ CR 2
2-6 @ CR 3
2-4 @ CR 4
1-3 @ CR 5
1-2 @ CR 6
1-2 @ CR 7
1 @ CR 8-13
Deathlock MM = CR 8 - seems to be on track
Beholder Zombie = CR 5 - seems a bit on the light side.
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Hi all,
I play a paladin in a group comprised of myself and six other players. Our DM took a vacation and I have been asked to DM a oneshot for our group. I am trying to go with a loose adaptation of Pathfinder's Crypt of the Everflame whereupon the characters are contacted to recover an eternal flame from an undead-infested tomb - the flame would have been stolen by a dragon worshipping cult.
I only have about four hours, so I will run combat in theater of the mind and will be chopping significant portions of the original module.
Our party composition is:
Monk 5 (some homebrew Way that only our DM is aware of), Bard 1 - 47 HP (AC 20)
Warlock (fiend pact) 4 - 34 HP ( AC 14)
Rogue (arcane trickster) 4. Warlock 2 (fiend pact) - 46 HP, AC 17
Cleric (War Domain) 6 - 45 HP, AC 18
Wizard (Necromancer) 6 - 34 HP, AC 14
Ranger ( Revised Beastmaster)/ Druid (Circle of the Moon) 3 - 40 HP, AC 16 - plus a homebrew snake companion that has about 30 HP
Paladin (Oathbreaker) 5 - 39 HP, AC 17 - will not be playing
So far, I have been thinking about throwing three to four combat encounters at them:
#1 A group of ogres to be met in the wilderness (3 ogre chain brutes, 1 ogre battering rams and 1 ogre bolter). They are illusions sent to test their worth, meaning the characters get a chance to fully recover from the wounds they suffer in this encounter
#2 (optional) a room filled with phantasmal beings (3 wraiths - replacing the Shadow from the original module)
#3 a great hall that hides the bodies of priests and a sacrificial pit filled with bones (1 giant skeleton, 2 mummies, a rug of smothering and 2 animated armors)
#4 BBEG - Conceptually, I was thinking this could be a draugr priest and a huge minion (beast, demon or something), but I am running a little dry on ideas. I was thinking about attempting to use a shadow red dragon and a caster that could be its controller (ideally, something similar to a cleric). However, I would have to nerf it down a bit.
Another option would be a Deathlock mastermind and a Beholder Zombie. Would that work?
I typically use this calculator to "ballpark" the encounter strength at deadly: https://donjon.bin.sh/5e/calc/enc_size.html
Then I add 1-2 extra creatures, because I'm mean, and because the players have shown they can handle it.
You can then add anything that fits the requisite CR rating in the MM. Here on DnD Beyond you can even filter by CR range, and have the entire list of critters that would work.
For 6 players, averaging Level 6, @ Deadly strength, you want:
Deathlock MM = CR 8 - seems to be on track
Beholder Zombie = CR 5 - seems a bit on the light side.
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.