I’m a long time player that recently became my groups DM. I’m really enjoying it and our first five session have gone better than I could have hoped.
I’m looking for advice for ways to really challenge them in combat. It’s a group of a few veterans, but mostly new players. They’ve been handling the combat encounters well, but a little too well. Not looking to scare them with a potential TPK, yet, but looking for ideas to shake them up a bit.
How many fights are you running between long rests? The easiest way to challenge players without worrying about overwhelming them is to wear down their resources.
If the game's circumstances are such that making them fight a bunch of times before they rest isn't workable, there's also the fight in stages, where more enemies arrive for whatever reason partway through. (This one also lets you calibrate the reinforcements on the fly if things are going badly or well for the players.) However, this one's harder to use as a regular part of your toolbox compared to "more fights" and "more monsters".
I’m a long time player that recently became my groups DM. I’m really enjoying it and our first five session have gone better than I could have hoped.
I’m looking for advice for ways to really challenge them in combat. It’s a group of a few veterans, but mostly new players. They’ve been handling the combat encounters well, but a little too well. Not looking to scare them with a potential TPK, yet, but looking for ideas to shake them up a bit.
invisible (or just well hidden) foes. sprites don't have to do a ton of damage to be a shock to the backlines. sprinkle them into other battle plans.
Transparent hazards. you need to know that characters get a -5 to passive perception when moving quickly and another -5 for dim light (even with dark vision). and that's assuming they're not distracted by other tasks like foraging, tracking footprints, etc. once you think about it, there's a million ways to accidentally walk into a gelatinous cube. dm bonus points if there's a way to trap it and later lure enemies to it.
False Appearance. no longer 'difficult' to spot, these are impossible. climbing a well to escape rising liquid, some of those statues aren't statues: gargoyles hiding from predator mimics.
Tucker's kobolds. what if low CR monsters began using cover, difficult terrain, retreating, and flanking? even little 1d2 attacks can become a big concern when the casters can't maintain concentration and melee folks can't get into melee.
wrong place, wrong time. oh, but also this area is haunted ("it wasn't me," says the new dm, "it's this random table!") and desecrated (less chance your army of intelligent minions is wiped out by a single spell).
...basically, my advice is use a mix of melee/ranged/hidden enemies. a single big monster could be fun but could also a real challenge to adjust for difficulty and play-time. so just stick to the basics but layer baddies into the encounter so you can add (or forget to add!) additional challenge as needed. and target appropriately! if someone's got a ton of armor then go ahead and let them be pounded on by enemies to feel useful. if someone likes to cast fly to escape, pester them with low damage minions to challenge them without grounding them. the overall goal is for the players to feel like they had clever and useful moments so therefore they have to feel like danger was on its way. countering a few easy go-to answers to that will help sell the peril and all you're really doing is just adding a few environmental hazards and some archers, probably.
to put it all together...
subterranean web bridge. characters following a tunnel find themselves peeping out of one big hole in a wall and facing another. between the two stretches a bridge of dusty web. not sticky in the first 10ft, it becomes difficult terrain all along the middle and that's when the archers appear above and below. snipers against the cliffs in the dark may be difficult to see but not too mobile. eventually, one of the enemy might begin lighting torches (slowly) and then throwing them at the bridge. the flammable web bridge. experienced players will have all kinds of responses (fly, teleport, spider climb (and if they don't, dm can provide some potions!)) but that just splits the party: a broken bridge spills some party members into the river below, flyers are grappled by web whips, and anyone remaining finds that the bridge leads to... something unexpected?
...leads to a 'dead' end. what, only narrow ledge and a painted black circle of a shrine rather than an actual path forward? then from the inky circle, more skeleton archers appear as if stepping from a portal.
...leads to a classic hazard. the floor writhes around a torch-bearing skeleton. but just as fire is put close to web, a mass of brown mold is revealed to be spread across the far tunnel entrance. it eliminates any source of fire on that end, but it'll also suck the heat from any adventurer who gets too close.
...leads to something odd? beyond the lip of the opening is glassy, slippery ground. a colony of flail snails is startled and in turn startle the trailing group of nothics who had been studying them.
...leads to a meeting at an enchanted pool. here a number of lampad, naiad, and dryads meet to discuss important business at a fey crossing bordered by this spring. their minions guard then entrance beside a pile of skeletons and when they see the party, they seem more bemused than anything.
How many fights are you running between long rests? The easiest way to challenge players without worrying about overwhelming them is to wear down their resources.
If the game's circumstances are such that making them fight a bunch of times before they rest isn't workable, there's also the fight in stages, where more enemies arrive for whatever reason partway through. (This one also lets you calibrate the reinforcements on the fly if things are going badly or well for the players.) However, this one's harder to use as a regular part of your toolbox compared to "more fights" and "more monsters".
This is usually the issue. If there’s only 1-2 fight a day, players know they can blow through all of their best resources and just steamroll the encounter.
So put in more fights, or more things between fights that make them use resources — every time they have to cast fly to get past an environmental challenge, that’s one fewer use of fireball.
I'm writing a blog that looks to do exactly this, for each different type of monster, individually. See Dragonencounters.com. (I'm started at the beginning of the Monster Manual, and am currently holding at the end of demons.)
DM, writer, and blog master of https://dragonencounters.com/ a blog dedicated to providing unusual, worthwhile encounters for each monster, making each one unique.
Also, suggestions for which monsters might be found together (for people tired of dungeons full of one humanoid race, and perhaps a few beasts and undead.)
Surprise: Have your NPC opponents invest in stealth. If the party can cast Pass without Trace, so can their enemies.
Use the unexpected: Maybe killing a particular monster actually curses the whole party for 24 hours or maybe the nice quest-giving NPC is actually in cahoots with the Big Bad after all.
Is this even real?? Employ illusions more often. Get the party to question more of what they see and hear. In a similar vein, use spells like Hallucinatory Terrain and Phantasmal Force on the party to both confuse and separate them.
Swarms. All swarms only take 1/2 damage from weapon attacks. And it is easy to justify why there would be multiple swarms attacking the party at the same time.
Use creatures that have legendary or lair actions. Or just add them to bosses. Cuts down on the cheap stuff like Tasha’s hideous laughter. Also, include casters with minions up front.
I'd suggest utilizing the environment to its fullest. Monsters with climb, fly or burrow speeds will live in areas where they can use them to their advantage. Intelligent foes will set up their own barricades, granting them places to strike from with cover bonuses to their AC or flat-out be unattackable without readied attacks or spells.
Pairing monsters together with complementary abilities also works. Kobolds love utilizing traps, and giant (wolf) spiders naturally make webs to trap prey with. Said spiders are also big enough for kobolds to ride as mounts, granting them efficient access to their Pack Tactics feature.
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I’m a long time player that recently became my groups DM. I’m really enjoying it and our first five session have gone better than I could have hoped.
I’m looking for advice for ways to really challenge them in combat. It’s a group of a few veterans, but mostly new players. They’ve been handling the combat encounters well, but a little too well. Not looking to scare them with a potential TPK, yet, but looking for ideas to shake them up a bit.
How many fights are you running between long rests? The easiest way to challenge players without worrying about overwhelming them is to wear down their resources.
If the game's circumstances are such that making them fight a bunch of times before they rest isn't workable, there's also the fight in stages, where more enemies arrive for whatever reason partway through. (This one also lets you calibrate the reinforcements on the fly if things are going badly or well for the players.) However, this one's harder to use as a regular part of your toolbox compared to "more fights" and "more monsters".
...basically, my advice is use a mix of melee/ranged/hidden enemies. a single big monster could be fun but could also a real challenge to adjust for difficulty and play-time. so just stick to the basics but layer baddies into the encounter so you can add (or forget to add!) additional challenge as needed. and target appropriately! if someone's got a ton of armor then go ahead and let them be pounded on by enemies to feel useful. if someone likes to cast fly to escape, pester them with low damage minions to challenge them without grounding them. the overall goal is for the players to feel like they had clever and useful moments so therefore they have to feel like danger was on its way. countering a few easy go-to answers to that will help sell the peril and all you're really doing is just adding a few environmental hazards and some archers, probably.
to put it all together...
subterranean web bridge. characters following a tunnel find themselves peeping out of one big hole in a wall and facing another. between the two stretches a bridge of dusty web. not sticky in the first 10ft, it becomes difficult terrain all along the middle and that's when the archers appear above and below. snipers against the cliffs in the dark may be difficult to see but not too mobile. eventually, one of the enemy might begin lighting torches (slowly) and then throwing them at the bridge. the flammable web bridge. experienced players will have all kinds of responses (fly, teleport, spider climb (and if they don't, dm can provide some potions!)) but that just splits the party: a broken bridge spills some party members into the river below, flyers are grappled by web whips, and anyone remaining finds that the bridge leads to... something unexpected?
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: provide feedback!
This is usually the issue. If there’s only 1-2 fight a day, players know they can blow through all of their best resources and just steamroll the encounter.
So put in more fights, or more things between fights that make them use resources — every time they have to cast fly to get past an environmental challenge, that’s one fewer use of fireball.
I'm writing a blog that looks to do exactly this, for each different type of monster, individually. See Dragonencounters.com. (I'm started at the beginning of the Monster Manual, and am currently holding at the end of demons.)
DM, writer, and blog master of https://dragonencounters.com/ a blog dedicated to providing unusual, worthwhile encounters for each monster, making each one unique.
Also, suggestions for which monsters might be found together (for people tired of dungeons full of one humanoid race, and perhaps a few beasts and undead.)
Surprise: Have your NPC opponents invest in stealth. If the party can cast Pass without Trace, so can their enemies.
Use the unexpected: Maybe killing a particular monster actually curses the whole party for 24 hours or maybe the nice quest-giving NPC is actually in cahoots with the Big Bad after all.
Is this even real?? Employ illusions more often. Get the party to question more of what they see and hear. In a similar vein, use spells like Hallucinatory Terrain and Phantasmal Force on the party to both confuse and separate them.
Swarms. All swarms only take 1/2 damage from weapon attacks. And it is easy to justify why there would be multiple swarms attacking the party at the same time.
Use creatures that have legendary or lair actions. Or just add them to bosses. Cuts down on the cheap stuff like Tasha’s hideous laughter. Also, include casters with minions up front.
I'd suggest utilizing the environment to its fullest. Monsters with climb, fly or burrow speeds will live in areas where they can use them to their advantage. Intelligent foes will set up their own barricades, granting them places to strike from with cover bonuses to their AC or flat-out be unattackable without readied attacks or spells.
Pairing monsters together with complementary abilities also works. Kobolds love utilizing traps, and giant (wolf) spiders naturally make webs to trap prey with. Said spiders are also big enough for kobolds to ride as mounts, granting them efficient access to their Pack Tactics feature.