I am starting a Princes of the Apocalypse campaign in a couple of weeks with a group that is completing Lost Mines of Phandelver. They will all be L5 at a minimum by the end.
I want them to have a challenge and not just breeze through the first half of the campaign. I will be adjusting encounters to make them more difficult (since the beginning ones are aimed at L3) but I also want to ensure they don't continue to level up too quickly so I can hit a point where I don't have to modify encounters.
I am toying with the idea of imposing an XP sap dialogued as a deity (tharizdun, though they wont know this yet) becoming aware of their presence in Dessarin Valley. They would stay L5 but their xp total would reset to start of the level. My other option is to manipulate xp rewarded for a short time. I could also describe this as a penalty imposed by a deity.
What are people's thoughts on this? I feel it's important to manage their power advantage early, but I don't want to discourage them either or have them feel like im stealing from their accomplishments. I like the deity idea as it gives them a portent of the severity of what they are about to face
I'd recommend just telling them that they're going to a milestone leveling system until level 6. Don't explain it away as a God punishing them or any other in-character thing like that; experience points aren't really an in-character thing anyways.
I have used a hybrid system before, wherein I reward xp for resolving an encounter with either excellent role play or a very impressive combat display but would not give xp for just steamrolling a goblin horde with fireball time after time. I found this does slow levelling, but increases RPing and imaginative gameplay. I haven't tried it in a pre-existing campaign though...
As a side note, I hope you enjoy the campaign, PotA is perhaps one of my favourite modules and has some fun encounters and interesting dungeons. Good luck in your game!
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I am starting a Princes of the Apocalypse campaign in a couple of weeks with a group that is completing Lost Mines of Phandelver. They will all be L5 at a minimum by the end.
I want them to have a challenge and not just breeze through the first half of the campaign. I will be adjusting encounters to make them more difficult (since the beginning ones are aimed at L3) but I also want to ensure they don't continue to level up too quickly so I can hit a point where I don't have to modify encounters.
I am toying with the idea of imposing an XP sap dialogued as a deity (tharizdun, though they wont know this yet) becoming aware of their presence in Dessarin Valley. They would stay L5 but their xp total would reset to start of the level. My other option is to manipulate xp rewarded for a short time. I could also describe this as a penalty imposed by a deity.
What are people's thoughts on this? I feel it's important to manage their power advantage early, but I don't want to discourage them either or have them feel like im stealing from their accomplishments. I like the deity idea as it gives them a portent of the severity of what they are about to face
I'd recommend just telling them that they're going to a milestone leveling system until level 6. Don't explain it away as a God punishing them or any other in-character thing like that; experience points aren't really an in-character thing anyways.
I have used a hybrid system before, wherein I reward xp for resolving an encounter with either excellent role play or a very impressive combat display but would not give xp for just steamrolling a goblin horde with fireball time after time. I found this does slow levelling, but increases RPing and imaginative gameplay. I haven't tried it in a pre-existing campaign though...
As a side note, I hope you enjoy the campaign, PotA is perhaps one of my favourite modules and has some fun encounters and interesting dungeons. Good luck in your game!