My party is currently at a natural lull in their adventuring, and have a few weeks to spare. This seems to be a good time for their characters to get to know each other a little better. I suggested running a series of 'fashback' one-shots that portray important moments in their lives; rather than RPing their characters telling these stories, they would relive them. I think it would be a much more fun, memorable and tactile way to learn about each other. They're excited for this, as am I, though the main thing I'm worried about is combat.
The one-shot would be set before the party met (lv 1), and the players who are not the focus of each session would be given character sheets of npcs to play alongside the main protagonist. The issue here is combat, which my party enjoys; They are now level 5, and I doubt they would enjoy returning to level 1 combat, that being said, I'm not sure how to 'power up' the combat in the one-shot without some serious hand-waving. How would you work around this? Provide them with powerful gear and weapons? Just allow them to play with their current stats? Beef up their hp/AC/modifiers but restrict to 1st level class abilities? Any thoughts would be great!
If they are flashbacks, then you're kind of restricted to what their gear and status would have been at that point ( or you're kind of throwing continuity out the window - which might not be an issue, your group's call ) so combat would need to be scaled to that level, planning the encounter like you would for any other session.
One other possibility is that the Characters used to be higher level, and something in the flashback strips out - but having that be the case for all the Characters seems to be stretching credulity and chance a lot, especially as this all happened before party met up ( so they can't coincidentally all have been caught in the same "abyssal energy vortex", or whatever ).
But they might actually enjoy getting a feel for level 1 combat again - really make them appreciate those level 5 abilities, now that they're gone!
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Yeah, you've pretty much summed up my predicament. I could probably story-up some reasons why the characters are more powerful than they would otherwise have been - the paladin is undertaking his initiation and he is provided with a special set of his order's armour for the task, the monk undergoes a special ritual in her monastery to empower her with ki from her elders etc. Its just that I find being able to be 1-hit by a goblin a bit lacklustre.
Focus on the roleplay/social aspect, if their home village was attacked make it about the escape. You could alternately have the "npc"char sheets higher level if the backstory has the player being saved/defended/ in debt to an NPC. Maybe have the focus PC play both themselves and a person important to their char so they don't feel underpowered as the focus?
If you made the adventures all city based, you could put them up against other humans - who are all most likely be level 0 or 1. It's likely a more social/political set of adventures - but you could throw a combat or two in there as well with merchants, street toughs, etc. Probably don't throw down with the local thieves/assassins guild, as they're professional killers able to wipe out "civilians" - which you party now is! - with relative ease.
Just remember that you can't kill them off - so having an NPC in the mix that can revive them ( probably stabilize and/or potion them - no need for Resurrection magics ) would be a good idea.
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.
Depending on the backstory you might consider running the "Flashback PC" as a low level NPC (either under your control or said player’s) while everyone gets to play higher level “Temporary PCs". Perhaps by allowing the player whose flashback it is run their mentor, teacher or even antagonist (whoever led or drove them to become an adventurer) they won’t feel like you’re taking away any agency.
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My party is currently at a natural lull in their adventuring, and have a few weeks to spare. This seems to be a good time for their characters to get to know each other a little better. I suggested running a series of 'fashback' one-shots that portray important moments in their lives; rather than RPing their characters telling these stories, they would relive them. I think it would be a much more fun, memorable and tactile way to learn about each other. They're excited for this, as am I, though the main thing I'm worried about is combat.
The one-shot would be set before the party met (lv 1), and the players who are not the focus of each session would be given character sheets of npcs to play alongside the main protagonist. The issue here is combat, which my party enjoys; They are now level 5, and I doubt they would enjoy returning to level 1 combat, that being said, I'm not sure how to 'power up' the combat in the one-shot without some serious hand-waving. How would you work around this? Provide them with powerful gear and weapons? Just allow them to play with their current stats? Beef up their hp/AC/modifiers but restrict to 1st level class abilities? Any thoughts would be great!
If they are flashbacks, then you're kind of restricted to what their gear and status would have been at that point ( or you're kind of throwing continuity out the window - which might not be an issue, your group's call ) so combat would need to be scaled to that level, planning the encounter like you would for any other session.
One other possibility is that the Characters used to be higher level, and something in the flashback strips out - but having that be the case for all the Characters seems to be stretching credulity and chance a lot, especially as this all happened before party met up ( so they can't coincidentally all have been caught in the same "abyssal energy vortex", or whatever ).
But they might actually enjoy getting a feel for level 1 combat again - really make them appreciate those level 5 abilities, now that they're gone!
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.
Yeah, you've pretty much summed up my predicament. I could probably story-up some reasons why the characters are more powerful than they would otherwise have been - the paladin is undertaking his initiation and he is provided with a special set of his order's armour for the task, the monk undergoes a special ritual in her monastery to empower her with ki from her elders etc. Its just that I find being able to be 1-hit by a goblin a bit lacklustre.
Focus on the roleplay/social aspect, if their home village was attacked make it about the escape. You could alternately have the "npc"char sheets higher level if the backstory has the player being saved/defended/ in debt to an NPC. Maybe have the focus PC play both themselves and a person important to their char so they don't feel underpowered as the focus?
So don't use goblins :)
If you made the adventures all city based, you could put them up against other humans - who are all most likely be level 0 or 1. It's likely a more social/political set of adventures - but you could throw a combat or two in there as well with merchants, street toughs, etc. Probably don't throw down with the local thieves/assassins guild, as they're professional killers able to wipe out "civilians" - which you party now is! - with relative ease.
Just remember that you can't kill them off - so having an NPC in the mix that can revive them ( probably stabilize and/or potion them - no need for Resurrection magics ) would be a good idea.
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.
Depending on the backstory you might consider running the "Flashback PC" as a low level NPC (either under your control or said player’s) while everyone gets to play higher level “Temporary PCs". Perhaps by allowing the player whose flashback it is run their mentor, teacher or even antagonist (whoever led or drove them to become an adventurer) they won’t feel like you’re taking away any agency.