I struggle with two aspect of encounter creation and I would like to recieve advise.
1 - Easy vs Medium vs Hard vs Deadly
I have a lot of problems creating encounters in a budget. My players, even do they aren't really good playing the game (they tend to choose their actions poorly), don't struggle with almost any combat that isn't in Deadly difficulty (sometimes they have problems in hard too). My problem is that I'm afraid of using deadly encounters, as they can snowball against the players really easy and kill all the group without letting them react.
The rules suggest you to use Medium and Hard encounters. I suppose the idea would be to create several medium/hard encounters for each day of adventuring in hostile lands and use deadly encounters in quest ending fights. (I would never use easy encounters unless the fight requires to be easy by story purposes)
Still, I would like to know how you handle encounter creation, probably it can help me.
2) There are many creatures that wield weapons: orcs, gnolls, npcs etc... npc also should have different spells for spellcasters and traits from their race.
My problem is that I don't know how to quickly randomice the weapons of each monsters, I loose a lot of time or I don't do it. My question is: is there any tool/algorithm to randomice (with sense) monster's weapons, spells, give them the traits of their race, and introduce an small chance of them wielding a magic weapon?
First and foremost: the suggested combats/combat budget as well as CR (easy - deadly) information is merely a suggestion. It's extremely common that DMs find that information is lacking and doesn't work.
From there, combat is more than just monsters and their particular spells/weapons. Each creature has a particular ingrained personality that can help make each combat unique. Goblins are, commonly, believed to be dumb and will either attack with no regard to their lives, or run like cockroaches in the light. This is not supported by their skill set, they're tricky fighters which use guerrilla tactics. Dragons are often played as giant meaty beasts that stand in front of the party and beat them down. This, again, is a poor application based on their skills and ability scores. Dragons are smart and cunning, they won't fight toe to toe unless they're certain they'll be victorious. Then you also have to consider, why would a creature fight to the death when retreat, surrender, and negotiation are much more agreeable than death.
You also have terrain, often forgotten even by veterans. Trees create cover, rivers and rock slides creating difficult terrain, magma pools, terraces creating height advantage, and so much more. These types of things can really alter the way a fight plays out, especially since not every combat is going to be fought in a flat, clear, perfect field. The more your players have to consider what's around them, how they can use it, how they can stop the enemy from using them, the more it becomes tactical. The terrain can really make players use their imagination to do some amazing things in combat.
As to the weapons, the way you can adapt those quickly is fairly simple with a piece of notebook paper. Each creature will have the bonus to hit and bonus damage baked into it's stat block. You can then just have a list of weapons with their damage, damage type, and range listed. A quick glance at the paper and you can pick one that sounds good and your information is all in front of you. A roll of a die if you really want it random, and a note next to the creature saying it's using a Greatsword instead of a Hand Axe.
Spells are a little tricker, I went and printed off spell cards. I will make a pile of spells that are accessible to the caster and pick from that pile when I want to cast a spell. You can pick randomly or you can have a sequence, either way works.
I like to use Kobold Fight Club (http://kobold.club/fight/#/encounter-builder) for encounters. They allow you to choose the difficulty of the encounter, type of creature, and location.
For weapons DMThaco has a good idea, but missed out on that some weapons are finesse and the bonus to hit will change if the creature relies on DEX vs. STR on weapons and with ranged weapons as well. You just have to be mindful of what stat they use for attacking and go with an appropriate weapon.
I like DMThaco's idea on spells, but you have to also keep track of what level spells they cast and how many of each they can cast.
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Remember this is a game and it's suppose to be fun for everybody. Let's all have fun and kill monsters.
I like to use Kobold Fight Club (http://kobold.club/fight/#/encounter-builder) for encounters. They allow you to choose the difficulty of the encounter, type of creature, and location.
For weapons DMThaco has a good idea, but missed out on that some weapons are finesse and the bonus to hit will change if the creature relies on DEX vs. STR on weapons and with ranged weapons as well. You just have to be mindful of what stat they use for attacking and go with an appropriate weapon.
I like DMThaco's idea on spells, but you have to also keep track of what level spells they cast and how many of each they can cast.
When adding a Ranged weapon to a creature which didn't already have one, you're correct it's necessary to make the adjustment.
With 99% of the creatures, the better of the two stats (STR/DEX) is always used in calculating to hit/damage. So in regards to Finesse weapons you shouldn't have to worry about adjusting the numbers. The one spot it can become tricky is with Versatile weapons, whether you're swinging 1 or 2 handed. (I'm working on a robust creature building spreadsheet, I had to figure that information out to make sure calculations were correct.)
You are correct that the creatures use the better of the two stats, but I'm referring to if the creature is using DEX for a shortsword attack and you roll for a random weapon and get a greatsword you have to adjust the numbers to fit a STR based weapon. So I was talking about if a creature's stat block has them using a DEX based weapon to stick with a DEX based weapon or you have to modify the bonus to hit.
As for versatile weapons the only thing tricky about them would be which damage dice to roll for how many hands they are using to wield it. But as soon as you know that they are going to use it one or two handed you don't have to think about which die to use and just make sure to write down how they are wielding it.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Remember this is a game and it's suppose to be fun for everybody. Let's all have fun and kill monsters.
One thing most people forget to account for is the "8 Encounter Adventuring Day." Essentially, in the DMG I think it touches on this, the game was designed for a party to go through about 8 encounters in the standard adventuring day, so challenge ratings are adjusted along those lines. So your players might waltz through a "Deadly" encounter if it's the only one they've had that day, because they have full access to all their resources and can cut loose. And if they typically only do one combat encounter per day and get used to it, they get in the mindset of not worrying about saving any resources for later encounters. Casters don't need to worry about running low on spell slots, monks can Stunning Strike to their heart's content, etc.
The solution is to be more stingy when handing out short or long rests. A long rest should only be allowed when the party is in a completely safe area, like a town, or a well defended camp. Short rests can be taken in dungeons, but they should carry inherent risks. If the players don't prepare properly they might trigger a random encounter as some creature or enemy stumbles across, or maybe a time sensitive mission objective becomes harder to achieve the longer they take.
With that, you'll start to see your players put more thought into encounters, saving higher level abilities up for situations that call for them, and playing those "Easy" or "Medium" encounters a little more strategically. That way, not every encounter needs to be deadly. In fact, "easy" encounters serve an important purpose of draining player resources, even if the players don't struggle to win. It pays off later when things start to run a little low and the tensions are running high.
And not every encounter needs to be combat either. Just any situation that might expend player resources, like a stubborn NPC who needs a charm spell cast to tell you what he knows, or a locked door with a high lock pick DC that can still be opened with a Knock spell, or a tight corridor that the rogue can scout ahead through but he needs to use the Oil of Slipperiness in his inventory to make it through, that kind of stuff. It's also worth noting that encounters like this shouldn't drain resources just for the sake of it, they instead should be alternatives to failure (can't pick the lock? That's gonna cost you a spell slot then) or as an opportunity to get something else useful (like the slippery rogue who sneaks ahead through the vents and can inform the party exactly what kind of resistance to expect on the other side of the door).
Yes, I think I will start to force the players to play several encounters each day (instead of one or two harder).
Still, do you think I should regulary user deadly encounters, use them only as ending of a quest or use them only to punish players bad decisions (entering in a very hard area, insulting a powerfull noble)?
I think that all encounters should have a potential to kill players, unless your really mean for it to be easy. Especially if they make poor choices, then role playing the enemies seems like a good idea, such as if they take opportunities from their mistakes, maybe set up some kind of mind game.
Even small enemies can put up resistance, if they aren't played as a random creature, but something that wants to win to live.
Also it's usually the DM's choice to add traits to an enemy, humanoids have stat blocks, and I don't usually use those so I don't know about them, but if their racial traits are on there then it's definitely within rules for npc's to use them.
As was said before, CR is still left a little vague by the developers, so it can still be hard to consistantly gauge how hard encounters will be together. I would recommend trying to structure them a few different ways to see what generally works for you and your party. Start out with a bunch of easy-hard challenges and maybe cap off with a deadly or 2, see how that plays out, and ramp your way up till you get to your desired toughness.
It can also be difficult to fit 8 encounters, especially combat encounters which take up a lot more time, in an adventuring day unless you're doing a dungeon crawl. Most more casual or story/rp games have time for like 4 or 5 per say, so if that sounds like you then you may want to still skew your encounters in the hard-deadly range.
Also worth noting that an adventuring day=/=1 season and vice versa. Easiest way to get your challenges in is to have a day that spans multiple sessions.
I struggle with two aspect of encounter creation and I would like to recieve advise.
1 - Easy vs Medium vs Hard vs Deadly
I have a lot of problems creating encounters in a budget. My players, even do they aren't really good playing the game (they tend to choose their actions poorly), don't struggle with almost any combat that isn't in Deadly difficulty (sometimes they have problems in hard too). My problem is that I'm afraid of using deadly encounters, as they can snowball against the players really easy and kill all the group without letting them react.
The rules suggest you to use Medium and Hard encounters. I suppose the idea would be to create several medium/hard encounters for each day of adventuring in hostile lands and use deadly encounters in quest ending fights. (I would never use easy encounters unless the fight requires to be easy by story purposes)
Still, I would like to know how you handle encounter creation, probably it can help me.
2) There are many creatures that wield weapons: orcs, gnolls, npcs etc... npc also should have different spells for spellcasters and traits from their race.
My problem is that I don't know how to quickly randomice the weapons of each monsters, I loose a lot of time or I don't do it. My question is: is there any tool/algorithm to randomice (with sense) monster's weapons, spells, give them the traits of their race, and introduce an small chance of them wielding a magic weapon?
Thanks to anyone that gives me answer/advise.
First and foremost: the suggested combats/combat budget as well as CR (easy - deadly) information is merely a suggestion. It's extremely common that DMs find that information is lacking and doesn't work.
From there, combat is more than just monsters and their particular spells/weapons. Each creature has a particular ingrained personality that can help make each combat unique. Goblins are, commonly, believed to be dumb and will either attack with no regard to their lives, or run like cockroaches in the light. This is not supported by their skill set, they're tricky fighters which use guerrilla tactics. Dragons are often played as giant meaty beasts that stand in front of the party and beat them down. This, again, is a poor application based on their skills and ability scores. Dragons are smart and cunning, they won't fight toe to toe unless they're certain they'll be victorious. Then you also have to consider, why would a creature fight to the death when retreat, surrender, and negotiation are much more agreeable than death.
You also have terrain, often forgotten even by veterans. Trees create cover, rivers and rock slides creating difficult terrain, magma pools, terraces creating height advantage, and so much more. These types of things can really alter the way a fight plays out, especially since not every combat is going to be fought in a flat, clear, perfect field. The more your players have to consider what's around them, how they can use it, how they can stop the enemy from using them, the more it becomes tactical. The terrain can really make players use their imagination to do some amazing things in combat.
As to the weapons, the way you can adapt those quickly is fairly simple with a piece of notebook paper. Each creature will have the bonus to hit and bonus damage baked into it's stat block. You can then just have a list of weapons with their damage, damage type, and range listed. A quick glance at the paper and you can pick one that sounds good and your information is all in front of you. A roll of a die if you really want it random, and a note next to the creature saying it's using a Greatsword instead of a Hand Axe.
Spells are a little tricker, I went and printed off spell cards. I will make a pile of spells that are accessible to the caster and pick from that pile when I want to cast a spell. You can pick randomly or you can have a sequence, either way works.
I like to use Kobold Fight Club (http://kobold.club/fight/#/encounter-builder) for encounters. They allow you to choose the difficulty of the encounter, type of creature, and location.
For weapons DMThaco has a good idea, but missed out on that some weapons are finesse and the bonus to hit will change if the creature relies on DEX vs. STR on weapons and with ranged weapons as well. You just have to be mindful of what stat they use for attacking and go with an appropriate weapon.
I like DMThaco's idea on spells, but you have to also keep track of what level spells they cast and how many of each they can cast.
Remember this is a game and it's suppose to be fun for everybody. Let's all have fun and kill monsters.
When adding a Ranged weapon to a creature which didn't already have one, you're correct it's necessary to make the adjustment.
With 99% of the creatures, the better of the two stats (STR/DEX) is always used in calculating to hit/damage. So in regards to Finesse weapons you shouldn't have to worry about adjusting the numbers. The one spot it can become tricky is with Versatile weapons, whether you're swinging 1 or 2 handed. (I'm working on a robust creature building spreadsheet, I had to figure that information out to make sure calculations were correct.)
You are correct that the creatures use the better of the two stats, but I'm referring to if the creature is using DEX for a shortsword attack and you roll for a random weapon and get a greatsword you have to adjust the numbers to fit a STR based weapon. So I was talking about if a creature's stat block has them using a DEX based weapon to stick with a DEX based weapon or you have to modify the bonus to hit.
As for versatile weapons the only thing tricky about them would be which damage dice to roll for how many hands they are using to wield it. But as soon as you know that they are going to use it one or two handed you don't have to think about which die to use and just make sure to write down how they are wielding it.
Remember this is a game and it's suppose to be fun for everybody. Let's all have fun and kill monsters.
One thing most people forget to account for is the "8 Encounter Adventuring Day." Essentially, in the DMG I think it touches on this, the game was designed for a party to go through about 8 encounters in the standard adventuring day, so challenge ratings are adjusted along those lines. So your players might waltz through a "Deadly" encounter if it's the only one they've had that day, because they have full access to all their resources and can cut loose. And if they typically only do one combat encounter per day and get used to it, they get in the mindset of not worrying about saving any resources for later encounters. Casters don't need to worry about running low on spell slots, monks can Stunning Strike to their heart's content, etc.
The solution is to be more stingy when handing out short or long rests. A long rest should only be allowed when the party is in a completely safe area, like a town, or a well defended camp. Short rests can be taken in dungeons, but they should carry inherent risks. If the players don't prepare properly they might trigger a random encounter as some creature or enemy stumbles across, or maybe a time sensitive mission objective becomes harder to achieve the longer they take.
With that, you'll start to see your players put more thought into encounters, saving higher level abilities up for situations that call for them, and playing those "Easy" or "Medium" encounters a little more strategically. That way, not every encounter needs to be deadly. In fact, "easy" encounters serve an important purpose of draining player resources, even if the players don't struggle to win. It pays off later when things start to run a little low and the tensions are running high.
And not every encounter needs to be combat either. Just any situation that might expend player resources, like a stubborn NPC who needs a charm spell cast to tell you what he knows, or a locked door with a high lock pick DC that can still be opened with a Knock spell, or a tight corridor that the rogue can scout ahead through but he needs to use the Oil of Slipperiness in his inventory to make it through, that kind of stuff. It's also worth noting that encounters like this shouldn't drain resources just for the sake of it, they instead should be alternatives to failure (can't pick the lock? That's gonna cost you a spell slot then) or as an opportunity to get something else useful (like the slippery rogue who sneaks ahead through the vents and can inform the party exactly what kind of resistance to expect on the other side of the door).
Hope that helps!
Yes, I think I will start to force the players to play several encounters each day (instead of one or two harder).
Still, do you think I should regulary user deadly encounters, use them only as ending of a quest or use them only to punish players bad decisions (entering in a very hard area, insulting a powerfull noble)?
Also, do you add any racial traits to npcs?
I think that all encounters should have a potential to kill players, unless your really mean for it to be easy. Especially if they make poor choices, then role playing the enemies seems like a good idea, such as if they take opportunities from their mistakes, maybe set up some kind of mind game.
Even small enemies can put up resistance, if they aren't played as a random creature, but something that wants to win to live.
Also it's usually the DM's choice to add traits to an enemy, humanoids have stat blocks, and I don't usually use those so I don't know about them, but if their racial traits are on there then it's definitely within rules for npc's to use them.
Also known as CrafterB and DankMemer.
Here, have some homebrew classes! Subclasses to? Why not races. Feats, feats as well. I have a lot of magic items. Lastly I got monsters, fun, fun times.
As was said before, CR is still left a little vague by the developers, so it can still be hard to consistantly gauge how hard encounters will be together. I would recommend trying to structure them a few different ways to see what generally works for you and your party. Start out with a bunch of easy-hard challenges and maybe cap off with a deadly or 2, see how that plays out, and ramp your way up till you get to your desired toughness.
It can also be difficult to fit 8 encounters, especially combat encounters which take up a lot more time, in an adventuring day unless you're doing a dungeon crawl. Most more casual or story/rp games have time for like 4 or 5 per say, so if that sounds like you then you may want to still skew your encounters in the hard-deadly range.
Also worth noting that an adventuring day=/=1 season and vice versa. Easiest way to get your challenges in is to have a day that spans multiple sessions.