So I have a group of 5 all of which are at lvl 5, and they are getting through each encounter with ease. I was wondering what would be a good encounter that would get them to think about what they should do next carefully rather than attack the closest thing to them.
Without more context, you’re only going to get generic advice. Answering some questions will help us help you.
1- How many players are in your party?
2- What’s the race/class composition of your party?
3- What kind of campaign are you running? (Such as combat-heavy v. rp-heavy, tone or theme, etc.)
4- Are you looking at something like a BBEG encounter that you’re seeking advice on?
Not knowing that, my generic advice is to start with things like using the next highest CR version of a monster (I.e use the kobold variants in Volo’s instead of the base kobolds in the MM). Add lair actions and legendary resistances, swap out the armor and weapons for stronger variants. If your players over-rely on one or two spells/attacks, make them face an enemy who maybe knows their tactics and avoids them so they have to rethink the way they approach combat (but don’t overdo this as it could start to make your players feel like the game has become DM vs. Players).
Consider action economy. If you have one very tough monster and 5 players, your players all get to hit it 5 times before you monster gets to do anything. Often lower CR monsters in high numbers are far more dangerous than less monsters that are higher CR.
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So I have a group of 5 all of which are at lvl 5, and they are getting through each encounter with ease. I was wondering what would be a good encounter that would get them to think about what they should do next carefully rather than attack the closest thing to them.
Without more context, you’re only going to get generic advice. Answering some questions will help us help you.
1- How many players are in your party?
2- What’s the race/class composition of your party?
3- What kind of campaign are you running? (Such as combat-heavy v. rp-heavy, tone or theme, etc.)
4- Are you looking at something like a BBEG encounter that you’re seeking advice on?
Not knowing that, my generic advice is to start with things like using the next highest CR version of a monster (I.e use the kobold variants in Volo’s instead of the base kobolds in the MM). Add lair actions and legendary resistances, swap out the armor and weapons for stronger variants. If your players over-rely on one or two spells/attacks, make them face an enemy who maybe knows their tactics and avoids them so they have to rethink the way they approach combat (but don’t overdo this as it could start to make your players feel like the game has become DM vs. Players).
My Homebrew Backgrounds | Feats | Magic Items | Monsters | Races | Subclasses
Consider action economy. If you have one very tough monster and 5 players, your players all get to hit it 5 times before you monster gets to do anything. Often lower CR monsters in high numbers are far more dangerous than less monsters that are higher CR.