I'm going to be running my first campaign starting next week. I've been playing DnD for awhile and I feel pretty confident in running the game. The only thing i'm not sure about is combat encounters. How do I make them challenging without getting a TPK? I've heard the CR system is very misleading so i'm not sure how to go about deciding what to throw at my players.
I was thinking of having an encounter with the Reduced-Threat Wyvern in the first session. Is that too much for a party of 4 lvl 3s? What level do you think a party of 4 could fight a young white dragon? Any and all advice would be very appreciated
A party of 4 level 3s could probably handle a standard Wyvern.
Comparing that to my own players, being 4 level 3s... nope, they would probably get wrecked by a CR 6 Wyvern... the tail stinger alone with its 7d6 poison on a DC of 15 (total of 9d6+4) would most likely oneshot one of them, and then there is the second attack...
That said, my group uses standard point buy, so, the overall power level is slightly lower than it might be in other groups.
I had my group fight 2 Ochre Jellies... that cost them already a lot of resources that adventuring day.
A party of 4 level 3s could probably handle a standard Wyvern.
Comparing that to my own players, being 4 level 3s... nope, they would probably get wrecked by a CR 6 Wyvern... the tail stinger alone with its 7d6 poison on a DC of 15 (total of 9d6+4) would most likely oneshot one of them, and then there is the second attack...
That said, my group uses standard point buy, so, the overall power level is slightly lower than it might be in other groups.
I had my group fight 2 Ochre Jellies... that cost them already a lot of resources that adventuring day.
I threw a cranked up Wyvern* at a party of 6 level three characters as the 1st of 4 escalating encounters for that day. They had no magic weapons, and still had no problems.
Blinding Dust. If Clawfang has surprise during the first round of combat, it can use this special attack. Swirls of blinding dust and sand billow out around Clawfang when it lands. Each creature within 15 feet must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or be blinded until the end of the creature's next turn.
Potent Venom (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest). When Clawfang rolls a 1 or 2 on a damage die for the poison from a stinger attack, it can reroll the die and must use the new roll, even if the new roll is a 1 or a 2.
Actions
Multiattack. The wyvern makes two attacks: one with its bite and one with its stinger. While flying, it can use its claws in place of other attacks.
Bite.Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one creature. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) piercing damage.
Claws.Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) slashing damage.
Stinger.Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 15 ft., one creature. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) piercing damage. The target must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, taking 24 (7d6) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
Legendary Actions
Clawfang can take 1 legendary action, listed below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. Clawfang regains its spent legendary action at the start of its turn.
Attack. Clawfang makes one bite attack.
Description
Cousins to the great dragons, wyverns have two scaly legs, leathery wings, and a sinewy tail topped with a poison stinger that can kill a creature in seconds.
Clawfang is the name given to this particular Wyvern by the local garrison of the Order of the Griffin near Threshold. Clawfang is ancient as far as Wyvern go, and as such has grown to massive proportions compared to others of its species.
A party of 4 level 3s could probably handle a standard Wyvern.
Comparing that to my own players, being 4 level 3s... nope, they would probably get wrecked by a CR 6 Wyvern... the tail stinger alone with its 7d6 poison on a DC of 15 (total of 9d6+4) would most likely oneshot one of them, and then there is the second attack...
That said, my group uses standard point buy, so, the overall power level is slightly lower than it might be in other groups.
I had my group fight 2 Ochre Jellies... that cost them already a lot of resources that adventuring day.
I threw a cranked up Wyvern* at a party of 6 level three characters as the 1st of 4 escalating encounters for that day. They had no magic weapons, and still had no problems.
Blinding Dust. If Clawfang has surprise during the first round of combat, it can use this special attack. Swirls of blinding dust and sand billow out around Clawfang when it lands. Each creature within 15 feet must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or be blinded until the end of the creature's next turn.
Potent Venom (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest). When Clawfang rolls a 1 or 2 on a damage die for the poison from a stinger attack, it can reroll the die and must use the new roll, even if the new roll is a 1 or a 2.
Actions
Multiattack. The wyvern makes two attacks: one with its bite and one with its stinger. While flying, it can use its claws in place of other attacks.
Bite.Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one creature. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) piercing damage.
Claws.Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) slashing damage.
Stinger.Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 15 ft., one creature. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) piercing damage. The target must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, taking 24 (7d6) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
Legendary Actions
Clawfang can take 1 legendary action, listed below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. Clawfang regains its spent legendary action at the start of its turn.
Attack. Clawfang makes one bite attack.
Description
Cousins to the great dragons, wyverns have two scaly legs, leathery wings, and a sinewy tail topped with a poison stinger that can kill a creature in seconds.
Clawfang is the name given to this particular Wyvern by the local garrison of the Order of the Griffin near Threshold. Clawfang is ancient as far as Wyvern go, and as such has grown to massive proportions compared to others of its species.
How did they have no problems? That much damage from the stinger (plus you let it reroll damage) would one shot most PCs that aren't a fighter or barbarian.
A party of 4 level 3s could probably handle a standard Wyvern.
Comparing that to my own players, being 4 level 3s... nope, they would probably get wrecked by a CR 6 Wyvern... the tail stinger alone with its 7d6 poison on a DC of 15 (total of 9d6+4) would most likely oneshot one of them, and then there is the second attack...
That said, my group uses standard point buy, so, the overall power level is slightly lower than it might be in other groups.
I had my group fight 2 Ochre Jellies... that cost them already a lot of resources that adventuring day.
I threw a cranked up Wyvern* at a party of 6 level three characters as the 1st of 4 escalating encounters for that day. They had no magic weapons, and still had no problems.
Blinding Dust. If Clawfang has surprise during the first round of combat, it can use this special attack. Swirls of blinding dust and sand billow out around Clawfang when it lands. Each creature within 15 feet must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or be blinded until the end of the creature's next turn.
Potent Venom (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest). When Clawfang rolls a 1 or 2 on a damage die for the poison from a stinger attack, it can reroll the die and must use the new roll, even if the new roll is a 1 or a 2.
Actions
Multiattack. The wyvern makes two attacks: one with its bite and one with its stinger. While flying, it can use its claws in place of other attacks.
Bite.Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one creature. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) piercing damage.
Claws.Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) slashing damage.
Stinger.Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 15 ft., one creature. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) piercing damage. The target must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, taking 24 (7d6) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
Legendary Actions
Clawfang can take 1 legendary action, listed below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. Clawfang regains its spent legendary action at the start of its turn.
Attack. Clawfang makes one bite attack.
Description
Cousins to the great dragons, wyverns have two scaly legs, leathery wings, and a sinewy tail topped with a poison stinger that can kill a creature in seconds.
Clawfang is the name given to this particular Wyvern by the local garrison of the Order of the Griffin near Threshold. Clawfang is ancient as far as Wyvern go, and as such has grown to massive proportions compared to others of its species.
Probably depends a lot on the group composition. Mine is a High Elf Oath of the Ancients Paladin (STR 15, CON 14, CHA 14), a Human Monster Slayer Ranger (DEX 16, CON 14) with X-Bow X-pert, a Fallen Aasimar Shadow Sorcerer (DEX 9, CON 12, CHA 17) with no Level 2 Attack Spells, and a Firbold Circle of the Moon Druid (WIS 17). They tend to struggle a lot with combat encounters that are a tad too high level for them, especially when there are multiple encounters before the next rest.
A party of 4 level 3s could probably handle a standard Wyvern.
Comparing that to my own players, being 4 level 3s... nope, they would probably get wrecked by a CR 6 Wyvern... the tail stinger alone with its 7d6 poison on a DC of 15 (total of 9d6+4) would most likely oneshot one of them, and then there is the second attack...
That said, my group uses standard point buy, so, the overall power level is slightly lower than it might be in other groups.
I had my group fight 2 Ochre Jellies... that cost them already a lot of resources that adventuring day.
I threw a cranked up Wyvern* at a party of 6 level three characters as the 1st of 4 escalating encounters for that day. They had no magic weapons, and still had no problems.
Blinding Dust. If Clawfang has surprise during the first round of combat, it can use this special attack. Swirls of blinding dust and sand billow out around Clawfang when it lands. Each creature within 15 feet must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or be blinded until the end of the creature's next turn.
Potent Venom (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest). When Clawfang rolls a 1 or 2 on a damage die for the poison from a stinger attack, it can reroll the die and must use the new roll, even if the new roll is a 1 or a 2.
Actions
Multiattack. The wyvern makes two attacks: one with its bite and one with its stinger. While flying, it can use its claws in place of other attacks.
Bite.Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one creature. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) piercing damage.
Claws.Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) slashing damage.
Stinger.Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 15 ft., one creature. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) piercing damage. The target must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, taking 24 (7d6) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
Legendary Actions
Clawfang can take 1 legendary action, listed below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. Clawfang regains its spent legendary action at the start of its turn.
Attack. Clawfang makes one bite attack.
Description
Cousins to the great dragons, wyverns have two scaly legs, leathery wings, and a sinewy tail topped with a poison stinger that can kill a creature in seconds.
Clawfang is the name given to this particular Wyvern by the local garrison of the Order of the Griffin near Threshold. Clawfang is ancient as far as Wyvern go, and as such has grown to massive proportions compared to others of its species.
How did they have no problems? That much damage from the stinger (plus you let it reroll damage) would one shot most PCs that aren't a fighter or barbarian.
It did, but the very next turn one of the Rogues used half his movement to get to the downed PC (another Rogue), his Action to stuff a Healing Potion down her gullet, and his Bonus Action to Disengage from the Wyvern.
The party consisted of an Ancestral Guardian Barbarian (who quickly occupied Clawfang) and two Rogues, a Wizard, a Warlock, and a Cleric who all Ganged up on it. One of the Rogues is a Half-Orc who actually Frightened the Wyvern away with a special racial ability (Homebrew Half-Orc subrace that replaces Relentless Endurance with Bloodfury inspired by a DMs’ Guild pub) and since she was the Rogue it one-shotted, I narrated that it ran away. (It ran with only 10 HP remaining!!)
Bloodfury
The scent of your own blood in the heat of a battle enrages you. While you are below half your maximum hit points you may use your action to make a special melee attack against one creature within your reach, striking with vicious ferocity. If your attack hits, you gain a number of temporary hit points equal to your Constitution modifier, and the target must make a Wisdom saving throw (DC equals 8 + your Proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier) or be frightened of you until the end of its next turn. Once you use this trait, you can't do so again until you finish a short or long rest.
The main thing I'm worried about is the Stinger potentially doing 2d6 + 7d6 poison damage which could one shot a PC pretty easily at that level.
It could, but if the party has a couple healing potions (or any character with: Cure Wounds, Goodberry, Healing Word, Lay on Hands, Healing Hands, or any number of other healing spells or abilities) can probably keep them alive long enough for the party to do the 110 damage. That really isn’t much.
And if you’re really worried about it, shave off a handful of HP, even mid fight if it turns out that the party is getting smoked, they won’t know. 🤫 Or maybe fudge the damage to leave the PC with 1-2 HP and when they mention how it almost killed them act mildly surprised/disappointed so they don’t think it was intentional. (You never want them to know pulled punches, as that will break verisimilitude and disappoint the players.)
The objective is to make them feel like they got their butts kicked up, down, and sideways, but that they somehow still pulled of an amazing Expendables style victory. To be honest, given half a chance they will surprise you with how inventive they can be.
More often than not I’m forced to use those tricks in reverse and secretly increase the monster’s HP mid battle because the PCs are cleaving through it too quickly. (Otherwise it doesn’t give them the same satisfaction of a really hard fought victory.) Clawfang started that fight with only 110 HP, but would have been dead in two rounds. By bumping it to 340, it was a good 6 round fight, and it only narrowly got away....
Now, next time Clawfang attacks the party and they finally kill it the PCs will feel epic, so the Players will feel epic. That’s my job as DM, to curate experiences for the players that let them feel epic.
I also do stress in Session 0 that PC death is very possible in games I DM. I never intentionally try to kill a PC, but it happens from time to time. But that just serves to reinforce the verisimilitude of everything else. It makes all the times they don’t die more believable.
Will that be a tough fight? Absitively! Should it be survivable if done properly? Posolutely.
Or give the PCs a situation where they might surprise the Wyvern. Or maybe have them come across the beast already embattled with NPCs and a little low. The PCs are still fresh and get to save some folks!! Or, or, or.... There’s tons of ways you can challenge them without murdering their characters.
So it depends on the type of difficultly I want. Just something to hack through? I will make an encounter keeping it at what would be considered medium challenge. If I wanted something the players won't blow through I aim for the deadly rating. I also don't waste time doing the math. I just use kobold fight club and just put in the monsters I want to use and mess with the numbers till I get what I desire.
Despite it being called deadly. I find a group can usually handle them without a TPK. Maybe a death or some near deaths.
The biggest advice that DMs has handed down is learn how to improvise. Fight to easy? Have reinforcements show up. Fight to hard? Remove some HP from the monster. No one will ever know. Seriously.
Also its worth putting thought into tactics. A single bandit archer in a very defensible place can whittle down the characters as they try to figure out a way to get to them. While a griffin who just lands and dukes it out without putting its flying to full effect, can be easy for a group.
Also I always say this when talking about encounters so I will say it here. Don't fall into the trap of thinking encounters = fights to the death. Think of them as obstacles to overcome and build in outs for your players. Even if that out is simply running away. Don't build a Pokemon Arena and ask them to fight it out. That's pretty boring.
So it depends on the type of difficult I want. Just something to hack through? I will make an encounter keeping it at what would be considered medium challenge. If I wanted something more like something the players won't blow through I am for the deadly rating. I also don't waste time doing the math. I just use kobold fight club and just put in the monsters I want to use and mess with the numbers till I get what I desire.
Despite it being called deadly. I find a group can usually handle them without a TPK. Maybe a death or some near deaths.
The biggest advice that DMs has handed down is learn how to improvise. Fight to easy? Have reinforcements show up. Fight to hard? Remove some HP from the monster. No one will ever know. Seriously.
Also its worth putting thought into tactics. A single bandit archer in a very defensible place can whittle down the characters as they try to figure out a way to get to them. While a griffin who just lands and dukes it out without putting its flying to full effect, can be easy for a group.
Also I always say this when talking about encounters so I will say it here. Don't fall into the trap of thinking encounters = fights to the death. Think of them as obstacles to overcome and build in outs for your players. Even if that out is simply running away. Don't build a Pokemon Arena and ask them to fight it out. That's pretty boring.
This^^^ all of it. All pure gold. Most experienced DMs will tell you the same things.
The biggest advice that DMs has handed down is learn how to improvise.
I agree with this right here. It's a skill that takes some work to develop, but if you can dynamically manage your encounters, smoothly, transparently, and realistically, then you don't need to worry about the encounter design overly. You can dial the difficulty up or down as needed to keep the tension up.
The sweet spot for a lot of encounters is you want the Party to win, but you want them to feel it was hard fought, and well earned. Of course, it's nice for them to occasionally run into an easy win, where they get to show how incredibly awesome they are. And it's OK to occasionally throw situations at them where they'd be hopelessly outgunned, so long as they have the means of finding that out before the change into battle.
Personally, I feel constrained by plausibility, so I wouldn't stretch probability completely out of shape - which means there are limits to how much I'd complicate, or dumb down, an encounter, but I'm also a big believer in giving the Party hints and clue as to what they are up against ahead of time, especially if they're in danger of biting off more than they can chew. So long as the encounter seems plausible, and the Party can make an informed choice as to whether they want to take the risk, I'm content to let the chips fall where they may.
One thing I would strongly urge, however, is that you have a talk with your Players, and come to an agreement on where you group stands on: the winnability/loseability of encounters ( do they expect to be able to win anything they run into? ), plausible encounters vs. implausible but fun encounters, and the possibility of Character death.
Also, keep in mind that if the Party loses the encounter, that loss does not have to equal death. I've had Party's taken prisoner by their enemies ( spent a couple of sessions in a prison escape adventure ), and had them thrown in jail by the City Guard ( large fines, impounding some equipment, missed deadlines and commitments which didn't do their reputation any good ).
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Also, keep in mind that if the Party loses the encounter, that loss does not have to equal death. I've had Party's taken prisoner by their enemies ( spent a couple of sessions in a prison escape adventure ), and had them thrown in jail by the City Guard ( large fines, impounding some equipment, missed deadlines and commitments which didn't do their reputation any good ).
This is also a great point. When I ran LMoP the first encounter straight up says "If this encounter proves to overwhelm the players, the goblins will not kill them but instead knock them out taking their cart and gear." And I've ran every encounter like that since. Deaths can and will happen. Just don't think EVERY encounter has to result in death. As with anything, a tool that is over used will become dull.
Instead of saying "Hey orcs, they'll fight to the death. Hey bandits, they'll fight to the death. Hey drow, they'll fight to the death. Hey a dragon, it'll fight to the death."
Instead try
"Hey orcs, they like to try and capture people alive and sacrifice them later to Gruumsh. Hey bandit, they like to capture people alive and ransom them. Hey drow, they're known to send strike teams to the surface to capture people to take back as slaves. Hey a dragon, it likes to use the threat of burning down a near by village to get adventurers to delve into dungeons and bring it back treasure."
These are great ways to also show your character a high level creature at very low levels, such as the dragon in my example, that they can come back to later and deal with when they're powerful enough to do so. Heck you could start a level 1 group off being commanded by an ancient dragon to go bring it treasure, and the whole campaign is about them trying to appease this monster to save a city while growing in power to end his tyranny.
I'm a big believer in every group in an encounter having a goal and a motivation - which is what you're describing.
If you know that, then you know what the tactics of the bad guys are likely to be, and what their limits are. Orcs defending their mates and offspring in their cave complex, and a well fed Orc raiding party just looking for some action and some loot, will fight very differently.
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.
I'm a big believer in every group in an encounter having a goal and a motivation - which is what you're describing.
If you know that, then you know what the tactics of the bad guys are likely to be, and what their limits are. Orcs defending their mates and offspring in their cave complex, and a well fed Orc raiding party just looking for some action and some loot, will fight very differently.
Exactly. It’s easier to know the NPC’s/Monster’s intention and then deduce their actions than it is to “write an encounter” (or even an adventure IMHO).
I'm a big believer in every group in an encounter having a goal and a motivation - which is what you're describing.
I agree. My thoughts when setting up an area, as I draw the map, are, OK, who is using this area? For what? And what are their goals? Sometimes the goal will be to kill everyone. Sometimes, to capture. Sometimes, to use them as a ritual sacrifice. Sometimes, to get rich. Each of these goals implies different use made of a given area, different tactics used against the party, and different consequences should the party be defeated.
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WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
And I don’t remember if anyone said this already, so if they did I’m reiterating: A piece of advice, stay away from homebrew for a little bit. Get comfortable just playing the game with the published stuff first.
Homebrew can get out of hand quickly without the experience to recognize potential problems and adjust them before they happen, or to handle them if they do happen. So get your feet wet and get comfy with the temperature first before jumping in the deep end.
I'm going to be running my first campaign starting next week. I've been playing DnD for awhile and I feel pretty confident in running the game. The only thing i'm not sure about is combat encounters. How do I make them challenging without getting a TPK? I've heard the CR system is very misleading so i'm not sure how to go about deciding what to throw at my players.
I was thinking of having an encounter with the Reduced-Threat Wyvern in the first session. Is that too much for a party of 4 lvl 3s? What level do you think a party of 4 could fight a young white dragon? Any and all advice would be very appreciated
A party of 4 level 3s could probably handle a standard Wyvern.
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The main thing I'm worried about is the Stinger potentially doing 2d6 + 7d6 poison damage which could one shot a PC pretty easily at that level.
Comparing that to my own players, being 4 level 3s... nope, they would probably get wrecked by a CR 6 Wyvern... the tail stinger alone with its 7d6 poison on a DC of 15 (total of 9d6+4) would most likely oneshot one of them, and then there is the second attack...
That said, my group uses standard point buy, so, the overall power level is slightly lower than it might be in other groups.
I had my group fight 2 Ochre Jellies... that cost them already a lot of resources that adventuring day.
I threw a cranked up Wyvern* at a party of 6 level three characters as the 1st of 4 escalating encounters for that day. They had no magic weapons, and still had no problems.
*
Blinding Dust. If Clawfang has surprise during the first round of combat, it can use this special attack. Swirls of blinding dust and sand billow out around Clawfang when it lands. Each creature within 15 feet must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or be blinded until the end of the creature's next turn.
Potent Venom (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest). When Clawfang rolls a 1 or 2 on a damage die for the poison from a stinger attack, it can reroll the die and must use the new roll, even if the new roll is a 1 or a 2.
Multiattack. The wyvern makes two attacks: one with its bite and one with its stinger. While flying, it can use its claws in place of other attacks.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one creature. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) piercing damage.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) slashing damage.
Stinger. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 15 ft., one creature. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) piercing damage. The target must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, taking 24 (7d6) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
Clawfang can take 1 legendary action, listed below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. Clawfang regains its spent legendary action at the start of its turn.
Attack. Clawfang makes one bite attack.
Description
Cousins to the great dragons, wyverns have two scaly legs, leathery wings, and a sinewy tail topped with a poison stinger that can kill a creature in seconds.
Clawfang is the name given to this particular Wyvern by the local garrison of the Order of the Griffin near Threshold. Clawfang is ancient as far as Wyvern go, and as such has grown to massive proportions compared to others of its species.
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How did they have no problems? That much damage from the stinger (plus you let it reroll damage) would one shot most PCs that aren't a fighter or barbarian.
Probably depends a lot on the group composition. Mine is a High Elf Oath of the Ancients Paladin (STR 15, CON 14, CHA 14), a Human Monster Slayer Ranger (DEX 16, CON 14) with X-Bow X-pert, a Fallen Aasimar Shadow Sorcerer (DEX 9, CON 12, CHA 17) with no Level 2 Attack Spells, and a Firbold Circle of the Moon Druid (WIS 17). They tend to struggle a lot with combat encounters that are a tad too high level for them, especially when there are multiple encounters before the next rest.
It did, but the very next turn one of the Rogues used half his movement to get to the downed PC (another Rogue), his Action to stuff a Healing Potion down her gullet, and his Bonus Action to Disengage from the Wyvern.
The party consisted of an Ancestral Guardian Barbarian (who quickly occupied Clawfang) and two Rogues, a Wizard, a Warlock, and a Cleric who all Ganged up on it. One of the Rogues is a Half-Orc who actually Frightened the Wyvern away with a special racial ability (Homebrew Half-Orc subrace that replaces Relentless Endurance with Bloodfury inspired by a DMs’ Guild pub) and since she was the Rogue it one-shotted, I narrated that it ran away. (It ran with only 10 HP remaining!!)
Bloodfury
The scent of your own blood in the heat of a battle enrages you. While you are below half your maximum hit points you may use your action to make a special melee attack against one creature within your reach, striking with vicious ferocity. If your attack hits, you gain a number of temporary hit points equal to your Constitution modifier, and the target must make a Wisdom saving throw (DC equals 8 + your Proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier) or be frightened of you until the end of its next turn. Once you use this trait, you can't do so again until you finish a short or long rest.
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It could, but if the party has a couple healing potions (or any character with: Cure Wounds, Goodberry, Healing Word, Lay on Hands, Healing Hands, or any number of other healing spells or abilities) can probably keep them alive long enough for the party to do the 110 damage. That really isn’t much.
And if you’re really worried about it, shave off a handful of HP, even mid fight if it turns out that the party is getting smoked, they won’t know. 🤫 Or maybe fudge the damage to leave the PC with 1-2 HP and when they mention how it almost killed them act mildly surprised/disappointed so they don’t think it was intentional. (You never want them to know pulled punches, as that will break verisimilitude and disappoint the players.)
The objective is to make them feel like they got their butts kicked up, down, and sideways, but that they somehow still pulled of an amazing Expendables style victory. To be honest, given half a chance they will surprise you with how inventive they can be.
More often than not I’m forced to use those tricks in reverse and secretly increase the monster’s HP mid battle because the PCs are cleaving through it too quickly. (Otherwise it doesn’t give them the same satisfaction of a really hard fought victory.) Clawfang started that fight with only 110 HP, but would have been dead in two rounds. By bumping it to 340, it was a good 6 round fight, and it only narrowly got away....
Now, next time Clawfang attacks the party and they finally kill it the PCs will feel epic, so the Players will feel epic. That’s my job as DM, to curate experiences for the players that let them feel epic.
I also do stress in Session 0 that PC death is very possible in games I DM. I never intentionally try to kill a PC, but it happens from time to time. But that just serves to reinforce the verisimilitude of everything else. It makes all the times they don’t die more believable.
Will that be a tough fight? Absitively! Should it be survivable if done properly? Posolutely.
Or give the PCs a situation where they might surprise the Wyvern. Or maybe have them come across the beast already embattled with NPCs and a little low. The PCs are still fresh and get to save some folks!! Or, or, or.... There’s tons of ways you can challenge them without murdering their characters.
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Wow, I have not heard those in a long time. My dad used to say that.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Us old farts gotta stick together.
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So it depends on the type of difficultly I want. Just something to hack through? I will make an encounter keeping it at what would be considered medium challenge. If I wanted something the players won't blow through I aim for the deadly rating. I also don't waste time doing the math. I just use kobold fight club and just put in the monsters I want to use and mess with the numbers till I get what I desire.
Despite it being called deadly. I find a group can usually handle them without a TPK. Maybe a death or some near deaths.
The biggest advice that DMs has handed down is learn how to improvise. Fight to easy? Have reinforcements show up. Fight to hard? Remove some HP from the monster. No one will ever know. Seriously.
Also its worth putting thought into tactics. A single bandit archer in a very defensible place can whittle down the characters as they try to figure out a way to get to them. While a griffin who just lands and dukes it out without putting its flying to full effect, can be easy for a group.
Also I always say this when talking about encounters so I will say it here. Don't fall into the trap of thinking encounters = fights to the death. Think of them as obstacles to overcome and build in outs for your players. Even if that out is simply running away. Don't build a Pokemon Arena and ask them to fight it out. That's pretty boring.
This^^^ all of it. All pure gold. Most experienced DMs will tell you the same things.
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I agree with this right here. It's a skill that takes some work to develop, but if you can dynamically manage your encounters, smoothly, transparently, and realistically, then you don't need to worry about the encounter design overly. You can dial the difficulty up or down as needed to keep the tension up.
The sweet spot for a lot of encounters is you want the Party to win, but you want them to feel it was hard fought, and well earned. Of course, it's nice for them to occasionally run into an easy win, where they get to show how incredibly awesome they are. And it's OK to occasionally throw situations at them where they'd be hopelessly outgunned, so long as they have the means of finding that out before the change into battle.
Personally, I feel constrained by plausibility, so I wouldn't stretch probability completely out of shape - which means there are limits to how much I'd complicate, or dumb down, an encounter, but I'm also a big believer in giving the Party hints and clue as to what they are up against ahead of time, especially if they're in danger of biting off more than they can chew. So long as the encounter seems plausible, and the Party can make an informed choice as to whether they want to take the risk, I'm content to let the chips fall where they may.
One thing I would strongly urge, however, is that you have a talk with your Players, and come to an agreement on where you group stands on: the winnability/loseability of encounters ( do they expect to be able to win anything they run into? ), plausible encounters vs. implausible but fun encounters, and the possibility of Character death.
Also, keep in mind that if the Party loses the encounter, that loss does not have to equal death. I've had Party's taken prisoner by their enemies ( spent a couple of sessions in a prison escape adventure ), and had them thrown in jail by the City Guard ( large fines, impounding some equipment, missed deadlines and commitments which didn't do their reputation any good ).
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
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This is also a great point. When I ran LMoP the first encounter straight up says "If this encounter proves to overwhelm the players, the goblins will not kill them but instead knock them out taking their cart and gear." And I've ran every encounter like that since. Deaths can and will happen. Just don't think EVERY encounter has to result in death. As with anything, a tool that is over used will become dull.
Instead of saying "Hey orcs, they'll fight to the death. Hey bandits, they'll fight to the death. Hey drow, they'll fight to the death. Hey a dragon, it'll fight to the death."
Instead try
"Hey orcs, they like to try and capture people alive and sacrifice them later to Gruumsh. Hey bandit, they like to capture people alive and ransom them. Hey drow, they're known to send strike teams to the surface to capture people to take back as slaves. Hey a dragon, it likes to use the threat of burning down a near by village to get adventurers to delve into dungeons and bring it back treasure."
These are great ways to also show your character a high level creature at very low levels, such as the dragon in my example, that they can come back to later and deal with when they're powerful enough to do so. Heck you could start a level 1 group off being commanded by an ancient dragon to go bring it treasure, and the whole campaign is about them trying to appease this monster to save a city while growing in power to end his tyranny.
I'm a big believer in every group in an encounter having a goal and a motivation - which is what you're describing.
If you know that, then you know what the tactics of the bad guys are likely to be, and what their limits are. Orcs defending their mates and offspring in their cave complex, and a well fed Orc raiding party just looking for some action and some loot, will fight very differently.
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
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Exactly. It’s easier to know the NPC’s/Monster’s intention and then deduce their actions than it is to “write an encounter” (or even an adventure IMHO).
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I agree. My thoughts when setting up an area, as I draw the map, are, OK, who is using this area? For what? And what are their goals? Sometimes the goal will be to kill everyone. Sometimes, to capture. Sometimes, to use them as a ritual sacrifice. Sometimes, to get rich. Each of these goals implies different use made of a given area, different tactics used against the party, and different consequences should the party be defeated.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
And I don’t remember if anyone said this already, so if they did I’m reiterating: A piece of advice, stay away from homebrew for a little bit. Get comfortable just playing the game with the published stuff first.
Homebrew can get out of hand quickly without the experience to recognize potential problems and adjust them before they happen, or to handle them if they do happen. So get your feet wet and get comfy with the temperature first before jumping in the deep end.
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I think 3 lvl 10s could handle 2 or 3 trolls