The party has 6 level 5 characters, 2 warlocks (idk why) 1 barbarian, 1 fighter, 1 cleric, 1 ranger
I'm thinking of 2 to 3 wvyerns and later in the encounter a corrosive drake showing up to throw them off their game.
I just don't know if their damage output can handle it. I fully intend on having a wyvern grab an npc and take them high before dropping them as a telegraph that that is a tactic the party should look out for.
For me when I create an encounter I ask a few questions to try and gauge how the encounter will be built. I don't worry so much about "balancing" it to the party so much as if it makes sense. I leave it to the Party to either figure out whether the best action is to fight through or try to escape / hide. That being said, the choice of 3 wyverns and a drake seems odd, to me, though if it makes sense for your story then please correct my questions:
Are the Wyrverns and Drakes working together?
Did the Drake enter the encounter because it was curious about the commotion?
Where the Drake come from and did the drake escape from its master and is just roaming? (Typically drakes are draconic monstrosities created out of dragon scales by means of a bizarre and grisly ritual, so they aren't found naturally in the world).
Personally I'd formulate the encounter something along the lines of this:
3 Wyverns, one is a female in heat looking for a mate. Two are males that are vying for her affection.
This clash pits the party in the middle of a very dangerous brawl between the two males. One in which the males are trying to kill each other off to show that they are the strongest male and worth to mate with. When the party stumbles on this the attention becomes split. The two males are set to protect the female, but are still trying to make sure the other male doesn't survive.
This actually means the encounter itself is really only the Party vs 1 male Wyvern and another male Wyrvern with the female watching. Since both the male wyrverns are not friendly towards each other and the female at the moment is more interested in figure out who to mate with, this splits the encounter (and the damage) up 3 ways and actually creates a unique dynamic.
This could mean if one of the male wyverns dies and the female may do one of two things... Swoop in and slay the unworthy 2nd male leaving the party to only face a female wyrvern that is in heat (meaning highly aggressive) or... well... swoop in and take the second male for mating (meaning the party could potentially tactically retreat).
The Drake could be interesting to add if, as part of the plot, you want them asking questions on where this unnatural beast came from and as a hook for finding the ritual site and maybe finding a Dragon cult.
I'm running a story where Dragons are making a move to subjugate all non dragon kind, so they have wvyerns and drakes looking for special artifacts and magical items.
The encounter will take place in a recently destroyed town, the party will be able to see two of the Wvyerns as they approach, the 3rd will be a surprise as it comes form behind a destroyed building eating someone.
The drake rising up from underneath a bunch of ruined buildings as it was digging for something. Although I built this in so I can nix the drake if the encounter is proving challenging enough without.
Well if that is the case it doesn't make sense that the drakes and wyverns wouldn't be working together. At that point 3 CR 6 and a CR 2 might be too much. I might switch it around a little bit and have some Half-Dragons in the mix. Maybe have 1 wyvern, 2 Half-Dragons and a drake.
That actually puts the XP threshold hovering around deadly, but not so much so that it is impossible. It is also important to note with intelligent creatures, they rarely fight to the death. Chances are after 2-3 get slayed the others should tactically retreat. You could use the stats for Langdedrosa Cyanwrath for both the Half-Dragons to lower the CR.
Additionaly, you can always have a couple Drakes that were distracted that could join the fight if it looks too easy.
Oh I will, flirting with maybe just 2 or 3 wyverns and seeing how it plays out. My party is hard to gauge because they might get all the right rolls and wreck everything or all the fails and get smoked. lol.
Oh I will, flirting with maybe just 2 or 3 wyverns and seeing how it plays out. My party is hard to gauge because they might get all the right rolls and wreck everything or all the fails and get smoked. lol.
Well you can always (secretly) add more HPs if they roll too well and then when it starts to get too tough beyond that point start describing how the creatures are starting to look paniced and have them either retreat or the next hit kill the creature.
Very true, but then again- Remember that the party can always surprise you with what they come up with.
Just last session I had 7 skeletons come out of a doorway as a sort of 'second wave' of enemies, and while they ganked the sorcerer (who wanted to retire their character), the Wizard used a grease spell. And then lit the grease spell on fire. Killing all of the skeletons.
I went with 3 wyverns and the possibility of a large corrosive drake. Two of the Wyverns were encountered first with one surprise dive bombing a warlock and carrying him off just to drop him, the fighter went off on the other one after watching it swallow a helpless village and the battle ensued in earnest. It was well in hand until the 3rd Wyvern showed up and then they got panicky. After killing two and having the 3rd on the ropes the middle of the village exploded with the corrosive drake laying dormant underground and we had a tremendous chase situation where the party said "We out" and went running for the tree line and their horses with the drake stomping afterward spitting acid.
This was the first 45 mins of the session and went so well our previously scheduled 3 hour session became an over 5 hour memorable adventure that we ran until the very early hours of the morning.
The party has 6 level 5 characters, 2 warlocks (idk why) 1 barbarian, 1 fighter, 1 cleric, 1 ranger
I'm thinking of 2 to 3 wvyerns and later in the encounter a corrosive drake showing up to throw them off their game.
I just don't know if their damage output can handle it. I fully intend on having a wyvern grab an npc and take them high before dropping them as a telegraph that that is a tactic the party should look out for.
For me when I create an encounter I ask a few questions to try and gauge how the encounter will be built. I don't worry so much about "balancing" it to the party so much as if it makes sense. I leave it to the Party to either figure out whether the best action is to fight through or try to escape / hide. That being said, the choice of 3 wyverns and a drake seems odd, to me, though if it makes sense for your story then please correct my questions:
Personally I'd formulate the encounter something along the lines of this:
3 Wyverns, one is a female in heat looking for a mate. Two are males that are vying for her affection.
This clash pits the party in the middle of a very dangerous brawl between the two males. One in which the males are trying to kill each other off to show that they are the strongest male and worth to mate with. When the party stumbles on this the attention becomes split. The two males are set to protect the female, but are still trying to make sure the other male doesn't survive.
This actually means the encounter itself is really only the Party vs 1 male Wyvern and another male Wyrvern with the female watching. Since both the male wyrverns are not friendly towards each other and the female at the moment is more interested in figure out who to mate with, this splits the encounter (and the damage) up 3 ways and actually creates a unique dynamic.
This could mean if one of the male wyverns dies and the female may do one of two things... Swoop in and slay the unworthy 2nd male leaving the party to only face a female wyrvern that is in heat (meaning highly aggressive) or... well... swoop in and take the second male for mating (meaning the party could potentially tactically retreat).
The Drake could be interesting to add if, as part of the plot, you want them asking questions on where this unnatural beast came from and as a hook for finding the ritual site and maybe finding a Dragon cult.
I'm running a story where Dragons are making a move to subjugate all non dragon kind, so they have wvyerns and drakes looking for special artifacts and magical items.
The encounter will take place in a recently destroyed town, the party will be able to see two of the Wvyerns as they approach, the 3rd will be a surprise as it comes form behind a destroyed building eating someone.
The drake rising up from underneath a bunch of ruined buildings as it was digging for something. Although I built this in so I can nix the drake if the encounter is proving challenging enough without.
Well if that is the case it doesn't make sense that the drakes and wyverns wouldn't be working together. At that point 3 CR 6 and a CR 2 might be too much. I might switch it around a little bit and have some Half-Dragons in the mix. Maybe have 1 wyvern, 2 Half-Dragons and a drake.
That actually puts the XP threshold hovering around deadly, but not so much so that it is impossible. It is also important to note with intelligent creatures, they rarely fight to the death. Chances are after 2-3 get slayed the others should tactically retreat. You could use the stats for Langdedrosa Cyanwrath for both the Half-Dragons to lower the CR.
Additionaly, you can always have a couple Drakes that were distracted that could join the fight if it looks too easy.
Rock on, thanks for the input. Should be a fun encounter!
Awesome, let me know how it goes :-)
Oh I will, flirting with maybe just 2 or 3 wyverns and seeing how it plays out. My party is hard to gauge because they might get all the right rolls and wreck everything or all the fails and get smoked. lol.
Well you can always (secretly) add more HPs if they roll too well and then when it starts to get too tough beyond that point start describing how the creatures are starting to look paniced and have them either retreat or the next hit kill the creature.
Very true, but then again- Remember that the party can always surprise you with what they come up with.
Just last session I had 7 skeletons come out of a doorway as a sort of 'second wave' of enemies, and while they ganked the sorcerer (who wanted to retire their character), the Wizard used a grease spell. And then lit the grease spell on fire. Killing all of the skeletons.
I went with 3 wyverns and the possibility of a large corrosive drake. Two of the Wyverns were encountered first with one surprise dive bombing a warlock and carrying him off just to drop him, the fighter went off on the other one after watching it swallow a helpless village and the battle ensued in earnest. It was well in hand until the 3rd Wyvern showed up and then they got panicky. After killing two and having the 3rd on the ropes the middle of the village exploded with the corrosive drake laying dormant underground and we had a tremendous chase situation where the party said "We out" and went running for the tree line and their horses with the drake stomping afterward spitting acid.
This was the first 45 mins of the session and went so well our previously scheduled 3 hour session became an over 5 hour memorable adventure that we ran until the very early hours of the morning.
Much success, thanks all for the input.
Well, at least I now have a good idea on what will be in my next nightmare!!!
#🐉+🐉+🐉+🐊=😓 LOL LOL LOL!