I'm a new dm and wanted to make an undead/vampire themed adventure(s) for my group of 3 new players and was wondering if anyone had any ideas or advice.
Also they'll be starting at level 5 and if they were to fight a vampire at the end how would I do this without a tpk, maybe I could use a blood drinker vampire, they'll probably be level 10 at the end. Thanks
No, use a normal vampire. A boss monster (let alone a BBEG) should be beyond deadly, and a CR 13 vampire is a little on the weak side, if anything. Fighting a blood drinker vampire would be almost trivial for them. They'd probably make it through with a decent amount of resources left. I would recommend using the normal vampire, possibly with minions or a terrain effect.
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homebrew (Mostly Outdated):Magic Items,Monsters,Spells,Subclasses ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
No, use a normal vampire. A boss monster (let alone a BBEG) should be beyond deadly, and a CR 13 vampire is a little on the weak side, if anything. Fighting a blood drinker vampire would be almost trivial for them. They'd probably make it through with a decent amount of resources left. I would recommend using the normal vampire, possibly with minions or a terrain effect.
I would suggest looking up other undead or humanoid creatures and considering reflavoring them vampiric/undead and not just sticking to what's wholly anticipated. If you're players are just finishing up LMoP, they're probably newer - so they don't know much of what to expect.
Getting your hands on CoS and condensing it isn't a bad idea, either. Perhaps when they return to Phandalin after their final encounter, whatever that is, they find that it has turned into an undead village full of their former allies.
Don't be afraid to look up other vampiric or undead minions to use for combat encounters to keep things interesting, including regular humanoids who might be under the charms of the vampires.
As a sidenote, I've found in my experience that it's often more interesting for the DM to run a BBEG with minions (balancing kept in mind) than 1 BBEG enemy against the party. You can do a bit more with minions, change up the battlefield, use them as meat shields or as vampiric drains to let your BBEG regain HP, etc. Don't be afraid to change things up to suit your party, too; if one of them is a cleric, it's going to be a lot easier a fight, whereas without one will make it harder.
I would suggest looking up other undead or humanoid creatures and considering reflavoring them vampiric/undead and not just sticking to what's wholly anticipated. If you're players are just finishing up LMoP, they're probably newer - so they don't know much of what to expect.
Getting your hands on CoS and condensing it isn't a bad idea, either. Perhaps when they return to Phandalin after their final encounter, whatever that is, they find that it has turned into an undead village full of their former allies.
Don't be afraid to look up other vampiric or undead minions to use for combat encounters to keep things interesting, including regular humanoids who might be under the charms of the vampires.
As a sidenote, I've found in my experience that it's often more interesting for the DM to run a BBEG with minions (balancing kept in mind) than 1 BBEG enemy against the party. You can do a bit more with minions, change up the battlefield, use them as meat shields or as vampiric drains to let your BBEG regain HP, etc. Don't be afraid to change things up to suit your party, too; if one of them is a cleric, it's going to be a lot easier a fight, whereas without one will make it harder.
Good luck!
Thanks, thats really helpful
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I'm a new dm and wanted to make an undead/vampire themed adventure(s) for my group of 3 new players and was wondering if anyone had any ideas or advice.
Also they'll be starting at level 5 and if they were to fight a vampire at the end how would I do this without a tpk, maybe I could use a blood drinker vampire, they'll probably be level 10 at the end. Thanks
No, use a normal vampire. A boss monster (let alone a BBEG) should be beyond deadly, and a CR 13 vampire is a little on the weak side, if anything. Fighting a blood drinker vampire would be almost trivial for them. They'd probably make it through with a decent amount of resources left. I would recommend using the normal vampire, possibly with minions or a terrain effect.
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall.
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Homebrew (Mostly Outdated): Magic Items, Monsters, Spells, Subclasses
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If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
Buy Curse of Strahd? That is a whole Gothic Vampire themed campaign.
Why are you starting new players at level 5? In my experience, it's best to start new players at level 1 as to not overwhelm them.
Thanks
Thanks, i would love to dm curse of strand but they don't want to play something that long, they'll be level 5 after lost mine of phandelver
Aaah. Fair point. Tho CoS is a level 1-10 adventure, so if you are expecting them to be lvl 10 you could use Strahd as the BBEG.
That's a good idea, thanks
My favorite balancing tool is DonJon's Encounter Generator. It's honestly never failed me.
I would suggest looking up other undead or humanoid creatures and considering reflavoring them vampiric/undead and not just sticking to what's wholly anticipated. If you're players are just finishing up LMoP, they're probably newer - so they don't know much of what to expect.
Getting your hands on CoS and condensing it isn't a bad idea, either. Perhaps when they return to Phandalin after their final encounter, whatever that is, they find that it has turned into an undead village full of their former allies.
Don't be afraid to look up other vampiric or undead minions to use for combat encounters to keep things interesting, including regular humanoids who might be under the charms of the vampires.
As a sidenote, I've found in my experience that it's often more interesting for the DM to run a BBEG with minions (balancing kept in mind) than 1 BBEG enemy against the party. You can do a bit more with minions, change up the battlefield, use them as meat shields or as vampiric drains to let your BBEG regain HP, etc. Don't be afraid to change things up to suit your party, too; if one of them is a cleric, it's going to be a lot easier a fight, whereas without one will make it harder.
Good luck!
Thanks, thats really helpful