Lately I’ve seen some really fun situations where the characters don’t have all of their normal resources, and I think my players would really enjoy them. For example, a cursed character, or the ‘you wake up in jail with no stuff’ plot line. The problem is, I don’t know how to balance encounters when my characters aren’t at the normal strength level. How do you scale these type of encounters?
My normal advice is to worry less about designing your encounters as a block ahead of time, and instead design your encounters to be dynamically adjustable.
If your party wakes up naked in a jail, then you can start with a minimal security detail. The party will likely take care of them easily, but if they aren't subtle, then one blood-curtling scream will call out a dozen (or maybe just 4) more guards from the adjacent room. If the party is subtle, then maybe a prisoner down the hall is the one that screams, or the party has to pass through the guard room itself to leave the prison.
Just like in Left for Dead, any door that the players can't actively see represents an opportunity for you to ramp up or wind down the danger. Door A could be more opponents, or it could be an office where their weapons are being catalogued.
You can also design every encounter to have optional "lair actions". A jail could include traps and wards, or manic prisoners could attempt to interfere by either shouting, or physically reaching through the bars to grab any of the combatants (e.g. "Wall of Arms").
Once you have a few switches to toggle, you can toss on your fedora and play a little jazz as you dance your way around the table.
(1) Lair Actions (2) Waves of enemies (3) Fog of War
I calculate how difficult the encounter was for my players after the fact, and award them according to their performance.
Lately I’ve seen some really fun situations where the characters don’t have all of their normal resources, and I think my players would really enjoy them. For example, a cursed character, or the ‘you wake up in jail with no stuff’ plot line. The problem is, I don’t know how to balance encounters when my characters aren’t at the normal strength level. How do you scale these type of encounters?
Only spilt the party if you see something shiny.
Ariendela Sneakerson, Half-elf Rogue (8); Harmony Wolfsbane, Tiefling Bard (10); Agnomally, Gnomish Sorcerer (3); Breeze, Tabaxi Monk (8); Grace, Dragonborn Barbarian (7); DM, Homebrew- The Sequestered Lands/Underwater Explorers; Candlekeep
My normal advice is to worry less about designing your encounters as a block ahead of time, and instead design your encounters to be dynamically adjustable.
If your party wakes up naked in a jail, then you can start with a minimal security detail. The party will likely take care of them easily, but if they aren't subtle, then one blood-curtling scream will call out a dozen (or maybe just 4) more guards from the adjacent room. If the party is subtle, then maybe a prisoner down the hall is the one that screams, or the party has to pass through the guard room itself to leave the prison.
Just like in Left for Dead, any door that the players can't actively see represents an opportunity for you to ramp up or wind down the danger. Door A could be more opponents, or it could be an office where their weapons are being catalogued.
You can also design every encounter to have optional "lair actions". A jail could include traps and wards, or manic prisoners could attempt to interfere by either shouting, or physically reaching through the bars to grab any of the combatants (e.g. "Wall of Arms").
Once you have a few switches to toggle, you can toss on your fedora and play a little jazz as you dance your way around the table.
(1) Lair Actions
(2) Waves of enemies
(3) Fog of War
I calculate how difficult the encounter was for my players after the fact, and award them according to their performance.