I am a new DM and the games have been going well so far. My 4 PC party (ranger, druid, fighter, barb) are now all level 2. I am creating an encounter where 4 armoured gobins, an orc, and the orcs dire wolf companion raid the town the PC's are currently at.
The goblins are each CR1/4, the direwolf is CR1, and the orc is CR 1/2.
This encounter is suppose to be slightly challenging. Our ranger almost died in another encounter to a goblin warboss. They did however beat 3 goblins, a goblin warboss, and a cockatrice while still level 1.
They are level 2 now and I don't want them to slaughter these orcs and gobbos completely. I'm thinking about raising the orc/gobbos base AC because of their armour and taking away their ability to disengage. This is to let them stay toe to toe with the fighter and barb a bit more. Also the Orc is named Savash and has the "Sword of Savash" which will poison on hit. One d4 damage per PC turn if they PC fails a con saving throw (DC11).
I think with the added AC bonus for armour, the special weapon, and outnumbering the party by one model, this can be a challenging yet fair battle??
Any advice?
I would encourage you to think about using the environment before adjusting their mechanics massively (although that is valid to do too - but gives you less flexibility during combat) E.g. By building in plenty of places for cover, potential height advantages etc. you can create a more dynamic situation where you can dial the threat up or down depending on how things are going. Just strategic positioning and a potential for surprising some of the party for example can very quickly turn it into a dangerous situation without having to modify the opponents a lot. I don't know the exact setting, but if goblins, and orc and a dire wolf are attacking a town, it's likely at night. If the party is resting, they are without armor unless they allow time for donning, hearing screams and fires breaking lose for several minutes. Personally, I prefer using the environment like this rather than inflating the stat blocks a lot (although I tend to roll the HP for the opponents so the players are never certain exactly how strong each opponent is in terms of HP) as you can adjust it on the fly.
I’ve been saying that for years. But part of what makes them a mess is that they undervalue the action economy.
No, the problem is mostly hidden assumptions and just outright failure to use the rules. The big issues are
The rules for "Modify Total XP for Multiple Monsters" (in Evaluating Encounter Difficulty) apparently assume that you can reduce the advantage of numbers by means of area effect damage and zoning. If that isn't possible, large numbers are disproportionately dangerous.
Tier 1, which is where a lot of where people form their impressions, doesn't have much battlefield control and has fairly small area effects.
People remember the "and then a bunch of goblins wiped the party!" and forget "and then the entire encounter was demolished by a single spell".
People don't even use those rules, because they're confusing and difficult to use.
I would encourage you to think about using the environment before adjusting their mechanics massively (although that is valid to do too - but gives you less flexibility during combat)
E.g. By building in plenty of places for cover, potential height advantages etc. you can create a more dynamic situation where you can dial the threat up or down depending on how things are going.
Just strategic positioning and a potential for surprising some of the party for example can very quickly turn it into a dangerous situation without having to modify the opponents a lot. I don't know the exact setting, but if goblins, and orc and a dire wolf are attacking a town, it's likely at night. If the party is resting, they are without armor unless they allow time for donning, hearing screams and fires breaking lose for several minutes.
Personally, I prefer using the environment like this rather than inflating the stat blocks a lot (although I tend to roll the HP for the opponents so the players are never certain exactly how strong each opponent is in terms of HP) as you can adjust it on the fly.
I’ve been saying that for years. But part of what makes them a mess is that they undervalue the action economy.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
No, the problem is mostly hidden assumptions and just outright failure to use the rules. The big issues are
I’m not debating this with you anymore.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting