How do you handle scaling (or decide not to) when the party size grows? I've been running adventures with 4 players and we are about to tack on 3 more as we switch into starting Princes of the Apocalypse.
I'm trying to determine how best to manage combat groups because the party of 4 felt fairly matched to the level expectations of dungeons (I was running Lost Mines of Phandelver). Having 7 seems like I need to do something, like add a few extra to each mob, add scenario affects like traps, bring the players in at a level lower, make conditions which split groups or something. I can't quite determine the right approach and would appreciate any advice you all have on what has felt good for larger groups to both feel challenged but not utterly overwhelmed.
Double the number of monsters in each combat. If that's not possible, then add AoE lair / terrain effects that would double the DPR of the enemies in the encounter.
If you have particular battle you want to be close, you can test it out with a realistic simulation ona pregen party with this tool. You can import the party if all on dndbeyond too (assuming the spells are selected, weapons selected etc).
The real answer, unfortunately, is "it depends". If both sides have a similar mix of capabilities, you just multiply numbers (so if the fight was 4 monsters vs 4 PCs, it becomes 7 vs 7), but there are some abilities (notably area effects -- the more targets you have, the more targets they are likely to hit) that scale particularly well to increased numbers of monsters, and other abilities (notably melee -- in relatively cramped terrain, melee characters can easily wind up blocked and unable to engage) that scale particularly poorly. Also, the fact that one adventure felt well balanced doesn't mean another will.
Hi All,
How do you handle scaling (or decide not to) when the party size grows? I've been running adventures with 4 players and we are about to tack on 3 more as we switch into starting Princes of the Apocalypse.
I'm trying to determine how best to manage combat groups because the party of 4 felt fairly matched to the level expectations of dungeons (I was running Lost Mines of Phandelver). Having 7 seems like I need to do something, like add a few extra to each mob, add scenario affects like traps, bring the players in at a level lower, make conditions which split groups or something. I can't quite determine the right approach and would appreciate any advice you all have on what has felt good for larger groups to both feel challenged but not utterly overwhelmed.
Double the number of monsters in each combat. If that's not possible, then add AoE lair / terrain effects that would double the DPR of the enemies in the encounter.
If you have particular battle you want to be close, you can test it out with a realistic simulation ona pregen party with this tool. You can import the party if all on dndbeyond too (assuming the spells are selected, weapons selected etc).
The real answer, unfortunately, is "it depends". If both sides have a similar mix of capabilities, you just multiply numbers (so if the fight was 4 monsters vs 4 PCs, it becomes 7 vs 7), but there are some abilities (notably area effects -- the more targets you have, the more targets they are likely to hit) that scale particularly well to increased numbers of monsters, and other abilities (notably melee -- in relatively cramped terrain, melee characters can easily wind up blocked and unable to engage) that scale particularly poorly. Also, the fact that one adventure felt well balanced doesn't mean another will.
Thanks everyone, great information :)