I was wondering if you'd be able and willing to help me with the following situation;
The setup
Last session ended with the party of 4 (consisting of a lvl 5 sorcerer, paladin, fighter and rogue) in a sailors bar The Drunk Octopus. A mysterious tall man walked in and the paladin amicably tapped his shoulder and offered him a beer. The man, however, did not like to be touched and threw the paladin off and into the crowd. As tropes dictate, this caused a bar fight. We ended the session with the sailors looking down at their spilled beers and getting ready to cause some trouble.
The intent
I want to use this encounter to introduce a big baddy, namely the mysterious man, as a poweful fighter (using the champion stats) and a force to be reckoned with. I want the players to get a feeling of what he can do, while also needing to make sure that he doesn't slaughter any innocents. Also, during the fight, I hope the man gets attacked by either an npc that tears his cloak apart, revealing a logo on his armour that he's wearing underneath, providing the party a clue to his identity. That said, I want the bar fight to be a distraction of which the party either wants to escape from (especially when the mystery man starts to actively kill people) or to be such a distraction that the mystery man can get away when he needs to. (I'm fully prepared to have things go any other way, like them accidentally blowing him or the entire inn up, he's not the main big bad).
The challenge
While I could have the inn stockpiled with commoner and/or bandit npcs and run it like a normal combat, but in order to provide enough challenge that would be a lot of npcs and quite a hassle (not to mention boring to the players as I have to roll 20 something checks for attacks not even targeted at them). I've seen the Mob rules in the DMG, but I'm thinking they might not work in this case due to the chaos of the battle; some will be attacking the paladin (who got chucked into the mob), some the champion (who did the chucking) and various other scuffles will probably ensue.
The solution
I'd love to hear from you how you'd handle this and if you have tips for me how to do this. Next session is in a couple of days, so I'm eager for your responses :)
The mystery man is mighty and/or powerful. You can do that aspect using the narrative I suppose. Sitting at a table with 2 or 3 of his henchmen, which are fairly strong as well. Have him just sit there resuming his drink, being undisturbed by what is happening around him. He's so tough and sure of himself that he doesn't care. When things get harsher with all the fighting his two henchmen can take care of the fighting. They can beat various people down, throw a few across the room. All it takes to protect their leader. With the henchmen being this strong. How tough must the mystery man be is something the players could wonder. As soon as someone manages to, by luck, stumble and try to grasp for something to keep him on his feet... he could be grabbing part of the mystery man's tunic/cloak. Tearing part of it revealing the icon. As a reaction the man can then just slam this unfortunate soul into an unconscious pulp with just 1 or 2 hits. Straightening his cloak, hiding the emblem and resuming to drink. Or tell his henchmen its time to leave which means fighting through the crowd towards the exit. Having the two henchman "subtly" shank a few on the way out to make a path for their leader.
Since you do parts in a narrative way you can make the mystery man be stronger then he mechanically is. Building a bit of hype. Also leaving room in case your players take their time meeting this mystery man... allowing him to level up along the way as well.
The players could be doing their little brawl while all that takes place in the "background". Just have them fight a few direct opponents. But most of it will just be described in a narrative sense. Because does it really matter which unnamed scrub peasants get beaten KO or how many? You just have to make the fight feel big and intense through descriptions imo.
Running a lot of NPC's I find that running them as a "lair action" works best for the flow of things. You can narrate how many commoners you want, then roll a die for attack and damage for that group as a whole. Keeps the flow going a bit more. Also Matt Colville's Stronghold&Followers could be of some use in "mass combat". Instead of doing tons of rolls you simply roll two dice to keep stuff going.
The mystery man is mighty and/or powerful. You can do that aspect using the narrative I suppose. Sitting at a table with 2 or 3 of his henchmen, which are fairly strong as well. Have him just sit there resuming his drink, being undisturbed by what is happening around him. He's so tough and sure of himself that he doesn't care. When things get harsher with all the fighting his two henchmen can take care of the fighting. They can beat various people down, throw a few across the room. All it takes to protect their leader. With the henchmen being this strong. How tough must the mystery man be is something the players could wonder. As soon as someone manages to, by luck, stumble and try to grasp for something to keep him on his feet... he could be grabbing part of the mystery man's tunic/cloak. Tearing part of it revealing the icon. As a reaction the man can then just slam this unfortunate soul into an unconscious pulp with just 1 or 2 hits. Straightening his cloak, hiding the emblem and resuming to drink. Or tell his henchmen its time to leave which means fighting through the crowd towards the exit. Having the two henchman shank a few on the way out to make a path for their leader.
The players could be doing their little brawl while all that takes place in the "background".
Running a lot of NPC's I find that running them as a "lair action" works best for the flow of things. You can narrate how many commoners you want, then roll a die for attack and damage for that group as a whole. Keeps the flow going a bit more. Also Matt Colville's Stronghold&Followers could be of some use in "mass combat". Instead of doing tons of rolls you simply roll two dice to keep stuff going.
I like the idea of the baddy simply ignoring the commotion going on. Or even relishing it. He came in walking into the bar alone, so henchman won't work (basically he IS a henchman himself, but that's another story). Earlier he picked the paladin up and threw him onto the table with ease, so the fact that he´s strong is already up in the air. Having him then do nothing but watch probably ups the creep factor a lot.
You could try running the mob as an environment. Crowd grapples npc or player randomly rolled, chance to damage or push back people. Rough terrain pushing through the crowd, disperses if x damage is taken by the crowd (x could be plot driven) a number of rounds where patrons interfere in panic as the try to leave the bar when they disperse
You could try running the mob as an environment. Crowd grapples npc or player randomly rolled, chance to damage or push back people. Rough terrain pushing through the crowd, disperses if x damage is taken by the crowd (x could be plot driven) a number of rounds where patrons interfere in panic as the try to leave the bar when they disperse
that's a pretty cool idea too. So you're basically saying running a "normal" encounter being a bit smaller, with a couple of bandits/sailors but imposing disadvantage or other harassment from the other patrons present. maybe a random effect at the end of every round? Rolling a die to see what effect they need to overcome, perhaps escalating it as the fight does.
Hi guys,
I was wondering if you'd be able and willing to help me with the following situation;
The setup
Last session ended with the party of 4 (consisting of a lvl 5 sorcerer, paladin, fighter and rogue) in a sailors bar The Drunk Octopus. A mysterious tall man walked in and the paladin amicably tapped his shoulder and offered him a beer. The man, however, did not like to be touched and threw the paladin off and into the crowd. As tropes dictate, this caused a bar fight. We ended the session with the sailors looking down at their spilled beers and getting ready to cause some trouble.
The intent
I want to use this encounter to introduce a big baddy, namely the mysterious man, as a poweful fighter (using the champion stats) and a force to be reckoned with. I want the players to get a feeling of what he can do, while also needing to make sure that he doesn't slaughter any innocents. Also, during the fight, I hope the man gets attacked by either an npc that tears his cloak apart, revealing a logo on his armour that he's wearing underneath, providing the party a clue to his identity. That said, I want the bar fight to be a distraction of which the party either wants to escape from (especially when the mystery man starts to actively kill people) or to be such a distraction that the mystery man can get away when he needs to. (I'm fully prepared to have things go any other way, like them accidentally blowing him or the entire inn up, he's not the main big bad).
The challenge
While I could have the inn stockpiled with commoner and/or bandit npcs and run it like a normal combat, but in order to provide enough challenge that would be a lot of npcs and quite a hassle (not to mention boring to the players as I have to roll 20 something checks for attacks not even targeted at them). I've seen the Mob rules in the DMG, but I'm thinking they might not work in this case due to the chaos of the battle; some will be attacking the paladin (who got chucked into the mob), some the champion (who did the chucking) and various other scuffles will probably ensue.
The solution
I'd love to hear from you how you'd handle this and if you have tips for me how to do this. Next session is in a couple of days, so I'm eager for your responses :)
Subclass: Dwarven Defender - Dragonborn Paragon
Feats: Artificer Apprentice
Monsters: Sheep - Spellbreaker Warforged Titan
Magic Items: Whipier - Ring of Secret Storage - Collar of the Guardian
Monster template: Skeletal Creature
The mystery man is mighty and/or powerful. You can do that aspect using the narrative I suppose. Sitting at a table with 2 or 3 of his henchmen, which are fairly strong as well. Have him just sit there resuming his drink, being undisturbed by what is happening around him. He's so tough and sure of himself that he doesn't care. When things get harsher with all the fighting his two henchmen can take care of the fighting. They can beat various people down, throw a few across the room. All it takes to protect their leader. With the henchmen being this strong. How tough must the mystery man be is something the players could wonder. As soon as someone manages to, by luck, stumble and try to grasp for something to keep him on his feet... he could be grabbing part of the mystery man's tunic/cloak. Tearing part of it revealing the icon. As a reaction the man can then just slam this unfortunate soul into an unconscious pulp with just 1 or 2 hits. Straightening his cloak, hiding the emblem and resuming to drink. Or tell his henchmen its time to leave which means fighting through the crowd towards the exit. Having the two henchman "subtly" shank a few on the way out to make a path for their leader.
Since you do parts in a narrative way you can make the mystery man be stronger then he mechanically is. Building a bit of hype. Also leaving room in case your players take their time meeting this mystery man... allowing him to level up along the way as well.
The players could be doing their little brawl while all that takes place in the "background". Just have them fight a few direct opponents. But most of it will just be described in a narrative sense. Because does it really matter which unnamed scrub peasants get beaten KO or how many? You just have to make the fight feel big and intense through descriptions imo.
Running a lot of NPC's I find that running them as a "lair action" works best for the flow of things. You can narrate how many commoners you want, then roll a die for attack and damage for that group as a whole. Keeps the flow going a bit more. Also Matt Colville's Stronghold&Followers could be of some use in "mass combat". Instead of doing tons of rolls you simply roll two dice to keep stuff going.
I like the idea of the baddy simply ignoring the commotion going on. Or even relishing it. He came in walking into the bar alone, so henchman won't work (basically he IS a henchman himself, but that's another story). Earlier he picked the paladin up and threw him onto the table with ease, so the fact that he´s strong is already up in the air. Having him then do nothing but watch probably ups the creep factor a lot.
Subclass: Dwarven Defender - Dragonborn Paragon
Feats: Artificer Apprentice
Monsters: Sheep - Spellbreaker Warforged Titan
Magic Items: Whipier - Ring of Secret Storage - Collar of the Guardian
Monster template: Skeletal Creature
You could try running the mob as an environment. Crowd grapples npc or player randomly rolled, chance to damage or push back people. Rough terrain pushing through the crowd, disperses if x damage is taken by the crowd (x could be plot driven) a number of rounds where patrons interfere in panic as the try to leave the bar when they disperse
that's a pretty cool idea too. So you're basically saying running a "normal" encounter being a bit smaller, with a couple of bandits/sailors but imposing disadvantage or other harassment from the other patrons present. maybe a random effect at the end of every round? Rolling a die to see what effect they need to overcome, perhaps escalating it as the fight does.
Subclass: Dwarven Defender - Dragonborn Paragon
Feats: Artificer Apprentice
Monsters: Sheep - Spellbreaker Warforged Titan
Magic Items: Whipier - Ring of Secret Storage - Collar of the Guardian
Monster template: Skeletal Creature
Yeah, it could be the table the paladin landed on vs the party with crowd interference. Then the party either engages or not with the baddy.