So I'm going to be started a 2nd Group and all 3 of the players decided to choose Fighters, One Monk and Two Paladins. I tried bringing up ranged fighting and their response was "We will cross that bridge when we get there" So my question is , How do I make a fair and fun game where if they run into mages or anyone who uses ranged weapons they don't get massacred?
In my experience, the best way to run such a game is setting up the opposition exactly as you would with a more balanced party of characters - effectively, not tailoring encounters to the party's actual capabilities, just setting up a variety of encounter types and styles even if that means that some are particularly easy for a specific party arrangement or particularly hard for a specific party arrangement.
Then leave it up to the players to figure out how they are going to handle situations their characters aren't particularly great at.
You can also provide relatively easy and frequent access to resources like healing potions or hireable NPCs with helpful abilities if you want to make sure the players have however much of a safety-net as they would like.
Besides, it sounds like your main question is "How are these characters going to handle ranged combat?" and the answer is really as simple as "...every class is proficient with at least some ranged weapons, so they should just use those." Even without special traits focused on ranged weapons, they should get by just fine unless you are constantly and deliberately exploiting the party's weakness.
Definitely leave it up to the players! And who's to say one of the paladins doesn't specialize in archery? It's technically possible. But let them figure it out. It's part of the fun, and part of what will make the world feel more real to them. If the encounters aren't tailored to them as a party, then it's become more than a game.
For the few times that they would encounter any ranged opponents, they can still carry ranged weapons. So I would still throw ranged opponents at them, but perhaps for the first time in a location where you have provided an easy escape route, just in case they really didn't think it trough.
In the adventure I'm working on right now, they would all probably die in the first encounter of the campaign, due to not having any ranged attacks, if ran as I have written it. Sometimes it might be best to alter an encounter because of the capabilities of the players. Sometimes it is okay to leave it as it is and let the PCs deal with the complication.
A knife is a monk weapon, knives can be thrown. I concur with the rest of the responders on this thread. You should not change, and the challenges will be solved differently by the party. I think this would be a lot of fun to DM.
I recently ran a party of four wizards. They all died by black dragon, but it was a ton of fun until that point.
Let the players play what makes them happy. Don't worry that they are all melee, I am sure you will be surprised with what your players will throw at you when the time comes.
So I'm going to be started a 2nd Group and all 3 of the players decided to choose Fighters, One Monk and Two Paladins. I tried bringing up ranged fighting and their response was "We will cross that bridge when we get there" So my question is , How do I make a fair and fun game where if they run into mages or anyone who uses ranged weapons they don't get massacred?
Well, generally I would say that it is a problem for the players to solve.
Just make sure that there is always a way to get in close combat.
In my experience, the best way to run such a game is setting up the opposition exactly as you would with a more balanced party of characters - effectively, not tailoring encounters to the party's actual capabilities, just setting up a variety of encounter types and styles even if that means that some are particularly easy for a specific party arrangement or particularly hard for a specific party arrangement.
Then leave it up to the players to figure out how they are going to handle situations their characters aren't particularly great at.
You can also provide relatively easy and frequent access to resources like healing potions or hireable NPCs with helpful abilities if you want to make sure the players have however much of a safety-net as they would like.
Besides, it sounds like your main question is "How are these characters going to handle ranged combat?" and the answer is really as simple as "...every class is proficient with at least some ranged weapons, so they should just use those." Even without special traits focused on ranged weapons, they should get by just fine unless you are constantly and deliberately exploiting the party's weakness.
Definitely leave it up to the players! And who's to say one of the paladins doesn't specialize in archery? It's technically possible. But let them figure it out. It's part of the fun, and part of what will make the world feel more real to them. If the encounters aren't tailored to them as a party, then it's become more than a game.
For the few times that they would encounter any ranged opponents, they can still carry ranged weapons. So I would still throw ranged opponents at them, but perhaps for the first time in a location where you have provided an easy escape route, just in case they really didn't think it trough.
In the adventure I'm working on right now, they would all probably die in the first encounter of the campaign, due to not having any ranged attacks, if ran as I have written it. Sometimes it might be best to alter an encounter because of the capabilities of the players. Sometimes it is okay to leave it as it is and let the PCs deal with the complication.
A knife is a monk weapon, knives can be thrown. I concur with the rest of the responders on this thread. You should not change, and the challenges will be solved differently by the party. I think this would be a lot of fun to DM.
I recently ran a party of four wizards. They all died by black dragon, but it was a ton of fun until that point.
it could be worse, you could be on fire.
Thanks everyone
Then there is also cover, providing areas that provide cover can make the ranged attackers just as ineffective as the melee characters.
I don't change very much based on party make up. I have a party that has no caster or cleric and they are doing just fine without any changes.
JT " You will find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view."
Let the players play what makes them happy. Don't worry that they are all melee, I am sure you will be surprised with what your players will throw at you when the time comes.
Not a quiet group. Several suggestions:
1) Rust monsters
2) gelatinous cube
3) Ambush
4) Traps
The best combat experience is a bad combat experience - not lethal, just bad. The players will learn.
Retreating is always an option.