Hi DM's I am about the run through the 7 campaigns in Saltmarsh and its my first time DM'ing for my party of 5 and they're starting as Lv9 characters.
I'm starting with "The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh" What's the best way to go about altering the encounters traps etc to suit their level? I've toyed with the encounter builder and wondered if that's a good aid to help?
any advice is appreciated and any general DM tips wouldn't go a-miss :) many thanks!
Encounter builder is OK... but it will over-estimate the threat level if you are not doing the expected 6-8 encounters per day. I don't have Saltmarsh so I don't know if that assumption is violated or not.
One trick you can do is use the statblock of a better creature for your monsters. So for example, keep the monsters "goblins" but use the Bugbear statblock, that kind of thing.
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WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Encounter builder is OK... but it will over-estimate the threat level if you are not doing the expected 6-8 encounters per day. I don't have Saltmarsh so I don't know if that assumption is violated or not.
One trick you can do is use the statblock of a better creature for your monsters. So for example, keep the monsters "goblins" but use the Bugbear statblock, that kind of thing.
This is what I'm doing for Saltmarsh when the characters in my current campaign finally reach Saltmarsh. At first, I was thinking of just upping the creature count with the Encounter Builder but it just started to get too crowded and still felt like the character would just cut through all of them with ease. It takes a bit of searching to find that right match but it works even if you need to make your own adjustments. Plus, taking a look at the Homebrew monsters I've found variants level of certain monsters that usually comes out to what I'm looking for.
Upping creature counts can work in terms of the rules, but if you have too many PCs and NPCs running around in a battle it can take forever.
I still remember the "12 on 12" hero-villain fight we had in Champions during the Great Supervillain Contest. It took us two afternoons to do ONE battle.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Thanks guys. I've been playing around and doing a combination of both. Adding a few more here and there then also using stat lines from more "beefier" monsters/creatures
Since Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh is designed for level 1 characters you will likely need to increase both difficulty and numbers. However, since it uses mostly human NPCs this becomes easier to do. Sanbalet can be swapped with a much more challenging wizard. You can add some extra wizards or clerics along with a range of other opponents. However, at level 9 you will need to be increasing difficulty significantly.
One thing to consider might be the need to rewrite a bit of the story background to make sense for much higher level NPCs being involved in the smuggling trade. Why are such powerful NPCs here? Are they part of a larger plan? An invasion by the pirate kingdoms? Allies of the Sahaugen? You should probably take a look at the full storyline and see what changes (if any) might make sense to tie it together as a high level storyline.
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Hi DM's
I am about the run through the 7 campaigns in Saltmarsh and its my first time DM'ing for my party of 5 and they're starting as Lv9 characters.
I'm starting with "The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh"
What's the best way to go about altering the encounters traps etc to suit their level? I've toyed with the encounter builder and wondered if that's a good aid to help?
any advice is appreciated and any general DM tips wouldn't go a-miss :) many thanks!
WarmishMushroom
Encounter builder is OK... but it will over-estimate the threat level if you are not doing the expected 6-8 encounters per day. I don't have Saltmarsh so I don't know if that assumption is violated or not.
One trick you can do is use the statblock of a better creature for your monsters. So for example, keep the monsters "goblins" but use the Bugbear statblock, that kind of thing.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
This is what I'm doing for Saltmarsh when the characters in my current campaign finally reach Saltmarsh. At first, I was thinking of just upping the creature count with the Encounter Builder but it just started to get too crowded and still felt like the character would just cut through all of them with ease. It takes a bit of searching to find that right match but it works even if you need to make your own adjustments. Plus, taking a look at the Homebrew monsters I've found variants level of certain monsters that usually comes out to what I'm looking for.
Upping creature counts can work in terms of the rules, but if you have too many PCs and NPCs running around in a battle it can take forever.
I still remember the "12 on 12" hero-villain fight we had in Champions during the Great Supervillain Contest. It took us two afternoons to do ONE battle.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
Thanks guys. I've been playing around and doing a combination of both. Adding a few more here and there then also using stat lines from more "beefier" monsters/creatures
Since Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh is designed for level 1 characters you will likely need to increase both difficulty and numbers. However, since it uses mostly human NPCs this becomes easier to do. Sanbalet can be swapped with a much more challenging wizard. You can add some extra wizards or clerics along with a range of other opponents. However, at level 9 you will need to be increasing difficulty significantly.
One thing to consider might be the need to rewrite a bit of the story background to make sense for much higher level NPCs being involved in the smuggling trade. Why are such powerful NPCs here? Are they part of a larger plan? An invasion by the pirate kingdoms? Allies of the Sahaugen? You should probably take a look at the full storyline and see what changes (if any) might make sense to tie it together as a high level storyline.