Designing challenging and engaging encounters.
34
votes
8answers
2k views
What ways are there to anger the PC's without angering the players?
Since I got so many good ideas on my last question, here's part 2:
What ways are there to really anger my PC's -- give them that sense of unbridled rage and fury -- without pissing the players off ...
33
votes
7answers
2k views
What do you do when a player intimidates your campaign boss to surrender?
So my players recently fought a big bad campaign boss. The (custom made) boss was a kind of solo beserker king, and the encounter difficulty was designed to be fairly moderate until the boss became ...
18
votes
4answers
279 views
How to run an encounter where PCs have different observations of the same events?
Some of the discussion in this question got me to thinking about an encounter design that sounded fun but I couldn't figure out an elegant way to pull it off:
In some situation where one or more PCs ...
17
votes
9answers
411 views
What ways are there to convey loneliness and betrayal in an encounter?
A little background: I am designing a campaign that largely takes place in the mind of a twisted wizard. The wizard was shunned and exiled from his home due to a physical disfigurement, and after a ...
17
votes
5answers
714 views
Are there any official guidelines for Shadowrun payouts?
I'm trying to figure out how much to pay Shadowrunners for a job, and how to balance the NPCs. I couldn't find anything in SR4A (though I could've missed something).
I've only played in a couple of ...
15
votes
8answers
695 views
My necromancer keeps dying (and can't raise himself)!
Sometimes in the course of running an adventure you will run into an encounter that calls for a summoner to bring on a horde of undead (often minions).
I have a simple problem: My summoners die in ...
15
votes
5answers
2k views
How can I create an introductory D&D encounter intended for teaching the rules?
For my next D&D campaign, I want to introduce the players to the ruleset by having them play through a sample combat encounter. All of them have prior RPG experience, but they haven't played any ...
15
votes
2answers
590 views
Creating solo monsters
One thing I haven't found in 4th edition online is a plethora of solo monsters. The idea of these fights are fascinating! Sadly though, all the products in 4th focus on multiple opponent fights (with ...
14
votes
5answers
312 views
As a GM, what aids could I use to create adventure scenes on the spot?
As a GM, many a time I run into a situation that I know nothing of, am not prepared about, and need something, NOW! Maybe it is a freeform adventure and plot was not prepared, maybe I prepared some ...
14
votes
5answers
264 views
How to abstract a trial?
A session I am writing for my gaming group will take the characters through a murder trial. One of the players is the accused, and he and his companions will need to build a case and defend ...
14
votes
3answers
923 views
What encounter features make low CR enemies challenging?
I'm planning an encounter where a mid level party would be assaulted by a a large number of lower level characters. We've all read Tucker's Kobolds, but what makes this kind of encounter actually ...
12
votes
5answers
304 views
How can I balance an enemy that my players might encounter at different levels?
My story revolves around 8 angels that my players must defeat. The thing is I want them to look for them in no particular order. How can I balance an enemy easily in advance, since they may encounter ...
11
votes
2answers
485 views
My players almost die in my encounters every time. Does this mean my encounters are too hard?
I'm running my first campaign with three friends. This is the first time any of us have done any table-top role-playing. I'm working the party through the H1: Keep on the Shadowfell campaign using ...
11
votes
5answers
251 views
How to simulate distraction during battle without actually distracting the players?
Here's my situation. In an encounter I have coming up next week, an epic aerial battle between an Angel and a powerful necromancer rages overhead a group of low-level PC's. Attempting to assist in ...
11
votes
7answers
607 views
How do you kidnap a PC?
Here's where my group is currently at:
We are reaching the end of a campaign and we are going to be switching GM's.
I have been playing a (secretly) evil Psion who has plans to betray the party ...
11
votes
2answers
171 views
Reducing a monster below CR 1
There are many instances in Pathfinder and other 3.5 based systems when you might need to reduce a monster below 1 or 1/2. For example, if I'm using a CR 1/2 monster from a 3.5 source in Pathfinder, ...
10
votes
2answers
335 views
How do I scale an encounter to a larger party?
I have a group that wound up being larger than I expected for my DnD Campaign. It is Dark Sun and I am keeping things gritty and dangerous. However, since I normally have 7 players, I find that ...
8
votes
3answers
299 views
How many encounters can you squeeze into a 3 hour slot?
A local game day is coming within the next month and I am planning on running an adventure. The slots are three hours long. Given that time slot I would like to see the players complete the ...
7
votes
3answers
495 views
Do monsters higher or lower level than the PCs play well in combat?
In D&D 4e, an encounter's XP budget suggests one standard monster of the player's level for each party member.
Does it work well to spend the XP budget on smaller number of high level opponents, ...
7
votes
4answers
796 views
Adjusting Modules for More Players (D&D 3.5)
I am planning on running a D&D 3.5 campaign soon. I underestimated how many of my friends would be interested, and my group of 4 has quickly turned into a group of 6. I have seen various ...
7
votes
2answers
130 views
Best practices for balancing separate enemies in an encounter?
I'd like to run a game where a Mage has killed a necromancer, who has re-animated himself and is after the mage. The mage himself is evil. The necromancer makes up the majority of the session. The ...
6
votes
2answers
175 views
What should be included in a standard 4E D&D encounter? How would this be written in the adventure?
I'm a big D&D fan, but haven't played in ten years or so. The last time I played, it was AD&D 2nd edition. I am trying to write an adventure for a friend, and I'm sort of confused as to what ...
6
votes
1answer
192 views
How to balance the numbers and equipment of an encounter in Shadowrun 4E?
I'm having trouble creating NPCs for my game, especially regarding their number and their equipment. Their skill level is ok, but these points are problematic. I know that most of the time, the ...
5
votes
2answers
135 views
How can I gauge the strength of my PCs in Legend?
I've been trying to run Legend on and off lately, and I find myself faced with a frustration. Though I find the Mook rules easy enough to comprehend, I can't seem to create appropriate challenges for ...
5
votes
1answer
91 views
Do I need both DMG1 and 2 to create adventures?
I'm working on my first custom campaign for my players (I have previously run modules out of books and Dragon magazine), and I am wondering if I should read both DMG1 and 2 or if it's possible to just ...
4
votes
1answer
101 views
How to factor the xp cost of poison/magic weapons into an encounter
I'd like to design a 4E encounter with some monsters using poisoned weapons, but I am a little unsure of how to factor this into the XP budget. The DMG (pg 50) gives the GP cost and level for various ...
4
votes
2answers
78 views
Monsters of Encounter Levels below 1 in Legend
In legend, antagonists/monsters/loot-on-legs are made the exact same way as PC's, though less restricted.
I have always loved hordes in epic fantasy, but the rules make this hard to portray at lower ...
3
votes
3answers
241 views
Non-magical wilderness (forest) threats
What are some ways that a group of several agile and fit individuals can be (mortally) threatened in a large forest in the autumn? Temperate climate, realistic setting , low magic - I would prefer to ...
2
votes
1answer
146 views
Encounter templates
A standard encounter for a five man party is determined by the formula n + (2/4)
What I don't understand is what I'm supposed to do when the party I'm making the encounter for is level 1.
Let's take ...
0
votes
2answers
113 views
How to challenge a high DPS party [closed]
I could use some ideas for one of my current games.
The Background
I need assistance challenging a party of 12th level characters in a Pathfinder game. The full party (and role is as follows)
...
