Questions tagged [encounter-design]
For questions about designing challenging and engaging situations in which player characters come into contact (and often conflict with) NPCs, monsters, or other potential opponents.
406
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How do I structure an in-game tournament to rank the participating parties of adventurers?
As part of my existing Pathfinder campaign, I want to run an in-game tournament between twelve adventuring parties.
The PCs would form one team. The other 11 are NPC teams put forward by NPC nobles. ...
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0
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How do I appropriatly stock this dungeon to make it challenging but not impossible? [closed]
I'm a new DM. I built a dungeon for my players' second set of encounters. They will need to clear it in order to gain knowledge from a Copper Dragon (a passive ally) at the end.
We are using ...
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5
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1
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Help me with my battlefield design [closed]
Setup
One of my weaknesses as a DM is probably battlefield design. I often forget about this completely, and have to make up a map on the spot when we roll initiative. I try to avoid this before major ...
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Do 5th-edition D&D PCs consistently outmatch level-appropriate encounters?
I have a group of PCs that started at level 1. The group varies in size between 6-8 PCs and they have a good spread of classes (healer, tanks, damage dealers, 2 arcane casters).
They are level 5 ...
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6
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2
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Is this DnD4E fight level appropriate?
Yesterday we had a DnD4e session to kill the final boss of a, now in total, 4 session dungeon. This fight took us 7 hours (irl).
The boss had an AoE ability that would shoot a fireball for 1d100
with ...
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2
votes
3
answers
34k
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Experience point calculation for encounters
I am likely missing something very obvious but I cannot find a reliable way to figure out how much XP to give my players for encounters anywhere, currently I'm using a factor of 5 encounters of a ...
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2
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How to decide if traps in OSR play should be obvious? [closed]
Obvious traps emphasize interaction with the traps, which is often interesting.
Hidden traps make unexplored regions of a dungeon far more dangerous and reward careful play and cunning, as players ...
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10
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3
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Train chase sequence
In my next session, I want my players to have a chase sequence followed by a battle on board a moving train. They'll be chasing Githyanki, so their mage hand, jump, and misty step spells will all ...
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5
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How do I make engaging Man vs Wild encounters that aren't excercises in rolling dice?
I like wilderness adventures. My earliest games as a player (in AD&D 2e) featured wilderness adventures, and I really enjoyed them. I try to use them in my games (We're playing Pathfinder right ...
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2
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How much does Petrification Ray modify a monster's CR?
I'm working on a custom monster right now and I want to give it a Petrification Ray, as seen on the Beholder, as an action:
Petrification Ray. The targeted creature must make a DC (8+Spellcasting ...
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3
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2
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How to modify a bulette to challenge a level 10 party?
In my campaign, the PCs have been tasked with removing a group of bulettes from a mining claim. I plan on using standard bulettes as a lead-up to a 'boss fight' where I would like a larger (perhaps cr ...
- 1,271
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3
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How do I calculate a suitable combat encounter under 5e based on the CR values in the Monster Manual?
In my 3rd ed book, there is a table of CR against the number of monsters a party can fight based on their level. In 5e I cannot find this table. There is some mention of encounters being based on the ...
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31
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3
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My PCs are too strong for a published adventure. How can I fix the content so it isn't trivial?
This is my first time DMing a D&D game and I'm learning as I go. I'm running Tyranny of Dragons, and here's my situation:
Through a series of lucky events and other phenomena, the party is one ...
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21
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2
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1k
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Tarrasque: Rush & Jump Skill Interaction
Background
I am having a little trouble wrapping my brain around the Jump skill. I want to plan a battle with my players and the Tarrasque; two of them have the ability to fly - and it does not.
I ...
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6
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How can I create reasonably challenging encounters for large groups?
I'm running a 5e campaign that has become quite successful to the point that everyone wants in and I have 6-8 players at my table every other week.
It's awesome, but I'm having troubles with creating ...
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5
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2
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Can an animated cannon fire itself?
In Pathfinder I am currently trying to design a few encounters with a supposed ghost ship (actually a Colossal Animated Object) complete with a crew of Haunted Objects (again, Animated Objects), but I ...
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1
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How would removing tail spikes from a manticore affect its challenge rating?
One creature omitted from the 5th Edition MM is the Dragonne, and I have considered modifying stats for the manticore to create a 5E dragonne. Most of the changes would be cosmetic except for removing ...
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4
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Can players handle Deadly encounters if they don't engage in any other danger?
The DMG suggests that Player Characters are generally going to be able to handle about 6 encounters between long rests; the difficulty comes from the cumulative strain of multiple consecutive ...
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5
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How do I handle the encounter difficulty for a three-sided battle?
I'm running my first real campaign. The idea I have for the first dungeon involves the PCs coming upon two sides already engaged in combat. One side is losing and weaker than the other, though not in ...
- 2,464
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6
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Balancing undead encounters against large party with a cleric
I'm a new DM (and a relatively new player as well) and I'm leading a pretty large (6 players) group of newbies. We've done a few demos and whatnot just to show them the basics of combat, but now we're ...
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0
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Designing a low-level NPC mage [closed]
So, I am working on a dungeon for a small party:
(Tweaked) Drow Sorc2 -- good stats and a decent spell selection
Human Rgr2 -- has a bit of healing, but more of a tanky/hack-and-slash type so far
...
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3
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0
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How do I calculate encounter difficulty for PCs with allied monsters? [duplicate]
I'm currently running a mega dungeon in 5e D&D, and my players have recruited some monsters into their service. I have been building encounters using the dungeon masters guide rules (pg. 81-84), ...
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1
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How do I calculate the CR of a monster that spends their turns healing?
My question is about magic and monster CR. I was building a CR 10 Cleric with capabilities of healing himself and others, but I don't see any rules about calculating CR for a monster that expends his ...
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3
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How to make a low CR villain more dangerous
My PC's in one campaign are currently traveling to their first major town and, unbeknownst to them, there is a Rakshasa, disguised as the town mayor, using the town to feed and kill as he pleases ...
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1
vote
0
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What is an appropriate encounter in Deathwatch [duplicate]
I am wondering how to judge what kind of encounter will be right for my group. I would like to design challenging encounters, but not ones which will be impossible or far too easy.
How will I know if ...
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3
votes
1
answer
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How can I boost the AC of a ghost dragon?
I am in the process of making a ghost dragon as a challenge for a mythic campaign, with a party of a druid, an alchemist, and a paladin.
Applying the ghost template drastically reduces its AC from ...
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4
votes
1
answer
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How do you judge the difficulty of an encounter in Strands of Fate?
I recently found Strands of Fate and it looks like a really fun system; so, naturally, I want to run a short campaign in it to try it out. Unfortunately, the book doesn't seem to give any tips for how ...
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1
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How to set up a Castle Siege? [closed]
I am running a war, for my players. They have won a battle pushing their opponent back into a citadel within the cliffs.
I am looking for stories, suggestions, or more importantly rules on how to ...
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3
votes
2
answers
842
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How to make and set up Army scale battles
I am nearing the climax of a nearly year and a half story, and before the final boss I wanted to have a massive army scale battle. This is a 3.5 game, the armies will be mostly using martial weapons, ...
- 419
11
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3
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760
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How can I avoid making extended/prolonged encounters boring?
I have run this campaign for just over a year. Many encounters later, I have come to one snag; If I run an encounter that lasts for more than a few rounds, I lose all my flair. I just resort to "hit" ...
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How can I make a CR 4 monster based on a player class (e.g. Sorcerer)?
I'd like to create a villain that can take on a party of level 4 characters all by herself. In other words, if she were a standard monster, she would have a Challenge Rating of 4.
What's the right ...
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2
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Would an Ettin and Otyugh live in the same area?
According to the 3.5 monster manual -
Ettins like to establish their lairs in remote, rocky areas. They dwell
in dark, underground caves that stink of decaying food and offal.
They tolerate other ...
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1
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3k
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How do I calculate APL and CR for mythic PCs and enemies?
I'm GMing a Pathfinder campaign and some players have mythic tiers. They seem really powerful to me? As far as I can tell, even adjusting CR for mythic tiers, their power makes the CR system even more ...
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votes
1
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9k
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designing encounters for a tournament with set rules
I am running an in-game tournament.
The qualifiers are pit fights with the last two standing going through. Hopefully all of the party will qualify so it seems like I'm not doing endless pit fights ...
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22
votes
9
answers
12k
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Should encounters be adjusted to a full-magic party?
I am still a new GM and I am building a session for three first-time players. After discussing the game, rules and setting, all of them are interested in playing magic characters (Draconic Sorcerer, ...
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0
answers
1k
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How do I determine how many encounters a dungeon should contain? [closed]
It's come to the point in our game where the party is going to enter the first major dungeon. They started higher level, around level 8, and we have a variable of 5-8 players. The last 3 coming depend ...
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7
votes
1
answer
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How can I deal faster with enemy actions on large-scale battles?
I returned to Savage Worlds after a while of playing 5th Edition and Anima, and I'm falling in love with the system again.
I finally understood how the system goes better with many characters ...
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3
votes
6
answers
12k
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Scaling a game for a large group
I have read How do I run a game for a larger group?, and while it gave helpful advice it is not the problem I am having.
I have 6 players and an observer. They understand they need to have their ...
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2
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How to accurately calculate party level for combat once they have magical items?
I'm a fan of giving my characters magical items. In the past though, I've found that magical items start making combat trivial until I started adding extra enemies just to make it more difficult.
I'm ...
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2
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How do you alter encounter difficulty in regards to decreased party size?
Encounters are usually written in advance and balanced against the makeup and the abilities of the party. Sometimes though the party makeup when writing such an encounter in advance and when actully ...
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How do I adjust Part 8 of The Traveller Campaign for more powerful characters? [closed]
I've just gotten to Adventure 8 in The Traveller Campaign and I have a problem: the characters are far too powerful for the adventure.
The main problem is that The Privateer Fleet that the characters ...
- 299
2
votes
1
answer
101
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Different numbers of PCs to the adventure spec
I'm about to start Keep on the Shadowfell with a party of seven friends (beginners) but the adventure spec says the encounters are built for five PCs.
Is there a particular method for changing the ...
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2
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How far below the average CR should I count monsters when determining encounter difficulty?
DMG82 says "When [calculating encounter difficulty multipliers], don't count any monsters whose challenge rating is significantly below the average challenge rating of the other monsters in the group."...
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3
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How to Run a Trial Based on Skills? [closed]
So I will be putting my group through a final exam in their knight training. I wanted to have each trial in the exam based off of one of the six Dungeons and Dragons attributes.
I figured that ...
- 1,381
28
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10
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4k
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Should I scale the difficulty after the party recruits a boss?
A year ago or so, I was DMing a DnD4e campaign in which the leader of the players' party (Sariel) managed to convince a powerful (6 levels higher) adversary (Pieter) to join them temporarily; their ...
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1
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What items can I have my players hunt for to prove the blight is back upon Ferelden?
We're playing a Dragon Age game. I have the framework for a campaign that will take the players all over Ferelden looking for allies and preparing the populace for the blight but I'm stuck on one ...
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3
answers
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If I design a PC for use as an NPC, how much XP should he give when killed?
As part of an early quest, my PCs are likely to face off against a wizard.
The problem here is that the stat block for Mage NPCs listed in the Basic Rules has a Challenge Rating of 6, while the PCs ...
- 325
13
votes
2
answers
2k
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How can I make simple tasks more challenging without involving combat?
I want to delay my players for one session while we wait for the last player to become available.
My plan is to send them to a wise old man (aka crazy hermit) for advice, and then to delay them for ...
- 3,171
15
votes
6
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How do you handle combat in Pathfinder when there are too many foes to even count?
I have offered to take a turn at running a game for our group. I have a story that I think they will find interesting, mechanics to cope with the fact that some players sometimes just don't show up ...
19
votes
3
answers
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How to make combat more tactical?
How can I help combat be more diverse? I'm a player, but I'm open to suggesting things to my DM.
We are a party of 5th-level PCs. What we run into is the classic tactical situation every time: the ...
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