DM Workshop #2: Adventure/Encounter Planning
DM Workshop #2: Adventure/Encounter Planning
In PbP, compared to playing around a table in RL, things move glacially slow. This needs to be taken into account when planning the adventure ensuring XP & treasure awards increase proportionally and appropriately. It can take seemingly forever for characters to advance a level. Ideally we should shoot for leveling up every 3-4 months if possible.
In a typical game rewards are given from combat encounters in a balanced style of gameplay. Other methods of XP/treasure awards will be covered elsewhere. Based on average encounters when playing around a table, players would expect to level-up every 12-13 encounters. That is way too slow in PbP; every 5-6 encounters would be ideal. To do that without bending the rules, requires increasing difficulty of the encounters to increase the rewards. In doing so, you have to plan things to ensure the characters can survive multiple encounters, like getting access to healing or being able to rest often enough.
Long adventures and campaigns can take forever as well, trying to remember plot point over months or years can be hard. In PbP you are better served with shorter adventures so players get more satisfying feel of progression. Ideally for the DM, it is probably best to run the adventure to the players from having just leveled up or starting fresh at no XP, through to just reaching the next level once they finish the final encounter. This means the difficulties can be consistent throughout. However, by road mapping the encounters ahead of time, the DM can predict when the characters will level up, so the difficulties later on can be planned accordingly.
Using Published Material:
Most published adventures are already balanced as far as rewards, taking into account XP and treasure. But, the progression is designed for playing around a table and will be too slow without adjustments. It should be reworked. Here are some ways to do that.
1. Use Time-based awards to supplement the encounter awards.
2. Insert plot milestone awards
3. Increase encounter difficulty and treasure to match a faster progression
Designing a short PbP Adventure:
This is an example of a short adventure for 1st level characters with 0XP using the Pathfinder rules. Initially we will look at a basic template with 5 encounters.
We have our monster lair/haunted house/abandoned keep or whatever. Out heroes are probably going to have to do this in one or two attempts for story purposes. So unless they have decent healing, they might not be able to handle all of it in one go around if it is too hard. This is particularly a problem on the first adventure, so we need to keep this in mind.
I will use a simple Kobold lair for an example.
Enc #1 is outside or en route. - Challenging
Enc #2-4 Easy encounters/minions. - Average
Enc #5 Boss encounter. - Challenging or Hard
In the PF Core Rules Ch 12 on Gamemastering there are two tables you need to look at. First is the XP point awards (Table 12-2). Similar tables can be found in all the different rule sets (i.e. 3.5ed Dungeon Master's Guide, Star Wars Saga Edition Core Rules, d20 Modern Core Rulebook, etc...)
When you set the Challenge Rating (CR) level of the encounter, that determines the XP your monsters should have totaled together. So for a Challenging Encounter #1 should be CR2. (ie. 1 Wolverine).
Enc #2-4 are the sentries, kitchen, and barracks of our kobold lair. There are various numbers (2-4, but we will use 3 as an example) kobold warriors (CR1/3). Maybe one encounter (#3) is a CR1 trap. But these are really just warm ups for the big fight at the end.
Enc #5 The Boss: Kobold Fighter 1 (CR1/2), Kobold Spellcaster (CR1/2) and 3 Kobold Warriors (CR1/3) = CR3 encounter
Since there will not be any resting from Encounters 2-5, there needs to be some treasure to assist in the Boss fight. Maybe some healing potions and a masterwork weapon or two. Maybe the person hiring the heroes sends along a healing potion with each player from the beginning.
So we look at the encounters and check the next table in Ch12, Treasure Values per Encounter (Table 12-5):
Use Fast column and Average Party Level means CR of the encounter.
CR2 - 600XP & 800gp
CR1 - 405XP & 400gp
CR1 - 400XP & 400gp
CR1 - 405XP & 400gp
CR3 - 805XP & 1200gp
Totals= 2615XP & 3200GP (Split 4 ways that's 634XP each, half way to 2nd level)
The total treasure for the adventure needs to be around 3200gp. Some encounters might not have any or very little treasure, but you make up for it in other encounters. But we cannot load it all up in the final one either, since we might need our heroes to get some better gear and healing potions ahead of time. The final amount of treasure also includes all the gear salvaged and rewards offered at the successful completion. So if they were given healing potions at the start, those are counted towards the final total as well.
So that is a simple cookie cutter to make a short adventure.
But, let's look at your player's party situation. Before you finalize the treasures, take a look at the party doing the adventure and predict how they can heal and recover spells. If you have a break where they can return to town to rest and buy some healing they can handle tougher encounters. If they get a supply of healing potions, they can keep going without a cleric along or after using up the healing spells.
There are various ideas to deal with this and the DM will need to look at how to handle it. The goal is to make the encounters hard enough to be fun and provide the most XP they can get without killing anyone by accident. Advancement is pretty slow in PbP, so if we can add some thing to increase the heroes staying power to fight the encounters they advance quicker. After an adventure or two, the players will take care of this themselves and we don't need to worry about it as much.
If we plan this correctly, we can increase the CRs and then the players can advance faster. I personally like to get the characters to advance about every 5-6 encounters if possible. So if possible we would like to have our template look like this instead:
CR3 - 800XP
CR2 - 600XP
Rest and recover (Shopping)
CR2 - 600XP
CR2 - 600XP
CR3 - 800XP
Rest and recover (Shopping)
CR2 - 600XP
CR4 - 1200XP
Total = 5200XP Total (1300XP each and reach Level 2)
Maybe one of those CR2s is a Skill Challenge and another gets split into two CR1 traps.
So without even talking about story, we have an overall framework of an adventure and map to go with it. Your map and bad guys can help you even write the story.
Increasing CR beyond the normal listed:
You can increase the CR level with gear more appropriate to higher levels. This automatically also increases your treasure too. I have done this for PbP and it helps accomplish the task of increasing the speed of advancement.
Going back to the revised template above with the kobold lair example, I increased the CR to 4, but did not simply add 3 more CR1/3 warriors. Instead, I bumped up the individual CR ratings with some minor adjustments. So the foes are still a 1st level fighter, 1st level Spellaster, and 3 warriors. But, I increased the CR of the leader to CR1 and the warriors to CR1/2.
Initially the fighter got an armor increase with his class level to reflect similar gear as a first level fighter to be CR1/2. To make him CR1 we will give him the following:
+2 Str and Con.
Max HP at 1st level + 1 for FC bonus
Upgrade his armor to MWK and increase it to one level higher to get +1AC.
Melee Weapon is masterwork.
All of that justifies a step up to CR1, but is not as deadly as two CR1/2s.
The warriors at CR1/3, we will make them CR1/2 by giving them the following:
+2HP (Probably were at 1d8=5 before)
+1AC (Armor upgrade or add shield)
Better selection of weapons (Maybe had Spears and Slings before) to include reach weapons polearms, good one-handed weapon, and longbows.
Establishing Resting/Shopping Opportunities:
The scheduled periods where the characters can rest and recover, with the possibility of even shopping, is to allow characters (healers in particular) to recover powers and use treasure to cheaply purchase healing spells from NPC clerics when in town. If they have to camp outside and just rest up until healed naturally 2-3 days, then so be it.
Because we are pushing them hard with challenging encounters, we need the players at optimal fighting trim. If we were around a table, fighting some simple wandering monsters that last 2 rounds are no big deal to slowly gain XP. But in PbP, even that combat needs preparation and takes time.
I have played first level adventures where we had 4 encounters. Each one was CR3-4 and we rested and recovered after each one. Then by using recovered loot, we were better equipped to deal with the CR5 boss encounter. Much easier to do in an urban type adventure, but recovered treasure or a pre-payment of a healing wand (10 charges) can do the same thing.
Arcane casters may not waste their best spells either for the easier fights, so really the party can continue as long as they can keep the HPs up. As a DM, if the players can burn up resources to keep from having to stop the IC action to rest for the night, then give them the healing. Wands of CLWs are becoming staples in all of the D&D PbP games that I am a player in, particularly with clerics not being popular and still only having a few spells at low levels.