D&D 5E As a DM, can I just say, Screw Paladins :)

[Herobizkit]

Turns out without their charm ability, facing a guy who has radiant damage on his weapon all the time, who can do tons of bonus smite damage, who can also use Protection from Evil, vampires are pretty damn useless in a straight fight.

Smart vampires don't do straight fights, especially in the face of a Paladin. That's why they have slaves, minions and hostages do the work for them. :3

 

[S'mon]

I wouldn't expect a CR 17 death knight to seriously challenge 2 level 13 PCs in a straight up fight. I ran a death knight & his orc army ambushing a 14 & 16, opened up with fireball on the surprise round and they were hurting, but without the army they would have dropped him fast rather than the big dramatic battle we got.

Edit: Mind you my big dramatic battle was prob ca 4-5 rounds, same as your damp squib.

 

[manduck]

If you want to screw a paladin, you go right ahead. It's not my place to judge anyone for what they're into. It's probably like screwing the librarian. They seem all uptight at first. Then the glasses come off and the hair comes down. You see what they're really like behind closed doors.

Wait, what were we talking about?

 

[Krachek]

So yea, Paladins make having undead and fiends as your bad guys a lot tougher. So, this is not a claim to nerf any class, or a legit complaint about game balancing, I'm just saying. DM venting a little steam.

A kind advice
Monsters are meant to die! Dont put your fun as Dm in monster success.
Build plot, setup morale or ethic dilemma, build mission where players can win easily each fights but still failed the mission goal.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[merwins]

Wait, what were we talking about?

Where's the "Tried too hard for a laugh" button?

 

[merwins]

A kind advice
Monsters are meant to die! Dont put your fun as Dm in monster success.

Hmm. I seem to have been doing it wrong all these years. No wonder I'm so depressed.

 

[Krachek]

Fun as DM is never measured by monster success.

Instead, you measure it by Paladin failure.

Players still need challenge.

I do remember a campain where we were mercenaries and hired for diverse jobs.
We all survive but things always got bad!
Mission was mostly partially completed. We got problems being paid and so on.
I still laugh when I think about those adventures.

 

[Cyrinishad]

I can certainly sympathize with the Monkey Wrench effect the addition of Paladin had on Gwarok's game... However, once again, this seems more like an opportunity, not a curse. I would try and leverage the fact that although the Paladin can clearly protect themselves from Undead & Fiends, they may not be able to protect the people they care about... And Undead don't need to sleep, just begin a zombie war of attrition against the Paladin's divine abilities before the big-baddies close in...

Or maybe just let the Paladin have his day... And then have the next story-arc involve the Fey

 

[Draegn]

You could always house rule in the AD&D rule where evil clerics can turn paladins and send them fleeing.