DM Encounter Flexibility for Published Adventures

[Pauper]

DMing =/= running adventures in AL.

Since this was asked specifically in the AL forum, you might consider how relatively use-free this response is.

--
Pauper

 

[Koren n'Rhys]

This statement is positively false when it comes to running an adventure as part of an Organized Play program such as Adventurers League. You cannot for example do any of the following things in AL:

• Increase XP, Treasure, or Item awards
• Swap creatures in an Encounter (you can add/remove creatures of the same type, but substituting different creatures is not allowed)

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but compared to other OP campaigns - AL allows a lot of DM flexibility.

Ok, so a question:
If I use my judgment as DM to toughen an encounter by adding a couple-few more monsters of the same type, do the players get that extra XP for the monsters slain? Isn't that contradictory here?

 

[skerritthegreen]

If I use my judgment as DM to toughen an encounter by adding a couple-few more monsters of the same type, do the players get that extra XP for the monsters slain? Isn't that contradictory here?

Adventures have xp maximums. You cannot award more than that maximum.

 

[MerricB]

Adventures have xp maximums. You cannot award more than that maximum.

Greg, you may need to distinguish here between D&D Expeditions adventures, D&D Encounters adventures and the published adventures such as Out of the Abyss.

The D&D Expeditions and D&D Encounters adventures have hard limits written in the adventure for the amount of XP given out (and, in the case of D&D Expeditions, a minimum amount as well).

A published adventure such as Out of the Abyss does not have a maximum XP limit, and it is my understanding that if you modify the adventure to take account of the strength of your party, they gain the appropriate amount of extra XP. You have a certain amount of freedom to modify a published adventure, but you shouldn't include additional encounters or monsters that are outside of the scope of the adventure.

Cheers!

 

[skerritthegreen]

Yes, I was referring specifically to Expeditions/Encounters.

 

[Tyranthraxus]

Ill provide an example .

I just started running OOTS last night for encounters. My party escaped their prison by leaping down into the dark pool below. So they got the 150 exp divided 6 ways (for the 6 of them). Now my next goal is to get them to level 2 before they hit darklake. Im planning on running 3 encounters. Generally I have 7 players so with the encounters in the book seemingly for 5 players (although it would be nice if this was actually stated anywhere inside). , so Im constantly forced to scaled EXP. It now means I need to put 1950 (2100-150) worth of exp in there..

So Im going to have the party encounter some Orcs in a raiding party who have just encountered a Shelter. About 7 orcs and 1 Eye and then some Minotaur skeletons.

Personally I think a lot more help and information needs to be provided to people running these modules in terms of helping out with modifying the scenario for player numbers (as is done in Expeditions). I know the Campaign staff dont have much to do with the modules (but after it is out, surely there is something than can be done)

 

[kalani]

Out of the Abyss has a random encounter section. Pick one of the random encounters, and add an extra creature or two to account for the extra players. You can only add creatures of the same type already in the adventure, and shouldn't add encounters that aren't part of the adventure.... I don't recall any random encounters involving orcs in OOTA, but if there were (hypothetically) you would run that encounter and adjust the number of creatures accordingly.

 

[Koren n'Rhys]

Thanks, I'll take that as a yes, I think. For the record, I'm running LMoP now, as Encounters, and will move on to PotA, the published version since I have it. No published XP mins or maxs like I see in Expeditions adventures.

I whole-heartedly agree it would be nice to see some guidelines for modification in Encounters adventures like are given for Expeditions.

 

[MerricB]

I whole-heartedly agree it would be nice to see some guidelines for modification in Encounters adventures like are given for Expeditions.

My experiences with the Expeditions guidelines have not been good. They have a number of significant flaws, especially for Tier 1 adventures. (For example, a group of six level 1 adventurers in a APL 3 adventure is not an average party...) They are a good starting point, but they don't substitute for DM experience.

You should start by looking at the guidelines for encounter creation in the DMG. They'll give you an idea of what appropriate threats are for a party - although, again, DM experience helps more than just the guidelines.

I'll see if I can write an article about modifying and balancing encounters. I think it'd be useful...

Cheers!

 

[skerritthegreen]

For example, a group of six level 1 adventurers in a APL 3 adventure is not an average party...)

You should feel free to adjust to your table.