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General Tabletop Discussion
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Setting Party level vs an Ancient Red Dragon
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<blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 7298703" data-attributes="member: 20323"><p>5th-6th level, and here's my thinking why...</p><p></p><p>10 PCs versus an ancient red dragon makes its usual 62,000 XP value reduce in half to 31,000 adjusted XP due to the PCs' extreme force multiplier.</p><p></p><p>You're creating a "one combat in the adventuring day" scenario, so the Adventuring Day XP guidelines (DMG p.84) are what you want to look at as a baseline. And because you're running a one-shot you need that one encounter to be really tense, engaging, and challenging.</p><p></p><p>So you if you divide 31,000 adjusted XP by 10 PCs you get a goal/guideline for a really challenging encounter of 3,100 adjusted XP per PC.</p><p></p><p>The level on the DMG chart that comes closest to that is 5th level, which is 3,500 adjusted XP per PC. That would make for a lethal battle requiring coordination, creative thinking, and good rolls.</p><p></p><p>If you wanted them to have some extra HP (since some are new to 5e or D&D entirely) you could bump that to 6th-level.</p><p> </p><p>I'd cap it at 6th level because the highest level spells I'd want a party that big casting is 3rd-level, so they get some iconic/fun/powerful spells, but lack spells that could drastically turn the tide vs. a red dragon encountered alone (possibly spells like <em>fire shield</em>, <em>greater invis.</em>, <em>otiluke's resilient sphere</em>, <em>phantasmal killer</em>, <em>watery sphere</em>, and possibly others).</p><p></p><p>Also, for new players, there's PLENTY of class features/spells to keep track of at 5th/6th level! Higher levels could be overwhelming for new players.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Quickleaf, post: 7298703, member: 20323"] 5th-6th level, and here's my thinking why... 10 PCs versus an ancient red dragon makes its usual 62,000 XP value reduce in half to 31,000 adjusted XP due to the PCs' extreme force multiplier. You're creating a "one combat in the adventuring day" scenario, so the Adventuring Day XP guidelines (DMG p.84) are what you want to look at as a baseline. And because you're running a one-shot you need that one encounter to be really tense, engaging, and challenging. So you if you divide 31,000 adjusted XP by 10 PCs you get a goal/guideline for a really challenging encounter of 3,100 adjusted XP per PC. The level on the DMG chart that comes closest to that is 5th level, which is 3,500 adjusted XP per PC. That would make for a lethal battle requiring coordination, creative thinking, and good rolls. If you wanted them to have some extra HP (since some are new to 5e or D&D entirely) you could bump that to 6th-level. I'd cap it at 6th level because the highest level spells I'd want a party that big casting is 3rd-level, so they get some iconic/fun/powerful spells, but lack spells that could drastically turn the tide vs. a red dragon encountered alone (possibly spells like [I]fire shield[/I], [I]greater invis.[/I], [I]otiluke's resilient sphere[/I], [I]phantasmal killer[/I], [I]watery sphere[/I], and possibly others). Also, for new players, there's PLENTY of class features/spells to keep track of at 5th/6th level! Higher levels could be overwhelming for new players. [/QUOTE]
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