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What kind of encounters would you prepare for 8 first level PCs?
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<blockquote data-quote="Jondor_Battlehammer" data-source="post: 1181340" data-attributes="member: 5335"><p>For mid to high level PCs, the classic village in danger could work. All that power could fortify a village nicely from attack before hand, and the fighters could organize a militia. Then when the tide of orcs come, one or two PCs could each watch over a unit of villagers. The mega HP Fighter or Barbarian could take the brunt of the attack by creating a pinch point, say near a gate or a building doorway, while villagers could use polearms to fight around him, shoot arrows from windows, ect. Spell casters with buffs or area affect spells would up the survival rate of low level commoners. A Bless and Mass Cure Light Wounds here, a Mass invisibility there. It would make a lot of lower level spells usefull again, and they would be able to put a lot out there. Could also be interesting to see if they use up higher level spell slots to help the villagers and go "naked" into battle, as opposed to buffed out the wazzu as normal. Even simply placing a lost child in danger could force one or two PCs to hold back to prevent the child from being harmed or taken.</p><p></p><p>A similar idea would be to split the party with a natural/not so natural disaster. A village is a lot of ground to cover. If a fire started to spread, both homes and crops/herds would need saving, not to mention the nearby woods for the party Druid. And if this fire was sparked by a couple of uppity fire elementals, the fighters could find their spell power gone to stop the spreading flames.</p><p></p><p>Forcing the PCs to search large areas quickly. The ruins of a great city that hold a secret door that can only be seen on one day/night per year means no chance to take a 20 for the party Rogue. Even without the obvious splitting of the party, massive areas, such as the Mines of Moria, simply couldn't be searched by one person. They remain together, but forced to do things that are not specialties.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Likewise, most movies have climaxes where everyone is doing something different. The Fighters could be holding swarms of mad cultist out of the alter room while the Wizard cast a spell to shatter the alter that will raise a monster the do not want to face, (see DR or abilities from earlier posts), while the Rogue attemptas to open the secret door for a quick escape. Naturally the cultists are overwhelming in number, the spell takes at least a minute to cast, and the secret exit is gaurded by a minor creature, something a Rogue could easily kill, in a round or two... Even fighting in a room with multiple entrances leads to the party needing to hold seperate ground while still being able to back each other up to a degree. You don't want to give up the choke points or you'll be mobed, but the Cleric can still get to everyone.</p><p></p><p>Basically, you need to group two or more things together that make each other interesting. Most terrain can be avoided, for example. A steep ledge can be beat by a typical Rogue and some rope, no climb checks needed for the rest of the party. Small earth elementals are no real threat, save in large numbers. Put the two together, and you either have a Rogue fighting them alone, or a lot of nervous PCs wishing they had more ranks in balance.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jondor_Battlehammer, post: 1181340, member: 5335"] For mid to high level PCs, the classic village in danger could work. All that power could fortify a village nicely from attack before hand, and the fighters could organize a militia. Then when the tide of orcs come, one or two PCs could each watch over a unit of villagers. The mega HP Fighter or Barbarian could take the brunt of the attack by creating a pinch point, say near a gate or a building doorway, while villagers could use polearms to fight around him, shoot arrows from windows, ect. Spell casters with buffs or area affect spells would up the survival rate of low level commoners. A Bless and Mass Cure Light Wounds here, a Mass invisibility there. It would make a lot of lower level spells usefull again, and they would be able to put a lot out there. Could also be interesting to see if they use up higher level spell slots to help the villagers and go "naked" into battle, as opposed to buffed out the wazzu as normal. Even simply placing a lost child in danger could force one or two PCs to hold back to prevent the child from being harmed or taken. A similar idea would be to split the party with a natural/not so natural disaster. A village is a lot of ground to cover. If a fire started to spread, both homes and crops/herds would need saving, not to mention the nearby woods for the party Druid. And if this fire was sparked by a couple of uppity fire elementals, the fighters could find their spell power gone to stop the spreading flames. Forcing the PCs to search large areas quickly. The ruins of a great city that hold a secret door that can only be seen on one day/night per year means no chance to take a 20 for the party Rogue. Even without the obvious splitting of the party, massive areas, such as the Mines of Moria, simply couldn't be searched by one person. They remain together, but forced to do things that are not specialties. Likewise, most movies have climaxes where everyone is doing something different. The Fighters could be holding swarms of mad cultist out of the alter room while the Wizard cast a spell to shatter the alter that will raise a monster the do not want to face, (see DR or abilities from earlier posts), while the Rogue attemptas to open the secret door for a quick escape. Naturally the cultists are overwhelming in number, the spell takes at least a minute to cast, and the secret exit is gaurded by a minor creature, something a Rogue could easily kill, in a round or two... Even fighting in a room with multiple entrances leads to the party needing to hold seperate ground while still being able to back each other up to a degree. You don't want to give up the choke points or you'll be mobed, but the Cleric can still get to everyone. Basically, you need to group two or more things together that make each other interesting. Most terrain can be avoided, for example. A steep ledge can be beat by a typical Rogue and some rope, no climb checks needed for the rest of the party. Small earth elementals are no real threat, save in large numbers. Put the two together, and you either have a Rogue fighting them alone, or a lot of nervous PCs wishing they had more ranks in balance. [/QUOTE]
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What kind of encounters would you prepare for 8 first level PCs?
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