I think this would be a fun little experiment series. 5e's bounded accuracy has made it where high level characters, while strong, are supposed to be toppled by the mob. Numbers mean more than level in 5e. So lets see how well that plays out in practice.
In this series, we will take a pretty high level character (11th), and see how well they do against a mob of their lesser (1st level ) breathren. For this game, we need to make a few rules:
1) Terrain: Open Field
2) Rules: Standard Rules, no Feats, No Magic Items.
3) Standard Elite Point Buy.
4) Standard Human (aka the lame one with +1 to all stats!)
We are going to start with the classic Sword Board Fighter, a Champion 11th Fighter. He'll have the plate, the shield, +2 damage from dueling, and +1 AC from his various fighting styles. That combined with this stat boosts, we get the key stats below.
Str: 20
Con: 17
HP: 120 (we are adding in second wind, because he is absolutely going to have a chance to use it).
AC: 21
Attack: x3 +9 (1d8+7), crit 19-20
vs our 1st level Fighter, using Sword, Chainmail, Shield. He will be using dueling as well to keep it consistent.
Str: 16
Con: 15
HP: 12
AC: 18
Attack: +5 (1d8+5)
We are going to keep the arena very simple. The big man is surrounded by guys. We have people in reserve so that if a person falls, more will take his place. No ranged weapons, these aren't pansies!! How long can the big guy hold on?
First, we take a look at the big man's damage. Damage isn't the important thing, its more about how many men does he kill a round. The key is depending on that d8 roll, it can be a kill, or just a mortal wound. Mortal wounds may be damaging, but 1st level fighters can second wind, so healing is an option.
After a lot of math, we determine the fighter will kill 1.41 men per round. Now, since this is not a complete kill, second wind is factored in, reducing it by an average of 6.5 damage, which is spot on as half a kill. This lowers it by .5 to .91 (basically the wounded fighter his healed to full, so we have to kill him all over again). The fighter does get action surge on the first round, doubling his power to 2.82. This is again reduced by .5 to 2.32.
For our 1st level fighters, after MATH, they will do an average DPR of 2.6 damage (go AC!). Doesnt' look like much, but with 8 guys surrounding, that damage adds up!
So our players are set, and the battle begins!!!! Ultimately, how many guys can the big man take out?
The answer.....10. The fighter kills the 8 guys surrounding him, along with 2 guys in reserve. He can just finish the task, dropping him to ~5ish HP. Any more is just too overwhelming, and he falls in battle. Obviously our math is an approximation, but it goes to show that the 11th level fighter can take on a small squad by himself, but the numbers do add up, and he certainly can be challenged by enough small guys.
In this series, we will take a pretty high level character (11th), and see how well they do against a mob of their lesser (1st level ) breathren. For this game, we need to make a few rules:
1) Terrain: Open Field
2) Rules: Standard Rules, no Feats, No Magic Items.
3) Standard Elite Point Buy.
4) Standard Human (aka the lame one with +1 to all stats!)
We are going to start with the classic Sword Board Fighter, a Champion 11th Fighter. He'll have the plate, the shield, +2 damage from dueling, and +1 AC from his various fighting styles. That combined with this stat boosts, we get the key stats below.
Str: 20
Con: 17
HP: 120 (we are adding in second wind, because he is absolutely going to have a chance to use it).
AC: 21
Attack: x3 +9 (1d8+7), crit 19-20
vs our 1st level Fighter, using Sword, Chainmail, Shield. He will be using dueling as well to keep it consistent.
Str: 16
Con: 15
HP: 12
AC: 18
Attack: +5 (1d8+5)
We are going to keep the arena very simple. The big man is surrounded by guys. We have people in reserve so that if a person falls, more will take his place. No ranged weapons, these aren't pansies!! How long can the big guy hold on?
First, we take a look at the big man's damage. Damage isn't the important thing, its more about how many men does he kill a round. The key is depending on that d8 roll, it can be a kill, or just a mortal wound. Mortal wounds may be damaging, but 1st level fighters can second wind, so healing is an option.
After a lot of math, we determine the fighter will kill 1.41 men per round. Now, since this is not a complete kill, second wind is factored in, reducing it by an average of 6.5 damage, which is spot on as half a kill. This lowers it by .5 to .91 (basically the wounded fighter his healed to full, so we have to kill him all over again). The fighter does get action surge on the first round, doubling his power to 2.82. This is again reduced by .5 to 2.32.
For our 1st level fighters, after MATH, they will do an average DPR of 2.6 damage (go AC!). Doesnt' look like much, but with 8 guys surrounding, that damage adds up!
So our players are set, and the battle begins!!!! Ultimately, how many guys can the big man take out?
The answer.....10. The fighter kills the 8 guys surrounding him, along with 2 guys in reserve. He can just finish the task, dropping him to ~5ish HP. Any more is just too overwhelming, and he falls in battle. Obviously our math is an approximation, but it goes to show that the 11th level fighter can take on a small squad by himself, but the numbers do add up, and he certainly can be challenged by enough small guys.
