Easy Encounters Discussion

5ekyu · Jan 30, 2019

jgsugden said:
There has been a lot of criticism over a lot of threads about easy encounters being a waste of time. Why should a DM bother with a 7th level party having a fight with a single CR 5 monster?

Or [CR 3 + CR 2]?

Or [CR 2 + (6 * CR 1/4]?

Or [12 * CR 1/4]?

After all, the PCs should be able to kill these enemies without using many, if any, limited resoures. If they can win without losing many hps or using any non-cantrip spells - why have the encounter?

The answer, generally, is that the challenge in the combat is not whether the heroes can survive the battle, but whether they can stop the enemy before something else happens. The threats are not about threats to the PCs, but threats to things the PCs care about. Or, alternatively if they can solve a mystery before the combat ends - or navigate a non-combat challenge during the combat.

Perhaps they need to stop a rampaging fire elemental before it can burn down the town. Perhaps they're hunting an illusionist who is guarded by an ogre - and the goal is to capture the illusionist before he escapes. 12 Goblins attacking a caravan is no threat to the PCs, but what if the PCs need to make sure the caravan passengers all survive?

What do the PCs do when 6 Drow led by a Priest (also drow, but using the Priest structure) burst into the tavern from the basement and drop darkness.... what do they want? Why are they there? Are they trying to do something and then escape? Or are they assassins sent to take out one of the PCs? Or perhaps an NPC that PCs hold near and dear to their hearts.

None of these encounters are going to threaten the lives of the PCs unless something goes terribly wrong. They're just going to be part of a fun story.

So - for you DMs out there that use easy encounters in your games - what are some examples of encounters you've run that were 'easy' by the XP standards, but were a lot of fun?

I use those encounters to serve as a exploration encounter... They serve to inform or reeal aspects of the environment.

Oftem some bit will have a tie to a pc or story but sometimes it just shows something intriguing like "why did these skeletons kill the adults, spare the kid but steal the toys"???

Mistwell · Jan 30, 2019

Because it's not a video game with a zone set to your level, but instead a setting populated with a range of residents like a believable setting should be?

Shiroiken · Jan 30, 2019

I've also used a series of easy encounters with little/no chance for a break between. No short rest, almost no time to cast before combat spells, etc. This leads the encounters to be harder, not because they are, but because the players start to panic about how long their resources will last. This keeps them from using many spells or abilities, waiting for the "real" fight.

I've also used easy encounters when running at lower levels (1-2), because after only a few medium fights, the party is ready for a long rest. Having easy encounters means that I can run a longer adventuring day.

Dausuul · Jan 31, 2019

jgsugden said:
So - for you DMs out there that use easy encounters in your games - what are some examples of encounters you've run that were 'easy' by the XP standards, but were a lot of fun?[/B][/I][/U]

I had the party infiltrating a fort. They entered through a secret tunnel and found three guards at the other end. The guards were just ordinary bandits; but if they weren't silenced in the first round, they would raise the alarm, and other bandits would come running within a few rounds.

(The PCs failed to silence the bandits, chased them as they fled, and ran into a whole bunch more bandits, a la Han Solo chasing stormtroopers. Except that unlike Han Solo, rather than turn around and run back, they stood there and slugged it out with the bandit leader in the doorway--who was being healed by a cleric in the back--while eating volleys of crossbow bolts from the entire room for several rounds. They could not have put themselves in a worse tactical position if they'd tried. I was starting to wonder if the first adventure of the campaign was going to end in TPK when they finally saw sense, pulled back, and devised a sane plan.)

Quickleaf · Jan 31, 2019

jgsugden said:
So - for you DMs out there that use easy encounters in your games - what are some examples of encounters you've run that were 'easy' by the XP standards, but were a lot of fun?

One example was Wongo's Monkeypod Ruins...

Party (at the time five 5th-level PCs and a couple NPCs) found a defensible resting place on a hill overlooking the river. Overgrown ruins around an old rune-carved monkeypod tree, with stylized girallon (four-armed gorilla) statues in alcoves. PCs noticed 2 were actually zombie girallons (CR 3) perfectly blended into the alcoves with a layer of jungle growth covering their matted fur so they seemed like other statues. There was also an onyx box entangled in the roots of the monkeypod tree, but the bard PC wisely cautioned against messing with it. After a long rest – during which watch kept close eye on those zombie girallons – the ranger PC decided "screw it, I'm getting that box and opening it."

There was a little treasure inside, and as expected the 2 zombie girallons animated and attacked. What wasn't expected were the pulses of disorienting psychic energy that began emanating from the monkeypod tree, casting a confusion spell (as an initiative 20 Lair Action) centered on it at the start of each round.

Not counting the NPCs, this was an Easy encounter (Adjusted XP: 2,100) and quickly resolved.

However, the role-playing was enjoyable, there was a sense of mounting dread mixed with dark humor, a couple crits from the zombie girallons escalated tension as players had to coordinate to extract the KO'd bard while minimizing their exposure to the confusion effect, it served to foreshadow other encounters later on in the adventure, and the treasure the ranger PC recovered told a story.

S'mon · Jan 31, 2019

4 cr 1/8 bandits vs 7 level 1 pcs turned into quite an epic fight as the first encounter of my Princes of the Apocalypse game Saturday. The pcs created an illusion of a dragon in their campfire. Bandits fled in terror but came back to save their treasure a minute later, turning it into a tougher fight.

FrogReaver · Jan 31, 2019

My favorite thing to do is to use an easy encounter to give the players insight into the strength of a new monster. Then after the easy encounter let them encounter a group of that monster that I gauge is going to be a hard fight and see how they react.

200orcs · Jan 31, 2019

FrogReaver said:
My favorite thing to do is to use an easy encounter to give the players insight into the strength of a new monster. Then after the easy encounter let them encounter a group of that monster that I gauge is going to be a hard fight and see how they react.

This is awesome. I like that idea a lot. I do something else that is kind of close. I will have them fight a monster and then later will find another monster brutally slayed, or maybe a couple of them to see if they will go after the thing that killed it or run away...they usually run away.

robus · Jan 31, 2019

As with all encounters they should be part of a dramatic question that needs to be resolved. And that dramatic question is typically not "will the PCs survive this fight", but will they make it to their destination before nightfall or will they be able to elude the town guards while making their escape? Then encounters become ways to challenge the PCs, raising the tension for that particular question. Easy encounters could be just as tricky to overcome as hard ones because they're all part of a larger picture.

Think about Han & Luke trying to escape from the Death Star, sometimes they just need to pause for a moment to let a small patrol pass (easy encounter), other times they run around the corner right in to a squad of storm troopers (hard/deadly encounter). The variety provides some relief in the tension while still keeping the pressure up.

But the point is the PCs should always have their attention on resolving the bigger question and then you throw a variety of obstacles in their way.

(Fortunately I scanned the thread before posting and saw [MENTION=58197]Dausuul[/MENTION] had similar thoughts. So this is me seconding their post

)

Rhenny · Feb 1, 2019

I agree with so much that has been said here, but since I’m an English teacher and DM, here’s my take on it. Encounter design in a session or campaign is like a good piece of writing,which becomes more interesting when it uses a variety of sentence types and lengths. In addition, with really good writing, tension ebbs and flows, tension builds and releases. To me, easy encounters are a tool to achieve the same goals in D&D. Sessions and campaigns that use a variety of encounters, varied types and difficulty, can build and relieve tension the same way great stories do.

Easy Encounters Discussion

5ekyu

Hero

Mistwell

Crusty Old Meatwad (he/him)

Shiroiken

Legend

Dausuul

Legend

Quickleaf

Legend

S'mon

Legend

FrogReaver

As long as i get to be the frog

200orcs

First Post

robus

Lowcountry Low Roller

Rhenny

Adventurer

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