Easy Encounters Discussion

[jgsugden]

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?

 

[Pauln6]

I've found as well that players tend to allow themselves to have more fun with their abilities if they don't feel under imminent threat of death.

 

[aco175]

I guess the question is- easy compared to who, or what. A group of 7th level PCs fighting a single cr5 giant should not exert themselves, but maybe it is not so easy if there is another situation going on. I also like to vary the encounters so the PCs can feel powerful or weak depending on how difficult the fight is. A group of 7th level PCs can fight a swarm of goblins and kill each with one blow, the fighter feeling great about himself being able to kill, move, kill again. The mage blasts several with a fireball or such. Great- they are bullies picking on the weak kid. Another fight comes along and they are the ones being picked on and feel they need to run.

There is also random encounters where there is a chance for an encounter hard or easy. It goes to realism where all the goblins dies off now that the PCs are 4th level, only to be replaced by orcs until level 8 where they turn into giants.

 

[Swarmkeeper]

Throwing an easy encounter at the players can keep them guessing or make them think before just going full-on murder hobo. Maybe they just incinerate the 12 goblins with a fireball, but now they won't get that map to the secret goodies which, while not necessary to the plot, would have been a nicer reward than just a smallish amount of XP. Oh, and I'll hint at it, too, as they inevitably loot the bodies: "You find a map entitled Grate Gobln King Trezzur Mapp with its middle burnt out."

Also, just leveling up the difficulty of combats because the PCs leveled up seems a tad artificial to me (in the context of fantasy roleplaying, of course). Sometimes the PCs find an encounter easy, sometimes they are well matched, sometimes they need to walk away, sometimes they need to run. It adds a bit of sandbox feel to an adventure which otherwise might be quite linear.

Lastly, we will sometimes just narrate an easy encounter. For example, last night we had a situation where the party of 7 PCs (all between level 7 and 11) entered a room with 12 prisoners and two CR 1 guards. The guards, upon noticing the PCs enter the room, just needed to get from one side of the room to the door on the other side in order to warn their allies in the next chamber. However, every single PC rolled higher initiative than the two guards. I just asked each player around the table what they were going to do. The swashbuckler charged in with his scimitar and the cleric used flame strike. Most of the others just went to help out the captives while the vengeance paladin stomped toward the door to the next chamber to stop an unlawful summoning ceremony at the behest of one of the prisoners.

 

[Sacrosanct]

I am a huge proponent of a living world. That means there are encounters that are too hard, and some that would be way easy. Whatever makes sense in that world. Rather than give a specific example, I think in general the key for me at least is to make sure everything impacts everything else as if it were a living world. Combat is very rarely an arena style after an arena style that doesn't impact anything else in most of my games.

For example, if a higher level party encounters and decides to wipe out a small goblin camp, how does that impact the area? Were the goblins an apex predator in that area? Will people move into the area now that it's been cleared? Will doing that deed put the PCs in a positive light among the community and thus they may get preferential treatment, advice, etc from said community? Or were those goblins working for a more powerful villain who now is upset his underlings got murderhobo'd?

 

[jasper]

I forget what 1 hour module I was running. Goblins with prisoners with the party being well over powered. Like 4 level. Result. They took little damage, took no Goblins prisoners, and rescued zero prisoners. The Goblins started killing prisoners every round.

 

[200orcs]

Sometimes an encounter is medium or hard on paper, but hard for a specific party.

Sometimes I use it as a reminder to the PCs how powerful they have become. For example I started a campaign with the PCs exploring the ruins under the city. They encountered an imp that kicked their ass and trapped them in a pit, they ended up getting sent to the underdark.

Fast forward four levels later, and six months of in game time they are back on the surface and go back to the city. Of course they go straight to the imp. They obliterated him, but it was a satisfying victory. They ended up taking his body and throwing it in the pit that he threw them in.

Another one that was done on purpose by me was when they met a Baron of a small municipality. He was weary heavy plate, had an awesome looking greatsword, and a lion as his banner.

He was talking smack to the PCs and they decided enough was enough and attacked him. He was just a simple Noble, they kicked his butt and he peed himself.

The players did not kill him, and he was known as Sir Pee Pants, a nickname given by the PCs. Even as a DM no longer remember his actual name. They went back to that municipality again much later and again first thing they did was pay a visit at Sir Pretty Pants castle.

Fun times.

 

[practicalm]

As long as the enemies are thinking about why and what they are there for.

Goblins might not attack a party that looks like it is full of powerful adventurers but can they tell if the party is powerful? Might it turn into a negotiation instead of an attack? Can they lure travelers into an ambush?

Another trick is to make an attack in one direction, to allow skirmishers to come from behind and steal from or kill the pack horses.

If the players are invading goblin lands then the goblins might do things to just harass them in their sleep to prevent long rests, pollute streams or springs to prevent the players from finding fresh water. Or the goblins might make an alliance with something bigger after a campaign of harassment.

 

[S'mon]

Players like easy encounters.

Apart from the chance to relax and show off, they can also have interesting issues on resources use - the party that uses fireball on the goblins may be in trouble when the minotaurs arrive.

As GM sometimes I like scaring the players with very easy fights, a few bandits who use tactics or stirges that focus on the wizard say.

 

[Blue]

I use "easy" encounters for a few reasons.

1. Throw them in every once in a while to let the players experience how much more cool their characters have gotten. Nothing like the occasional curbstomp, especially against several of a foe they used to have problems with one or just a few, to bring home character advancement.

2. As part of a hazard or encounter where winning isn't measured as killing all the foe. Keeping a caravan alive, stopping a ritual, frost giant zombies trying to stop them escaping as an ice castle is falling on their heads.

3. Because it makes sense for the encounter to be there.

That said, except in the first case I can often let players narrate the battle. We had an epic tier party trying to escape a whole Orc warband of tens of thousands. Some of the orc scouts found them ... unfortunately for the scouts. They were like CR 3, maybe 5 tops, no match. Instead of spending time running a combat, I let the players narrate it, including noticing if they took the effort to make sure the orcs couldn't get off a signal.