2 frost giants or 3 hill giants?
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Ancalagon
Dusty Dragon
Seriously folks, I really appreciate the creative answers but... no one has answered the question:
what fight is harder: 3 hill giants or 2 frost giants?
(at this point I'll reskin the 3 hill giants into small frost giants for flavor reasons, so heck, what is harder: 2 full grown frost giants or 3 teenage punk frost giants?)
what fight is harder: 3 hill giants or 2 frost giants?
(at this point I'll reskin the 3 hill giants into small frost giants for flavor reasons, so heck, what is harder: 2 full grown frost giants or 3 teenage punk frost giants?)
the Jester
Legend
I've been running the 5e conversion of G1 and G2 lately.
Two frost giants is absolutely gonna be a harder battle, IMHO- those babies can really dish it out! Yes, numbers matter, but I think two frosties will be more dangerous than three hill giants.
Two frost giants is absolutely gonna be a harder battle, IMHO- those babies can really dish it out! Yes, numbers matter, but I think two frosties will be more dangerous than three hill giants.
MarkB
Legend
They don't look like they'll deal out a great deal more per round - only an extra +1 to hit, and somewhat higher damage dice. Three hill giants should deal out roughly as much damage as two frost giants in any given round. And it will take longer to whittle down three hill giants than two frost giants.
The party seems very melee (vs. Ranged) oriented?
If that's the case, 3 Hill giants will likely prove the greater challenge - they are murderous in melee and the extra attacks from 3 vs. 2 should prove tough.
DND_Reborn
The High Aldwin
Given your party size and the NPCs, 3 opponents will be better than 2 IMO. Depending on how much the NPCs contribute you are looking at a "hard encounter". If the NPCs contribute more, it might bring it to a moderate level.
A direction comparison is that 2 Frost Giants is about equal to 3 Hill Giants. Yes, it is 2 vs 3, but the Frost Giants have better AC and more HP, slightly better attack and better damage. The extra Hill Giant makes up for the lower numbers compared to the Frost Giants.
If you reskin the 3 Hill Giants to 3 "Young" Frost Giants, I would keep the AC 15, but lower HP, attack, and damage to Hill Giant levels. The AC boost might bring the CR up to 6 instead of 5 but will make the encounter more challenging given the number of people in the party.
Of course, I agree with some others that blended encounters always tend to be more interesting. Frost giants with Winter Wolves, or even one Adult Frost Giant "teaching" two younger ones might be good.
the Jester
Legend
That AC difference will really count, at least in my experience. Those hill giants won't hit as often or as hard; they'll also go down very quickly.
This is right up my alley, and I'm totally stealing it for when I have a group high enough level to survive it. Something to realize though is that both Giants and Dragons dominate the list of "creatures on the higher end of their CR," so they tend to be much harder than similar CR creatures. Combining the two is a major test of the PC's skill, which is my kind of DMing
Oh and to answer the OP, I generally like using more enemies than less. The action economy tends to make them harder encounters.
LordEntrails
Hero
As others have said, it depends. Yes 3 hill give out roughly the same damage per round as 2 frost. But, if your party concentrates on 1 hill, they will quickly be able to take out a hill and then the damage difference is significant.
But then again, if the party has spells or magic that will allow them to neutralize 1 enemy, then the frosts are more vulnerable because now the NPCs lose 1/2 their strength, not 1/3. It works both ways.
I like the idea of 2 junior frost (re-skinned hill) giants with a couple of winter wolves or something. keeps the numbers up for action economy while adding diversity to the combat. More funner!
But then again, if the party has spells or magic that will allow them to neutralize 1 enemy, then the frosts are more vulnerable because now the NPCs lose 1/2 their strength, not 1/3. It works both ways.
I like the idea of 2 junior frost (re-skinned hill) giants with a couple of winter wolves or something. keeps the numbers up for action economy while adding diversity to the combat. More funner!
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