D&D 3E/3.5 [3.5] Seven Samurai?

[Particle_Man]

I know that Samurai are thought to be among the weakest of the base classes, but assuming that one was DMing a game in which had 7 players and they each played a Human Samurai (a la Complete Warrior) what would one do to make sure they were not overwhelmed? Just send weaker monsters (treat their level as one less for the purpose of setting challenges)?

 

[Dandu]

No fliers. No ghosts. No traps. No dragons.

 

[HoboGod]

Yell at them until they used Samurai from Oriental Adventures.

Edit: Perhaps even easier, try doing a gestalt game where everyone must choose samurai as half of their gestalt. That should allow variety and samurai goodness.

 

[rgard]

I know that Samurai are thought to be among the weakest of the base classes, but assuming that one was DMing a game in which had 7 players and they each played a Human Samurai (a la Complete Warrior) what would one do to make sure they were not overwhelmed? Just send weaker monsters (treat their level as one less for the purpose of setting challenges)?

It would be mostly the same as having 7 Fighters. No arcane or divine spellcasters and no rogues makes for a very unbalanced party.

The way I would handle this is to send small numbers of mooks [maybe warriors (limited to the same armor/weapons as the samurai)] from the DM guide and try to find out where the number of mooks approaches the tipping point.

Calculate the challenge rating for the above. Then look for other foes that are in the same challenge rating range.


As Dandu points out, don't send stuff at the PCs that they can't beat without spellcasters.

Thanks,
Rich

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Perhaps even easier, try doing a gestalt game where everyone must choose samurai as half of their gestalt. That should allow variety and samurai goodness.

I'd go with this. It's barely even a gestalt at that point, you could probably treat them the same as a regular single classed party. The Samurai class is THAT bad.

It would be mostly the same as having 7 Fighters.

If you'd call a party of 7 warriors the "same" as a party of 7 fighters, I guess so...

 

[rgard]

I'd go with this. It's barely even a gestalt at that point, you could probably treat them the same as a regular single classed party. The Samurai class is THAT bad.



If you'd call a party of 7 warriors the "same" as a party of 7 fighters, I guess so...

I probably wasn't clear enough. I was trying to get the point across that 7 samurai, 7 fighters, 7 warriors, 7 scouts, 7 any martially oriented class as a adventuring party is at a disadvantage as they don't have spellcasters.

 

[HoboGod]

Well, if you're insistent on banning all forms of spell casting classes, i.e. no gestalt, then I'd say you should throw endless thugs at the characters. Say you're trying to throw an ECL 8 at the party, attack the party with 16 CR1 instead of 4 CR4. Then, if you want to use an ECL 14, Instead of throwing 2 CR12, attack with 7 CR8. Odds are that if you keep to this style of encounter, the monsters that require spell casters to fight will not destroy the party because the DC on their special abilities and spells will be a step below the party's saves.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Be careful with that approach, though.

Then, if you want to use an ECL 14, Instead of throwing 2 CR12, attack with 7 CR8. Odds are that if you keep to this style of encounter, the monsters that require spell casters to fight will not destroy the party because the DC on their special abilities and spells will be a step below the party's saves.

Example: 7 Mind Flayers. Even if the save DCs are low, creatures with powerful save or lose/die abilities are very very dangerous in swarms, the CR system becomes pretty much meaningless in those circumstances. As soon as a character fails just one of the many mind blast saves, he's pretty screwed.

 

[Dandu]

4 Level 4 human sorcerers with Grease (DC 15) and Glitterdust (DC 16) stand a good chance of ruining their day even if they are level 8.

 

[HoboGod]

Well, yeah, beholders are beholders. The PCs in my group tend to run away from those things even when approaching epic level.

Yeah, there's always a way to player kill the group. Wizards with Greater Invisibility would really screw these guys up, too. But generally speaking, a fair DM throws a healthy mix of monsters at the group, not hand picking the most horribly effective monsters to kill them even if they rolled mediocre percentiles. I suppose that's also a big requirement: be fair to your players.