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Message: <blockquote data-quote="clearstream" data-source="post: 8553651" data-attributes="member: 71699">I've found a few things make a large difference.1) Mixed types of foes are far more interesting than all one type.2) It is crucial to include foes that can impose conditions and similar effects, rather than just deal damage.3) Foes must do more than stand and swing.Essentially, you want to make full use of the many ways 5e offers for foes to collaborate and deal out meaningful consequences. As DM, it's up to you what types of foes are encountered and what their abilities are. For instance, 3x CR 1 Xvart Warlocks tweaked to have lance of lethargy for their eldritch blasts, working with 3x CR2 Orogs, is a Hard encounter for a typical level 5 party. The xvarts should have mage armor running, and pre-cast expeditious retreat if the situation allows it. Perhaps swap the Orog's great axes for shields and battleaxes. What will make this fight interesting is how you use lance. It can slow down retreats and advances. Pin fragile characters. And so on.I think tailoring foes is intended, and doing it using features already in the game doesn't seem like house ruling to me. For example, a foe whose cry delivers levels of exhaustion? That's from a published adventure. Levels of exhaustion are very consequential. But if you want to avoid even tweaking, then it's a matter of choosing your foes carefully. A beholder with it's antimagic eye-ray, working with a bunch of drow scouts, for instance. The floating beholder suppresses party magic, and the scouts fire from levitated positions 100+ feet away. The goal isn't just to make deadly encounters, but to make interesting problems with consequential results. After the first PC goes down, the beholder gets around to telling the survivors what it wants from them.Foes should be repositioning, reconsidering their options, hiding, fleeing, begging, threatening and so on, throughout the fight. A foe scoring a critical hit might offer a chance for the party to back down. One that finds themselves outnumbered might run for more help. DM says how the tides of battle matter. What happens because the paladin critted with smite and dealt a massive amount of damage? Most foes should not be unaffected by such things, even if they're not the one taking that damage.</blockquote>

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