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5e - Just Missing the Mark
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<blockquote data-quote="Oofta" data-source="post: 7558760" data-attributes="member: 6801845"><p>I'm not sure any game system is going to solve your issues. So I'll take a quick stab at what I've done in my games.</p><p></p><p></p><p>You have to take into consideration your group. Encounter design is more of an art than a science and considering the vast difference in party size, options and </p><p></p><p></p><p>I've always done my own thing, but as others have said there are literally thousands of adventures on DmsGuild. It doesn't have to be official to be good.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Monsters don't have roles. They have descriptions and fluff. How you use that to set up encounters is up to you. For example goblins are tricky little SOBs who use hit-and-run tactic, scatter when threatened and never want to have an even fight. Ogres are big, dumb bullies who charge into battle, and so on.</p><p></p><p>It's not a tactical war game, monsters are just creatures that inhabit the world. But if that doesn't work for you, tweak them. I do it all the time, there are plenty of resources with advice on how to customize.</p><p></p><p>Another thing I do is adjust combats based on how well the group is doing. So if I had planned an ambush with 20 orcs in the next scene but the group is half dead? Now they have a chance to surprise the orcs instead of the other way around or the number of orcs is reduced a tad.</p><p></p><p>On a side note, I also use 6-10 encounters between long rests (I use the optional rest rules where a short rest is overnight and long rests are several days or more). I find this helps balance things out a lot and I can throw a lot more easy/medium encounters which I find easier to balance.</p><p></p><p></p><p>To a certain degree I will agree with this, but combat doesn't have to be boring. Throw in chasms to cross, chandeliers to swing from, hostages to escort. Have dialog during combat, improvise actions and put some effort into adding color.</p><p></p><p></p><p>There have been other threads on inspiration, there have been some suggestions I'm going to try. Let people claim their own inspiration for example, using index cards with personality traits/flaws. </p><p></p><p>Backgrounds are as meaningful or not as you and your group want them to be. Their a framework, what you do with that framework is up to you.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Yep, a champion fighter works <em>exactly</em> like a warlock. A beholder uses exactly the same tactics as a purple worm. Sooo much sameness.</p><p></p><p>It seems like maybe the fundamental issue is that you want the game to do something it isn't designed to do. It's just a set of rules, a framework. You have to breath life into it. It's a very flexible framework that can scratch a lot of itches, but that takes some work and accepting that you have to do a fair amount of improv and adjustment on the fly.</p><p></p><p>I could go on, but I don't think you're really looking for advice. I will agree that D&D requires a lot of cooperation between players and DM, and not every game is going to fit every one and not every DM will fit every player. I'll just repeat one of my mantras again: not every game is for everyone. Maybe D&D 5E isn't the game for you.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Oofta, post: 7558760, member: 6801845"] I'm not sure any game system is going to solve your issues. So I'll take a quick stab at what I've done in my games. You have to take into consideration your group. Encounter design is more of an art than a science and considering the vast difference in party size, options and I've always done my own thing, but as others have said there are literally thousands of adventures on DmsGuild. It doesn't have to be official to be good. Monsters don't have roles. They have descriptions and fluff. How you use that to set up encounters is up to you. For example goblins are tricky little SOBs who use hit-and-run tactic, scatter when threatened and never want to have an even fight. Ogres are big, dumb bullies who charge into battle, and so on. It's not a tactical war game, monsters are just creatures that inhabit the world. But if that doesn't work for you, tweak them. I do it all the time, there are plenty of resources with advice on how to customize. Another thing I do is adjust combats based on how well the group is doing. So if I had planned an ambush with 20 orcs in the next scene but the group is half dead? Now they have a chance to surprise the orcs instead of the other way around or the number of orcs is reduced a tad. On a side note, I also use 6-10 encounters between long rests (I use the optional rest rules where a short rest is overnight and long rests are several days or more). I find this helps balance things out a lot and I can throw a lot more easy/medium encounters which I find easier to balance. To a certain degree I will agree with this, but combat doesn't have to be boring. Throw in chasms to cross, chandeliers to swing from, hostages to escort. Have dialog during combat, improvise actions and put some effort into adding color. There have been other threads on inspiration, there have been some suggestions I'm going to try. Let people claim their own inspiration for example, using index cards with personality traits/flaws. Backgrounds are as meaningful or not as you and your group want them to be. Their a framework, what you do with that framework is up to you. Yep, a champion fighter works [I]exactly[/I] like a warlock. A beholder uses exactly the same tactics as a purple worm. Sooo much sameness. It seems like maybe the fundamental issue is that you want the game to do something it isn't designed to do. It's just a set of rules, a framework. You have to breath life into it. It's a very flexible framework that can scratch a lot of itches, but that takes some work and accepting that you have to do a fair amount of improv and adjustment on the fly. I could go on, but I don't think you're really looking for advice. I will agree that D&D requires a lot of cooperation between players and DM, and not every game is going to fit every one and not every DM will fit every player. I'll just repeat one of my mantras again: not every game is for everyone. Maybe D&D 5E isn't the game for you. [/QUOTE]
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