D&D 5E [5e] Tales from the yawning portal too easy

[Enkhidu]

OK, the important question is, how are a halfling and a human twins???

That this “classic” didn’t immediately come to mind is a travesty.



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[Johanus]

I think the edgy part is the way to go, gas was there but underlying, excuse the pun.

throwing in more random encounters will help i think

 

[abirdcall]

We're not at 6th level but I've found it to be very challenging so far. Currently the party is in the Forge of Fury and they've needed to avoid most of the combat encounters because they are too tough. The ogre with the dire wolves is quite a deadly encounter.

Maybe you can give us more details?

Rolling stats will definitely make things easier. 5e works very well with starting stats no higher than a +3 bonus. Higher than that is like having magic items at the start, esp. if there are feats involved.

How many encounters are the facing per long rest?

 

[robus]

I think it is more this, attacks rarely reach their AC and they hit the NPC/creature AC and beat it by 10-15 more

That sounds like the creatures are not tough enough to fight back. Though level 6 chars beating ACs by 10-15 on average seems quite strange? How are their attack bonuses so high (basically they must be around +12 if the average AC for your monsters is 15...)?

 

[abirdcall]

We are having a terrible time avoiding a TPK against the dragon in Forge or Fury. It's a very difficult encounter it seems, and even with planning I don't know if we are going to be able to pull it off.

I think the party needs to be at least level 5 to take on a dragon like that, esp. one in its lair.

Of course it is not written that you need to fight it!

 

[Johanus]

That sounds like the creatures are not tough enough to fight back. Though level 6 chars beating ACs by 10-15 on average seems quite strange? How are their attack bonuses so high (basically they must be around +12 if the average AC for your monsters is 15...)?

to take the rogue, for example, dex = +5 +1 rapier, +3 proficency so +9 to hit

to hit the matial arts adept with an AC of 16, only needs to roll a 7 or more to hit

 

[Mistwell]

I think the party needs to be at least level 5 to take on a dragon like that, esp. one in its lair.

Of course it is not written that you need to fight it!

Right now to escape the dungeon without a fight we cannot handle, we'd need to 1) pay the Duergar off most of our treasure, or 2) pay the dragon off most of our treasure. Hence, we're trying to figure out how to kill either the Duergar or Dragon or both. At least we have a handle on the Succubus for now.

My point is, this is so not in the realm of "easy".

 

[abirdcall]

to take the rogue, for example, dex = +5 +1 rapier, +3 proficency so +9 to hit

to hit the matial arts adept with an AC of 16, only needs to roll a 7 or more to hit

Well there you go. Very high stats and magic items will make the game easier. They're supposed to.

 

[abirdcall]

Right now to escape the dungeon without a fight we cannot handle, we'd need to 1) pay the Duergar off most of our treasure, or 2) pay the dragon off most of our treasure. Hence, we're trying to figure out how to kill either the Duergar or Dragon or both. At least we have a handle on the Succubus for now.

My point is, this is so not in the realm of "easy".

Yep. All of the published adventures I've played so far have been quite difficult.

HotDQ, OotA, CoS, and the first couple adventures in TotYP.

An ogre and 2 dire wolves is a lot for a 3rd level party, and that is just the first floor.

 

[Satyrn]

to take the rogue, for example, dex = +5 +1 rapier, +3 proficency so +9 to hit

to hit the matial arts adept with an AC of 16, only needs to roll a 7 or more to hit

And against an AC 15, he's got a 1 in 4 chance of hitting by at least +10. I can see how that would happen a lot.

Anyway, I think the obvious, easiest solution has been mentioned. Boost 0, 1 or 2 stats on the monsters: HP, AC, attack bonus, damage. Mix it up each encounter for variety.But be careful you don't boost them too much, because then you'll probably just be encouraging your players to optimize even more, and you'll find yourself on a treadmill.

Another possible solution is the one I think you should try: Change nothing. Instead, point out to your players that they are indeed steamrolling over everything and are bound to keep doing so. Tell them that "hey, this means there's room for you to make choices that don't involve bumping your Dex to 20 and you will still be effective. Or keep optimising and steamroll everything. Whichever's more fun for y'all is cool."