A rogue, a bard, a monk, and a ranger walk into a bar...

[Ferret]

I have no idea how to challenge these guys without slaughtering them. CRs are going to be out of whack, they're essentially worthless. These guys are weak in both combat and magic.

I wouldn't worry, PCs are tougher then you might think. Still set them up some diplomanctic adventures involving slaves (warriors with very little to fight with) and then battles when Enemys don't want to talk. Sewer runs, eventually descovering more and more under ground leading from rats to mindflayers......

Anyway, Start slow but don't be surprised if they surprise you.

 

[Patman21967]

Someone told me of a Rogue variant that allows the tradeoff of sneak attacks for extra feats...I like that idea alot

 

[Quickleaf]

What am I supposed to do with this group? Ranger's favored enemy is aberration. Rogue is skill monkey, bard is diplomancer, ranger is archer, monk is dex monkey.

For the Ranger: Provide him with opportunities for sniping, allowing him to fire from an elevated position or behind cover. Give him really cool magical arrows, and allow the player to design new archery feats. Perhaps he makes friends with some elves who are practically invisible in their territory; when pursued by enemy his allies suddenly pop out bows at the ready. An honorable enemy is willing to challenge him to an archery contest, and to the victor go the spoils. Design some campaign mythology that delves into the nature/origins of aberrations (e.g. sprang forth from the blood of a murdered god), and pass this information on to the ranger's player to be incorporated into the character.

For the Rogue: Use investigation montages, allowing the rogue to really put their Gather Information to use. An arrogant thieves' guild has something the rogue wants, and the only way to win it is to pass a dangerous maze used to test new recruits (e.g. the Dungeons and Dragons movie). Make ample use of traps, including allowing the rogue to reset traps or alter them completely. Create house rules for "Hiding in Crowds" if they will be adventuring in the city. Play up the innuendo power of the Bluff skill, and give the rogue a short glossary of "thieves' cant" used in the middle ages.

For the Bard: Provide sidebars on the benefits of bardic knowledge for key plot elements. In nearly every combat situation, provide an option for "talking down" the aggressors using Diplomacy. Play a really wicked rival bard who uses slander and blackmail to ruin the PC's reputation. Create house rules for inciting crowds / rumor-mongering (players LOVE to pull these 2 tricks -- it's amazing they're not in core rules). Use alternate rules for Diplomacy; see the House Rules for a thread discussing this topic; essentially a problem develops at higher levels when you can "diplomance" like crazy. Use the debate rules from Dynasties & Demagogues.

For the Monk: Include a critical part of the adventure that requires one incredily dextrous character (e.g. in the movie "The Rock" when Sean Connery times moving through swinging pendulum gears and bursts of flame). The monk's old teacher presents a zen riddle (koan) during a dream, which describes a key part of an adventure, providing the monk with bonuses to all Dex/Reflex checks. Make notes on key scenes of improvised weapons, or of unstable environments -- 2 classic elements in any Jackie Chan film. If you're using Large or greater sized bad guys, include notes on what happens if the PCs try to climb on top of them, using the creature's own body for cover (PCs are notorious for trying this).

I have no idea how to challenge these guys without slaughtering them. CRs are going to be out of whack, they're essentially worthless. These guys are weak in both combat and magic.

In your write-ups of each combat, include at least three things the PCs could use in the scene to their advantage, such as a giant monastery bell the PCs could hide inside, a hidden pit trap the PCs narrowly avoid while being chased, a balconey where they can leap down on their enemies from, or a battlefield where the sun is to their backs. Each environmental factor can provide them with a benefit to compensate for facing harder foes.
Perhaps you could create some house rules for new combat manuevers that emphasize stealth and surprise (see the "combat manuevers" thread under House Rules).

Core only campaign. PHB, DMG, MM. No psionics. Custom campaign-specific (prestige classes etc.) content by DM only. Leadership feat banned.

Might I suggest incorporating some variant rules such as Hot Pursuit which has rules for very dramatic chases, or Dynasties & Demagogues which details how to run a political campaign. Taking inspiration from a M&M adventure called Church & State you might incorporate the idea of "investigation montages"; this is a sort of quick scene built up of smaller scenes with the PCs gathering information. I have the feeling these rules will suit the tone your players want to see.

 

[I'm A Banana]

This is definately a party built more for city/wilderness adventuring than dungeon crawling. Unless you have very understanding players or something, I'd recommend not doing a whole lot of those, since, as you speculate, they won't keep pace with what a lot of the monsters are designed for.

Of course, you could be an inflexible rod of verisimlitude and tell them to figure out the ways to meet their challenges, but only do that if your group thinks it's a fun challenge and not just you being a jerk because they didn't play cookie-cutter charaters.

Puzzles and NPC interaction involving skill checks and spells over simple player acting and player logic should work wonders. Combat should play a role, and a pretty big one, but ensure that the PCs can always get away. Cramped corridoors are their enemies, rooftops, sprawling streets, open fields, etc. will give them an advantage. They certainly can cope with a lot of foes, but it involves confronting those foes on their own territory, not the foes'.

Some ideas:

Home Invasion: Someone in the government is actually a doppelganger, and is using their influential abiltiies to pull in other doppelgangers, and their aberration-allies. As the natural defenses of the town collapse, the PC's must become guerrilla fighters, dodging and skulking in shadows, knowing the terrain and using it for their own tactical advantage. The enemeis may be giant tanks or powerful, city-leveling wizards, but better speed and local knowledge should prevail against them. The main opposition is aberrations of various CR's, until the PC's manage to confront and challenge the power behind the doppelgangers....
This plays to the Ranger's strengths, and utilizes the mobility of the monk to its' best. The rogue plays a key element as the one who designs traps, outfits locks, and knows the neighborhood. The bard manages to work against the doppelgangers and recruit help.

Foreign Lands: The PC's are used as sort of the Lewis and Clark of their day, exploring an empire recently annexxed onto the PC's main kingdom. There are locals there who don't recognize any sort of treaty that the PC's kingdoms may have signed, and the strange lands and strage creatures serve as the main challenges. The PC's must map out the world in front of them. To include the aberration angle, make the ruins of a vast empire prominent in this new region, complete with strange creatures that need to be exterminated for kingdom trading posts...or to earn the local's resepct.
This plays to the mobility of the monk and the adaptability of the rogue and ranger -- new territories and new creatures use their skills in new and interesting ways. The bard is satiated with diplomacy with local tribes, whom he can be instrumental as the first contact from the PC's kingdom.

Thieves! The PC's play as members or recruits of the local theives' guild. They make daring and highly publicised robberies, becoming celebreties in their own right. Stealthy and mobile, they can infiltrate even the most heavily-guarded of zones and swipe what their patrons require. A dragon's raid doesn't end with slaying the dragon, but in making off with the ancient crown the dragon holds. Perhaps they are even recruited by their own city's military to run raids against more insidious threats, or to help against the brewing war that is occuring. They make brilliant spies and scoundrels, and may have to break a few heads to get things done.
This plays to the fact that every class has Hide and Move Silently, and Listen and/or Spot as class skills. The adventure can run like Ocean's 11, or any other heist movie -- the rogue is the specialist who knows the area and the technology, the ranger is the expert marxman who can provide backup from a nearby rooftop, the monk is the mobile infiltrator whose speed means that no guard can catch them, and the bard is the front, who is able to get them the key at a nob's party while playing up a double-life.

 

[the Lorax]

What am I supposed to do with this group? No front-line fighters, no full spellcasters. Ranger's favored enemy is aberration. Rogue is skill monkey, bard is diplomancer, ranger is archer, monk is dex monkey. Start at first level.

I have no idea how to challenge these guys without slaughtering them. CRs are going to be out of whack, they're essentially worthless. These guys are weak in both combat and magic.

Core only campaign. PHB, DMG, MM. No psionics. Custom campaign-specific (prestige classes etc.) content by DM only. Leadership feat banned.

I think your biggest problem is the 'Start at first level' part, which is to say that you may have some issues, but you don't really have that big of a problem.

I play in a once a month game that isn't too far off from that. The players will either learn to deal and adapt OR the characters will die off and be replaced. NPC help may well be essential. The Leadership feat might have been one way for the characters to balance the party out, but you have banned it. Why?

While the characters are going to start off that way, it doesn't mean that they are going to stay in those classes. The Skill-monkey Rogue may realize that magic is necessary and take up wizard/sorcerer levels. The Bard may discover that they need to fight better and switch to fighter.

It'll work out, trust your players.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

It looks like a party played by people who think tactically. Let them turn battles into running fights, set up ambushes, strategic retreats, etc. Describe each combat encounter area richly and I'm sure you'll find they'll use the battlespace almost cinematically.

 

[Aust Diamondew]

Sounds like my players. Treat them normal. Eventually they should be able to get wands of cure x which the bard, ranger and possibly the rogue will be able to use, that should cover healing. The bard can cover alot of spell casting and the ranger can some too. The rogue with UMD and the appropriate staff, scroll or wand can duplicate nearly any magical effect.
Combat wise the monk and the rogue can fight up in melee using flanking tactics.

 

[Cyberhawk]

One possibility you could do is to have them investigating kobold-infested ancient ruins.

The kobolds won't be able to overwhem the fighting ability of the group and you can have lots of nasty traps for the Rogue to deal with. The group will have to use cunning and skill to get through the dungeon. Plus if it's ancient ruins you can have all sorts of ancient writings on the walls for the Bard to play with. They're still too low level to throw aberrations against them, but you can start throwing in hints of what's in store for them.

Just think of the Ranger's face when he starts hearing the Bard gab about "strange three-eyed slimy tentacled fish things" in the writings.

 

[Baron Opal]

This group will excel at ambushes, diplomacy, and fluid encounters. As long as neither you nor they try to force head-on combats, they will be fine.

Of course, there should be a couple of toe-to-toe brawls, just for variety.

 

[Timely Drought]

I was thinking of making them supernatural investigators in the city's constabulary. Pack in a corrupt bureaucracy, some scheming archmages, all manner of cults (draconic and aberrant especially). A godless city, except maybe for a druidic order.

Or maybe they should be private investigators?