Best way to change the level of an adventure?

[arscott]

two 18s is either really good point buy or a really lucky roll, and either way, the fighter's making the best out of them.

since your rogue won't have finesse or much in the way of archery feats, then his high dex isn't as important yet, and your Wiz and Sorc's stats aren't doing that much for them until they get more powerful spells.

For now, the best way to challenge your fighter is to put the party up against a single, reasonably powerful foe. Not only does it keep the fighter from getting too much use out of his cleave ability, It'll make it more likely for the rogue to flank for Sneak Attack. And the sorc probably doesn't have any multi-target spells, so whatever he's casting will probably have a greater effect on the combat.

 

[Blue]

Another thing is to switch it up a little - kobolds with small shortbows attacking from a distance can mean that he's got a few rounds to move - and if he's wearing heavy armor it's slower then the rest. At 1st he shouldn't have had the money for a mighty bow, so he's not doing that strength damage at range. Nor cleaving even once he gets close 'cause the opponents aren't adjactent (they're probably single-moving away from the scary fighter and shooting once).

A sunderer or disarmer might give him a bit of trouble, though atwo handed weapon may be hard to disarm. A tripper always may help.

A 1st level caster could be a problem, especially with battlefield control spells like entangle.

1st level is hard, because the majority of opponents are short range melee combatants with no special abilities, while he's got a powerhouse of stats (TWO 18s?) and early multiple attacks with cleave if you give him lots of small opponents.

Try mixing it up, adding in ranged components and/or impediments to free movement, be the natural (rough terrain, walls, cliff face, river, etc) or from spells, tanglefoot bags, and the like.

Good luck.

Cheers,
Blue

 

[Wraith Form]

Wow, Arscott, Blue--thanks! Great ideas, both!

A confession:

I, uh, allowed a slightly alternate stat-rolling process. I allowed them to make superheroes. (4d6, re-roll 1's and 2's, drop the lowest.) I'm starting to see that I should also be making superhero opponents for them to fight. (Give the opponents the same possibility of 16, 17 or 18 stat scores as the party, max HPs, etc.) -sheepish grin-

I'm new at DMing (utter novice to d20, little experience with AD&D 2nd Ed. back in the day), and it seemed like a good idea at the time to allow for superhero PCs. -shrugs- I'll make up for it with tougher villains, but I really like the above two posts.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Wow, Arscott, Blue--thanks! Great ideas, both!

A confession:

I, uh, allowed a slightly alternate stat-rolling process. I allowed them to make superheroes. (4d6, re-roll 1's and 2's, drop the lowest.) I'm starting to see that I should also be making superhero opponents for them to fight. (Give the opponents the same possibility of 16, 17 or 18 stat scores as the party, max HPs, etc.) -sheepish grin-

Well, what's the point in high stats if everyone has them?
But indeed, this can become a balance problem for the game.
Improving the ability scores of monsters (without adjusting their CR - if you'd do that, they will simply level to fast) might be the best solution in that case, but keep in mind that it's only a fix.
You might consider using point-buy or standard roll methods the next time around (though it might be difficult for the players to readjust to knowing that a 15 or 16 is a super stat and a 18 is a dream value).

I'm new at DMing (utter novice to d20, little experience with AD&D 2nd Ed. back in the day), and it seemed like a good idea at the time to allow for superhero PCs. -shrugs- I'll make up for it with tougher villains, but I really like the above two posts.

To let the ranged combatants (spellcasters, archers) shine more, use (sparingly!) monsters that can climb, fly or swim outside the range of the fighter.

 

[smootrk]

When you have a party with a brute in it, then each of your encounters really need to be balanced by also having a 'brute' mixed in with the other bad guys. Generally, this tougher bad guy needs to have the opportunity to see who is hacking through his companions and move to engage him.

If your bad guys are Kobolds then have some sort of Half-Dragon Kobold or Level Enhanced LizardFolk as a 'leader'.
If Orcs, have a 1/2Ogre Barbarian lead the charge.
If Goblins, have a few Bugbears sprinkled in.

Otherwise, your less powerful characters are just being strung along by your tough guy. As DM, if the tough bad guy seems like they are overwhelming your pc group, then just reign them in. Have them try to take captives, rather than kill. Have them run when several of the lowly bad dudes fall, even if it might seem that the Big Bad Dude will prevail if he persists.

Also, next time around. Use a more balanced character generation system instead... point buy is what I use. There are reasons that the game is designed around certain balancing factors... and your mis-match of character capabilities is one of them. It just makes DM'ing harder when the balance is whacky. You have to improvise more (not necessarily a bad thing if you are quite adept at it).