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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Goonalan" data-source="post: 5426543" data-attributes="member: 16069">That's another good one and worth mentioning again, I found a good deal of the work had already been done for me by just going through the various Dragon/Dungeon (and 3rd Party) stuff. I do this all the time even when I play 4e adventures, if there are meaner and more interesting boss creatures in other places then I just swap them out or else combine the two, I've done this with several of my big bads in an adventure I'm running.Other things I've done is build the bad guys in the CB and just turn them into Elites or Solos, as needed- makes for powered up big bad guys.Reading back through older edition adventures then traps have started to reappear in my scenarios, they're good at dishing out damage, if well constructed and good for keeping the XP down- a good trap spend encounter can replace a drag out combat encounter, take less time to play out and still do a ton of damage and/or satisfy the players needs.I've also replaced densely populated areas in previous edition adventures with skill challenges, I stole the idea from HS1, which I've just DMed my VT group through. The players moving around the ruined Goblin controlled city and staying hidden- avoiding fights with failures on the challenge reflected in increased difficulty of planned encounters.I also use 'events' to replace the masses of encounters in older editions, you can crank up the tension by having the bad guys also fighting off other invaders, being subject to internal politics- factions etc. Or even magical/natural phenomena- earth tremors etc. Which as a by-product also place the PCs on the back foot, a few showy encounters in which multiple groups of bad guys get massacred, crushed et al by some other force or natural disaster can really light a fire under the PCs.Likewise the factions thing can turn combat into roleplay and effectively get the PCs to take on some unpleasant bedfellows- I've had my players lead an Orc Slave rebellion against the Duergar, convert a Shadar-kai Witch in to a postmistress- with Orc postmen (that was a particularly strange day). Had leader type intelligent undead/Goblins side with the PCs in order to improve their individual goals- which have dramatic effects later on in the campaign...What I'm saying, and sorry if I'm teaching you to suck eggs, but the multitude of combat encounters can become something more- opportunities to show the story, complicate the plot, or add impetus.Cheers PDR</blockquote>

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