Dealing With The Fun Of Area of Effect Spells

[Olaf the Stout]

Slightly related to this thread here about Sorcerer's vs Wizards is a new challenge I faced for the first time as a DM last night, multiple AoE spells. One Sorcerer fired off 6 Fireballs in 5 combats (over 2 days in game time) and the other Sorcerer let go with a few Snowball Swarms.

Left in the wake were over 30 Zombies and Skeletons, 2 Zombie Ogre, 1 Troll, a CR 10 Sorcerer and about 20 Fiendish Locathah. The damage that the other 3 party members contributed was quite small in comparison.

Now a few of the situations were perfect for AoE spells like these. The Zombies and Skeletons were in one big mass, charging (well charging for Zombies!) towards the PC's and the Zombie Ogres and Troll were also right next to each other. Only once was a PC caught in the crossfire. The rogue got caught in the first Fireball that was cast (and failed his save on a 1!) which took him down to single digit hit points.

So the question is now, how do I respond? I don't want to be mean and suddenly give everyone Improved Evasion or Immunity to Fire and I don't want all the baddies to walk 30ft apart from each other either. At the same time I don't want my game to become predictable with Fireball becoming the solution to every problem in combat.

I could have the party cop some Fireballs back. They have already experienced one and it wasn't pretty. Everyone was caught in the blast and 2 characters were nearly killed. With 2 Sorcerers in the party they can dish out the damage but they can't really take it. This is a good "solution" every once in a while but at the same time it's not much fun to die simply because you rolled crappy once on your Reflex save.

So, what do I do now?

Olaf the Stout

 

[Hypersmurf]

So the question is now, how do I respond?

Up to 5th or 6th level, a swarm of a dozen zombies or orcs or whatever can be a winning tactic.

Once the PCs get Fireball, it's less so. You may find that three hill giants become a far more serious proposition than twenty hobgoblins, because a single Fireball only damages each giant once... but it damages each of the seven hobgoblins that giant replaces once each. Effectively, by having seven times as many weaker creatures, you're allowing each fireball to deal seven times as much damage... and those weaker creatures can take a lot less damage.

Get out of the habit of using hordes of mooks, and use quality rather than quantity.

Of course, from time to time, send in the hordes, and let the sorcerer shine!

-Hyp.

 

[Jondor_Battlehammer]

Or send in a swarm of fire elementals. Just enough to challenge the party in killing them all, (CLEAVE!!!), but make the AoE irrelevent. Your best bet is to always make the battles interesting and relevant to the foe (BBEG) the PCs are fighting. leting them cakewalk thru everyone BUT the BBEG is ok if you make the battle scenes fun enough.

Really, think of the most interesting and funny way your PC's can beat you, and select the opponents that best fit that outcome.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Yeah, I figured that the horde of Zombies and Skeletons might get slaughtered. However the Fireball still worked pretty well on the 2 Zombie Ogres and Troll. Granted it didn't take them down like it did the Zombies and Skeletons but it still definitely packed a punch.

It's not very often that the PC's will be facing more than 4 combats in a day so the Sorcerer could cast 1 Fireball every combat and still have one to spare. And that's just his 3rd level spells. Sure, the other spells won't be as good at dealing out the damage as a Fireball but by then they should only be needed to mop up the leftovers.

Olaf the Stout

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Or send in a swarm of fire elementals. Just enough to challenge the party in killing them all, (CLEAVE!!!), but make the AoE irrelevent. Your best bet is to always make the battles interesting and relevant to the foe (BBEG) the PCs are fighting. leting them cakewalk thru everyone BUT the BBEG is ok if you make the battle scenes fun enough.

Really, think of the most interesting and funny way your PC's can beat you, and select the opponents that best fit that outcome.

I want to challenge the PC(s), not throw fire elmentals in there face just because the Sorcerer can now cast Fireball. There is also the fact that the other Sorcerer in the party specialises in Cold spells meaning that the fire elementals would just cop a pasting from him instead!

Olaf the Stout

 

[Ourph]

Make sure the enemies engage the other PCs in close melee combat ASAP if they are vulnerable to AoE spells. Then the casters have to be careful not to hit their allies.

In other words, pull a Lando....

Lando Calrissian: Yes, I said closer. Move as close as you can and engage those Star Destroyers at point blank range.
Admiral Ackbar: At that close range we won't last long against those Star Destroyers.
Lando Calrissian: We'll last longer than we will against that Death Star, and we might just take a few of them with us.

 

[Ciaran]

So the question is now, how do I respond? I don't want to be mean and suddenly give everyone Improved Evasion or Immunity to Fire and I don't want all the baddies to walk 30ft apart from each other either.

You have options other than "all in one big group" and "spread out 30 feet apart". Try a range of other formations: lines, columns, small squads, encirclements, pincer movements, etc.

 

[Scraht]

If I had my PCs pulling things like this (And god knows it's only a matter of time), I'd have the BBEG realize "Brute force, and overrunning them isn't working... Perhaps it's time to speak to the local thieves guild..."

How about getting tricky? Depending on the BBEG agenda, he might be just out to kill them now (revenge might drive him, especially after that little episode). Throw a few assassins at them, 2, 3, give them a few nifty goodies at their disposal, that they'd logically have.

Have the assassins strike when they're vulnerable, asleep perhaps, or just catching them offguard. I wouldn't actively seek their death, but just make it a real struggle so they hate the BBEG all the more (assuming they realize they've been hired by him).

Also this'd give you the fun of creating a new group for them to play around with. "Damn assassins, *adds payback assassins to his checklist*."

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

I'm in the "paste them with fireballs" group, myself. I'm not one to hold back on what is obviously a good strategy. While the sorcerers are busy unmaking the small army of undead mooks, there ought to be a spellcaster somewhere doing hellish things to them. Might I suggest starting with an Evard's Black Tentacles to take out the sorcerers, and then move into direct-damage spells? For an undead-heavy campaign, there are always good reasons for a Vecna-worshipping wizard to be around.

NPCs have tactics, and they want to win. If you know that a pair of energy-damage spellcasters are a-comin', or just expect a bunch of adventurers to come mess up your fun, having spellcaster-control effects is a good way to stay alive. I don't see this as being out to get the players. It just makes sense in a D&D-fantasy world that you'd try to be prepared for people who can fill a room with white-hot fire and might want to kill you.

Also, I suggest charging the spellcasters, or ambushing them. Granted, zombies don't charge well, but hidden rogue fanatics with invisibility potions can really ruin a sorcerer's day if they ready actions to attack when the sorcerer casts a spell. And having a monk or two around always upsets the guys with no armour, d4 hit dice, and spells that are gimped by Evasion.

 

[Raloc]

If you really want to mess with them, stage the next major battle in some sort of wild magic zone, without letting this fact slip to the players. Though, it could just be me that likes the crazy randomness. Alternatively you could use other casters (preferrably with scrolls of greater invis. or g. invis items(so, for instance, you'd have one of them swing around to rear flank the party and dispel/counterspell the party caster who is going against the mooks)) to dispel or counterspell the party's magics.