D&D 5E Guidelines for fewer/tougher encounters?

[Mouseferatu]

So, this topic's come up a lot here and there, but I don't think I've seen a thread devoted to it.

I love 5E, but the whole attrition-based "6-8 encounters per day" model doesn't work for me. I vastly prefer one or two fights per adventuring day, but with each one being a lot tougher.

Thus far, I've been winging it, trying to run by feel, but I'm still finding myself struggling. I almost always wind up with either 1) a fight that's not as tough as I intend, or 2) a fight that has too many creatures and thus takes way too long to complete.

I'm hoping that some of you who might share this preference, but are more mathematically inclined than I am, have come up with some vague guidelines. I'm not looking for anything too specific, but more just like a "build an encounter that's X-times harder than 'deadly' for a group your size and level" sort of thing.

(I'm already familiar with techniques like waves of combatants and the like. But I really am just looking for better ways to estimate the challenge of a single fight. I want the group to come through it feeling like they've gone through the wringer, but not take so long or become so repetitive it gets boring.)

 

[Syntallah]

I too, would be very interested in these guidelines. Very, very few of my adventuring days are built for the '6-8 encounters per', and I have also been winging it.

 

[pukunui]

I am in the exact same boat here!

 

[Will Doyle]

This has proven very useful for me: http://slyflourish.com/5e_encounter_building.html

Using those guidelines, I usually base encounters around 1 "champion" with a number of "henchmen" (either 1 or 2 per character). Consequently, I never use solo monsters, and I always mix creature types. I often build the encounter for 1 level higher than the group.

I also have an ever-growing set of templates that I can apply to these encounters. These include such things as:

- As a bonus action, the champion can swap places with a henchmen within 30 feet.
- Each henchman can withdraw as a reaction to being hit by a melee attack.
- As a bonus action, the champion can order a henchman within 30 feet to make a melee attack.

I explain these away as innate powers, specially-attuned magic items, or whatever else makes sense at the time.

 

[bedir than]

Move short rests to an evening and long rests to a full day and/or a day in sanctuary type environment as in the DMG optional rules. This creates a pace of action that is more similar to classic fantasy novels.

 

[GMMichael]

I want the group to come through it feeling like they've gone through the wringer, but not take so long or become so repetitive it gets boring.)

Two easy steps, my friend:

1) Keep doing what you're doing, and
2) Fudge more.

It sounds like your current technique has you in the right ballpark, but you're just not getting the "oomph" you want. Well, you're the GM. Bend those rules. There is no spoon. If your badguy gets -close- to a hit, give him the hit. If you just rolled a 1 for damage for the third time in a row, add a few more. There's a GM screen for a reason.

You might also try a rule from my game: take half. Anytime you'd roll a die, just use half of the die's max instead. It will save you time rolling dice, and basically protect you from super-low rolls. Anytime you feel like the players know what's coming, switch it up and make the die roll.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

I'm hoping that some of you who might share this preference, but are more mathematically inclined than I am, have come up with some vague guidelines. I'm not looking for anything too specific, but more just like a "build an encounter that's X-times harder than 'deadly' for a group your size and level" sort of thing.

I have a fair amount of experience with PCs attempting a test-to-destruction (and usually surviving it). I will say that I consider a Deadly x3 or x4 fight to be an approximately fair fight, in the sense that the side that exercises more skilled play will generally win. (Ideally that side will be the PCs, because unlike players sitting around a table, I don't let most of my monsters think in bullet time. They pretty much just do what they know how to do, or they retreat, lick their wounds, and re-think their approach after combat is over.)

Of course there is lots of variation. I've had PCs survive Deadly x10 combats on the strength of spells like Evard's Black Tentacles; and I've TPKed them with Medium combats using drow and poisoned crossbow bolts from outside regular darkvision range. But in general, I'd call Deadly x4 a genuine deadly threat*, and if you're just trying to push them I'd either use at least Deadly x1, or use trick monsters like Banshees and Intellect Devourers (even if it's "Easy" it will still be risky), or use a large group of monsters like goblins (which will also be harder than their difficulty rating predicts).


* As in, "use this as a deterrent or as a forcing function to make PCs get creative, because if you just drop this fight on them out of the blue it's a 50% chance the bad guys will win, if the PCs don't fight smart and get reasonably lucky."

 

[Quartz]

Have you tried being generous with Legendary and Lair Actions? A simple Lair Action for mooks could be that they can use their Bonus Action as an additional Reaction.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

Move short rests to an evening and long rests to a full day and/or a day in sanctuary type environment as in the DMG optional rules. This creates a pace of action that is more similar to classic fantasy novels.

The danger here is that you end up in an unwinnable situation, where no amount of resting will help. If you can only get a long rest in a sanctuary, and it's a month of travel between sanctuaries, then you might end up two weeks out with someone at very few HP and no way to restore them at all. Once you're out of Hit Dice, the only healing that you can get out of a short rest comes from a Cleric of Life, and not all parties have one of those.

 

[empireofchaos]

If you create a real danger of lingering injuries when characters go down, you won't feel the imperative to have rolling waves of combat every time the party sets out. Here is one proposal: