D&D 5E help me modify a section of Phandelver

[Grognak]

So I'm running Phandelver for the first time (I'm loving it and my players are loving it) and I'm now starting to get comfortable modding the module a little.

Currently they are all third level, and they are already starting to overpower encounters (there's five of them, playing the pregens).

So the first thing I want to do is start beefing up some of the scenarios with higher powered creatures. So I'm reading up on CRs in the MM and how that works.

They want a challenge. We've just added in the slower healing option from the DMG to help with that.

They've been out adventuring. Cleared Wyvern Tor. Spoke to the banshee. Parlayed their way out of Old Owl Well...now they are on their way back to Phandalin.

They cleared about 3/4 of the Redbrand hideout and killed the Nothic, but the wizard escape. When they get back to Phandalin I'm going to have the Redbrand problem be even worse and have them go back to kill off the ones they snuck past (they were disguised until the end).

I'm looking for 1. a plausable monster that they would have down there with them as a kind of new mini boss. Something to replace the Nothic. Something CR4 or higher.

And 2. some suggestions for new traps they may have set. And also finally, a way to have a sense of closure with the Redbrands once and for all. How do we know they're gone for good? How do they convince the town?

Thanks!

 

[hastur_nz]

Single monsters don't make good "boss" fights, especially with 5 PC's. Try a pair of Ogres, or something similar, even two monsters isn't really enough, but CR2+ is in the ball-park of tough in numbers - could make sense, more so than the Nothic. Same for other encounters - if you think it's too easy as written, try adding another monster or two, make sure they shout out for reinforcements, have another one or two turn up in a couple of rounds, etc - much better, and easier, than trying to add more 'toughness' to existing stuff. Maybe the wizard has found and hired some bugbears for extra "muscle", they are decent foes in numbers.

Check the recent Unearthed Arcana on Traps for ideas on something the Redbrands could plausibly construct in the time available.

As for closure - personally I love ambiguity, one day the PC's will figure they have solved the problem, can tell everyone (and be believed), and only time will tell... normally, some remnant of the problem will re-surface, one day... Kill / arrest the Boss, that should be when they are fairly clear the problem is sorted, but there's always the threat of some underling, relative, or similar, bearing a grudge and, one day, amassing their own minions.... but chances are the PC's will be long gone by then.

 

[Grognak]

What about an Umber Hulk who has found its way into the hideout via the old crevasse? Would that be too much and lead to a TPK? I wanna seem them sweat a little.

(Also about the Umber Hulk...does its gaze count as an action or does it affect anyone who it looks at? The MM seems a little unclear and its not listed under attacks...)

The last few encounters they just burned instantly. They tricked the Nothic and got a surprise round on him and he was dead in one round. An owbear ambushed them and only got one attack in before going down. They rolled up on Wyvern Tor and the wizard used the fireball scroll he found and some lucky rolls destroyed almost everything in the cave, except the rest who they whittled down in two rounds without getting hit once.

I'm from the old school, so they power level and the fast levelling have taken me by surprise. I don't wanna be a killer DM. But right now there's no challenge.

 

[hastur_nz]

Confusing Gaze isn't an Action for the Umber Hulk, it happens at the start of every PC's turn, unless they are over 30 feet away or they can't see it.

Sounds like single monsters are not a great threat, which is not unusual, that's the way it goes. And giving them very high CR single opponents won't fix that, one day that powerful monster will get lucky and slaughter them. As a rule of thumb, a single creature needs to be Legendary to provide a decent challenge, but even then YMMV. You need to give the players multiple opponents to fight at once, so they are forced to decide how best to take them out, not just gang up on one opponent and hit it with so many actions it's dead in a round or two. And accept that sometimes the PC's will just walk over an encounter with ease - that's fine, not everything should be overly hard.

 

[LordEntrails]

Agree, don't throw in solos. Pairs and groups are much easier to manage the challenge of. For instance, if they fight a boss with some henchmen, you can always add a couple more henchmen if the first ones are getting beaten too easily.

And if they are too strong, you can always have one or two do something less than ideal (i.e. kobold celebrations etc)

 

[akr71]

A bugbear chief is CR3 - throw in a couple regular bugbears and you've got yourself a deadly encounter. Maybe they are checking in from Cragmaw Castle.

If you want to use more Redbrands, throw in a Bandit Captain (CR2) with the mix - 1 Captain and up to 5 Redbrands for a hard encounter.

Also, if you don't want to change too much in the town, you could always beef up the Castle. More Hobgoblins instead of Goblins, maybe a Hobgoblin Captain... you could even have them stumble into an Ettercap/Giant Spider nest on their way to the castle.

 

[aco175]

When I ran this at level 3, I had a crypt down there of one of the old lords of the manor. There was skeletons, animated swords, mephits, and a hook horror that wandered up from further underground. I think there was 4-5 rooms and an opportunity to go into the underdark that the players did not take me up on. They did get a +1 sword raiding the crypt though.

 

[akr71]

And 2. some suggestions for new traps they may have set. And also finally, a way to have a sense of closure with the Redbrands once and for all. How do we know they're gone for good? How do they convince the town?

Thanks!

As others have stated the recent Unearthed Arcana article on traps is a good place to start. However, the other two questions - how do they know the Redbrands are gone and how to convince the town... That is squarely on the shoulders of your players and you shouldn't have to worry about it as a DM. If they interact with townsfolk to try and convince them, role play it out with Charisma checks where appropriate.

Are they gone for good? Only time will tell. There shouldn't be a "Oh this is the last Redbrand - ever!" moment. Its not like he/she will have a note or anything. Make 'em sweat.

 

[Spohedus]

Sounds like I'm only a few sessions ahead of you. I found Cragmaw Castle perfectly tuned for 3rd level PCs. I made a couple of changes. First, I made Lhupo, the false goblin shaman, a barghest who was clearly different, gave the PCs the legitimate creeps, and made a pact with them to release his profane hold on the shrine in exchange for the PCs allowing him to kill King Grol after they subdued him. It seemed like a fair trade to the PCs. They chose never to fight Lhupo, but if they did it would have been balanced. Also, I had them witness a patrol leave out of the castle right before they entered it, so the whole time they were concerned they needed to get in and get out before the patrol returned. The patrol was certain to have witnesses previous signs of combat on the way to the castle and return armed and alert. This kept the pace moving and they never seriously considered resting, even as resources got depleted.

They were also hunting Glasstaff. King Grol once captured shared that Glasstaff had gone on to Thundertree, and betrayed the Cragmaws having stolen Gundren's Map. <The PCs don't know it yet, but I have Glasstaff going there to join up with the cultists and lead the dragon to take Cragmaw as a keep for itself. This allows Glasstaff to clear Thundertree and try to clear his name with the Lord's Alliance. He also hopes it allows him a stronger bargaining position to partner with Nezznar.>

The PCs arrived in Thundertree last session. I beefed up the first encounter of the Twig Blights with a Shambling Mound. A good time was had by all. The highlight was when the shambling mound engulfed the elf druid, who saved his own life by wildshaping to a brown bear, forcing expulsion and damaging the mound. I also beefed up the ash zombies by not allowing saving throws every round to recover from the ash affect, and added two more Giant Spiders to that encounter as well. The cultists I've beefed up with adding Glasstaff and two ruffian bodyguards (all disguised as cultists) and increasing Glasstaff to 5th level with a nice AoE spell to put fear in the PCs. He's also going to have given his staff to a sucker cultist if he catches wind that the PCs are nearby. The dragon, of course, needs no hardening.

Have fun!

 

[happyhermit]

The easiest way (by a wide margin IMO) to ramp up difficulty in a set encounter is simply increasing the number of foes. By increasing the numbers you can very easily make things challenging (due to action economy, bounded accuracy, ranged attacks being powerful in 5e, etc.) and yet not have to deal with any issues that come about by introducing new NPC types, especially more powerful ones (one-shot kills, mechanics, ecology, etc.).

The second easiest is to play the monsters with "better" tactics ie; shooting from cover, using terrain, ambushes, etc. basically using the resources they have available to them. While this takes a bit more thought I have found that players often find it much more rewarding when they win, for example they all remember some particular encounters with (suitably, not highly intelligent) crafty goblins and yet a bunch of "straightforward" encounters with tougher monsters have long been forgotten.