High Level Battles - How to DM?

[Numion]

Twink out your NPCs. DMs can be munchkins too. .

It's quite nice to use underrated monsters (too low CRs) with overpowered classes / templates. Thats how I get my kicks.

Monster advancement is also nice; I once used a kraken of maximum advancement against my PCs. And a Balor of maximum advancement. More bang for the CR

 

[ElMorte]

And if the monster(s) is (are) too strong:

Cowardice is no shame. *g*

Run away to fight another day (hey that rhymes).

If the evil guys can do that (run away), the players can do as well.

 

[ruleslawyer]

Some suggestions:

1) Read Piratecat's Story Hour.

2) Listen to some of the above advice. Zenon and cptg1481's advice, especially, is excellent.

3) Try running simulation combats between your pet monster and your PCs in advance. You'll find that your attention is drawn toward key advantages, strategies, and resistances that you otherwise would have met. Obviously, you won't do this with every creature or NPC, but try to do it for the more complicated ones.

4) Use sorcerers instead of wizards wherever possible. It's easier to choose spells and fire off lots in succession than to play around with wide spell selections and lots of metamagic.

5) If you're running a dragon, check out BADD's website for suggestions.

6) Check out set-piece encounters in some of WotC's high-level modules. They should help you develop encounter strategies.

7) Fudge. You'll find that every once in a while, you'll play your monster a bit too tough for your PCs. Tone the encounter down a bit; turn a success into a failed save for the creature; miss when you might have hit. The reverse applies for instances in which a PC party is kicking your favorite monster's behind.

 

[Elric]

Don't ever get into a min/maxing war with high level players. If you use a lot of the class books or other campaign settings, you will quickly discover that combats take an impossible amount of time to run and character power is only limited by player creativity and teamwork. High level characters who do not take advantage of these options are much easier to run as PCs or NPCs.

 

[jgbrowning]

And if the monster(s) is (are) too strong:

Cowardice is no shame. *g*

Run away to fight another day (hey that rhymes).

If the evil guys can do that (run away), the players can do as well.

I have a gut feeling that running away is not forced upon players and many times as it should be. But im a cruel, cruel man..

joe b.