How do you DM High level and stay sane?! (Piratecat help!)
- Thread starter ReeboKesh
- Start date
Gold Roger
First Post
ruleslawyer said:
Me four. Well, I haven't much ventured into high level so far, but I've set up a routine that NPC's that don't really have something special about them can easily be improvised or put into archtypes. Leaves far more time and energy for the interesting guys.
I just ended an epic level campaign last March and we played in the upper teens to epic levels for two years, ending at level 28. Like Shade said, it wasn't much harder than lower levels. Of course, there are more numbers to crunch, but like Shade also said, make sure you have your shorthand stat blocks on-hand and ready with hp, AC, buffs, etc. etc. You don't want to be flipping through the MM or your own personal notes every five minutes.
Getting to those higher levels is a great reward for hanging in there through a campaign.
Getting to those higher levels is a great reward for hanging in there through a campaign.
Get a feel for it...
High level gaming requires a bit of experience to do well. It'll probably take you a few sessions to learn what your PCs can and cannot handle. One thing I would remember when doing a high level campaign is "aim low." What I mean by this is make sure you don't overpower the encounters. If you make a mistake on an encounter better to make a mistake on behalf of the players than wipe out your players during your initial forays into high level gaming.
At about level 13 plus players can die on single die roll and monsters hit so hard if you don't have a competent healer the players are going to be brought low. Enemy mages are now targeting rogue and wizard players with finger of death to take them out early and vice versa, so many combats greatly rely on initiative. Positional and coordinated tactics are real important for both sides because a well-prepared DM with formidable enemies planned for a group of characters will eat up a party that doesn't know what they are doing or aren't prepared.
As an example, I ran a Dungeon magazine adventure with a horde of spectres that focus all their attacks on a single target until dead. An unprepared party of even 15th or 20th level adventurers who misplay this encounter will be destroyed. It's real important that key spells such as Death ward become a must have on the cleric spell list as well Restoration. Your wizards need to have permanencied See Invisibility or at least have it prepared.
High level gaming can be fun. I know I enjoy it. I like the tactical challenge of DMing high level parties and I like to see what the players come up with to beat my encounters. The best advice is enjoy yourself. Don't worry about mistakes, they will happen. As long as your players have fun and feel challenged, then you're doing it right.
High level gaming requires a bit of experience to do well. It'll probably take you a few sessions to learn what your PCs can and cannot handle. One thing I would remember when doing a high level campaign is "aim low." What I mean by this is make sure you don't overpower the encounters. If you make a mistake on an encounter better to make a mistake on behalf of the players than wipe out your players during your initial forays into high level gaming.
At about level 13 plus players can die on single die roll and monsters hit so hard if you don't have a competent healer the players are going to be brought low. Enemy mages are now targeting rogue and wizard players with finger of death to take them out early and vice versa, so many combats greatly rely on initiative. Positional and coordinated tactics are real important for both sides because a well-prepared DM with formidable enemies planned for a group of characters will eat up a party that doesn't know what they are doing or aren't prepared.
As an example, I ran a Dungeon magazine adventure with a horde of spectres that focus all their attacks on a single target until dead. An unprepared party of even 15th or 20th level adventurers who misplay this encounter will be destroyed. It's real important that key spells such as Death ward become a must have on the cleric spell list as well Restoration. Your wizards need to have permanencied See Invisibility or at least have it prepared.
High level gaming can be fun. I know I enjoy it. I like the tactical challenge of DMing high level parties and I like to see what the players come up with to beat my encounters. The best advice is enjoy yourself. Don't worry about mistakes, they will happen. As long as your players have fun and feel challenged, then you're doing it right.
Fieari
Explorer
Check my sig. An example would be Here, or perhaps Here for something that uses just about every entry. The basic summary though is, First everything that you need to know BEFORE combat starts (CR, Init, Spot/Listen, Auras, etc). Then all the DEFENSIVE information (AC, HP, DR, Regen, Fast Heal, Immunities, Resistances, saves, etc), then all the OFFENSIVE information (speed, attacks, special attacks, magic), and then all the other miscelaneous stuff at the end (passive feats already factored into the above stats, ability scores already factored into the above stats, other skills, and other random bits of info).Kestrel said:
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