the Jester
Legend
Okay, I have data from two more sessions to report, including what I am pretty sure is the longest 5e combat I have seen yet. Both of these sessions are set in the Keep on the Shadowfell, a 4e adventure, so it's neither a surprise nor a mistake that encounters take longer than standard for 5e. Each encounter usually takes a couple of rounds before all the bad guys are in the fight; they're all set up with interesting tactical opportunities; and they use a good number of monsters. Most encounters designed for 4e play are basically like two encounters mashed together halfway through the first one. Anyhoo:
First, Keep on the Shadowfell, session 7, encounter 1- six pcs, levels 3 to 5, against 7 hobgoblins, a hobgoblin archer (used the archer from VGtM), and a hobgoblin devastator. 5 rounds long.
KotS, s7e2: Same pcs against 7 hobgoblins and a hobgoblin warlord: 6 rounds.
KotS, s7e3: Same pcs against two corruption corpses (custom monsters, CR3) and a gelatinous cube that joins the fight midway through and takes the pc in the rear by surprise: 7 rounds.
KotS, s7e4: Same pcs, depleted and retreated, against 6 orcs and an orc war chief (a random encounter on the way out): 5 rounds.
Kalarel the Vile: The penultimate session of KotS. One massive encounter (the Cathedral of Shadow, for those who have read or played it). This was an interesting one- the original module uses five vampire spawn, but they were minions in 4e, so by the time the pcs got here, they'd already slain two of the spawn in different encounters earlier. By now, we have six pcs of levels 4 to 5 against three vampire spawn, two berserkers, one darkling, and a priest with a few modifications to his spell selection. This is the long one, folks. Between a dearth of magic weapons and the spawns' regeneration, this encounter lasted a whopping 17 rounds! Some of that was the fact that I played the spawn with tactical acumen; the first one got hammered hard in the first two rounds, then retreated to regenerate before returning to the fight. This was long enough that the barbarian's rage actually ran out mid-fight- which I think I have only seen one other time in 5e. By the end, all the pcs except one had been reduced to single digit hps, the sorcerer had gone down I think three times, the monk went down twice, and the barbarian, sorcerer, one of the druids, and the monk had all had their max hps reduced by around 10 each due to the vampire spawns' bites. Holy cow, this was the first time in a long time one combat has taken an entire session. It was harrowing and very, very cool. By the end, both I and the players were narrating just how exhausted they all were, and they were on the edge of their seats, having expended pretty much all their collective spell slots.
First, Keep on the Shadowfell, session 7, encounter 1- six pcs, levels 3 to 5, against 7 hobgoblins, a hobgoblin archer (used the archer from VGtM), and a hobgoblin devastator. 5 rounds long.
KotS, s7e2: Same pcs against 7 hobgoblins and a hobgoblin warlord: 6 rounds.
KotS, s7e3: Same pcs against two corruption corpses (custom monsters, CR3) and a gelatinous cube that joins the fight midway through and takes the pc in the rear by surprise: 7 rounds.
KotS, s7e4: Same pcs, depleted and retreated, against 6 orcs and an orc war chief (a random encounter on the way out): 5 rounds.
Kalarel the Vile: The penultimate session of KotS. One massive encounter (the Cathedral of Shadow, for those who have read or played it). This was an interesting one- the original module uses five vampire spawn, but they were minions in 4e, so by the time the pcs got here, they'd already slain two of the spawn in different encounters earlier. By now, we have six pcs of levels 4 to 5 against three vampire spawn, two berserkers, one darkling, and a priest with a few modifications to his spell selection. This is the long one, folks. Between a dearth of magic weapons and the spawns' regeneration, this encounter lasted a whopping 17 rounds! Some of that was the fact that I played the spawn with tactical acumen; the first one got hammered hard in the first two rounds, then retreated to regenerate before returning to the fight. This was long enough that the barbarian's rage actually ran out mid-fight- which I think I have only seen one other time in 5e. By the end, all the pcs except one had been reduced to single digit hps, the sorcerer had gone down I think three times, the monk went down twice, and the barbarian, sorcerer, one of the druids, and the monk had all had their max hps reduced by around 10 each due to the vampire spawns' bites. Holy cow, this was the first time in a long time one combat has taken an entire session. It was harrowing and very, very cool. By the end, both I and the players were narrating just how exhausted they all were, and they were on the edge of their seats, having expended pretty much all their collective spell slots.
