D&D 5E I may have taken on a bigger challenge than i thought I did

[ArwensDaughter]

You might take a look at how some adventures include a chart for adjusting encounters based on composition size. (Most AL modules do, as do some other adventures available on dms guild/drivethru rpg), and then develop your own chart for each encounter you prep.

You might also take a look at the Unearthed Arcana article on an alternative method of encounter building It's a much quicker method of encounter building/balancing than what is in the DMG, and might simplify the process of creating a chart/table for adapting each encounter based on party size.

 

[Tony Vargas]

The problem I've run into is when one week we have a party of 7 and the next we have a party of three. When they're in the middle of an area I've prepped, I'm having a hard time re-balancing the area.

Any advice on how to prep?

What I'd do is prep less and improvise more.

Numbers really tell in 5e, so don't be shy about cutting down an encounter for a smaller party, and be careful about building one up vs a larger party. One trick, though it can get old, is to design encounters per-player. So many kobolds per player, one Ogre per player. That kind of thing. For 'boss fights' where that's not an option, you can get cagey with hps - at the simplest, just keep the monster up and fighting until it's not fun anymore.

I suppose the question I'm trying to ask is how.

Using the guide in the DMG I can get a raw exp count to scale the encounter, but it's the surprise party composition that kinda makes it hard.

With an open table like that, you not only run into issues of more or fewer players from one session to the next, but players bringing in characters of different levels, or with a significant item, or bringing in a 'fresh' character when the rest of the table is tapped out of daily resources. The effectiveness of the party can vary wildly, so the challenge has to vary with them, to an extent.

You could try swapping out monsters. For instance, if the encounter as designed is a flying boss with some melee blockers, but the party is light on ranged attacks, beef up the 'blockers' making them into the main enemy, and make the flier a minor pet that plinks at the party a bit.

Don't be afraid to just toss a prepped fight if it's not right for the table. Save it and use it later.

 

[Rhenny]

I like what [MENTION=6804968]ArwensDaughter[/MENTION] and [MENTION=996]Tony Vargas[/MENTION] said.

Flow charts and outlines really help me, especially because they allow me to as Tony said, "prep less and improvise more."

I generally create an outline of possibilities, and then see where the players go. Each session, I reconfigure an outline of possibilities.

Included in the outline (or on separate paper/index cards), I have a few contingencies too in case I need to pull something out of thin air.

 

[wedgeski]

I don't have any practical experience with such a problem, but I will say kudos for taking on an open table, and also welcome to the board.

 

[discosoc]

I'd recommend balancing around 4 players. Monster stat blocks list average HP based on hit dice, which is roughly 50% of their max HP. If only 3 show up, drop the monster HP down to 40%. If 5 people show up, just beef the HP up to 70%. If 6 or more people show up, just add 1 additional monster at 70% HP (unless it's a solo fight, then just boost HP up to 100%).

It's not a perfect system, but it's one I've found works well enough for sudden changes in group sizes. As the session goes on, you should be able to modify it a bit based on how the group is doing, so maybe if only 3 people show up and they burn through your weakened encounter, just make the rest of them back to normal HP.

So in short, prep for 4 players at 50% monster health. 40% for 3 players and 70% for 5 players. Add an extra monster at 70% health for 6 or more players.

Finally, if you do end up with 7 or more players at your table, and your monsters end up going last (or close to it) in initiative, Just quickly boost their HP across the board by 20% at the beginning to help further balance the difference in action economy that 7 players tend to bring.

 

[aco175]

Varying group sizes was always a problem with my group as well. My problem was what to do with the missing PCs when you are in the middle of a dungeon and having to hand wave him out of the scene until next week. Kind of like The Gamers movie when the barbarian stood silently on the side during the bandit encounter.

Adjusting encounters should be kind of easy. You can make encounters based on the average number of characters. Make encounters based on 5 PCs and you can add or take away a monster to balance it on the fly. This means you need encounters with groups of monsters rather than just one big monster. A leader with several underlings works well or a mob of lower level monsters works good as well. I also swing fights with my group in the middle of the encounter to make it more exciting (maybe more on my end than the players). If I think the HP of the monster needs to be higher to make it survive to have one more attack- I do it. I do roll the dice mostly in front of the players and they can mostly see the number if they are looking. I also end fights when the fun runs out and we need to move on.

 

[Edwin Suijkerbuijk]

you can adjust the amount of creatures in a encounter if you keep in mind that you might have to adjust the number while designing the encounter.

A tip would be to always try and have some low cr minions in the encounter and chamge the number of these as needed.
for example in a fight with a dagon, if there are 3 players it is just the dragon if there are more players you add kobolds or other mintions to keep the chalange at the same level.
this is a lot easyer then trying to adjust the power of the dragon to cater to the group..

 

[Bawylie]

Generally speaking, you get 3-6 monsters in an encounter without monkeying with the XP multiplier.

The way I'd do it is to design around a single party using 3-6 monsters for a party of 3-5 adventurers.

If I have 6 or more adventurers, I want to consider them as 2 parties of 3+ adventurers each. Essentially, I just clone the baddies. Where we were fighting 2 goblins and a hobgoblin, now it's 4 goblins and 2 hobgoblins.

If I do that, and mentally just sort of keep them separated, I'll avoid overrunning either group.

Now it's down to table & time management. 7 is demanding.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Jester David]

Each PC is roughly equal to one monster with a CR equal to 1/3rd their level. So a level 3 PC can reliably take on a CR 1 monster.

When prepping encounters, plan out the core encounter for 3-5 PCs and then have a few extra monsters that work with that encounter that can be added based on the number of players.
Then just eyeball it. If it ends up too hard, keep the next encounter that day a little easier, and if it's a cakewalk the subsequent encounter is a dash more challenging.

 

[VagueDolphin]

I appreciate all of the advice. I'm gonna use a little a bit of everything until I figure out what a good balance is.