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Message: <blockquote data-quote="dave2008" data-source="post: 7956616" data-attributes="member: 83242">To start I will give several "out of the box" dials 5e provides for adjusting difficulty.  I will also admit 5e has done a poor job of explaining (by WotC) how you can adjust these dials.<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">First you need to understand your groups baseline vs. the baseline assumption of the MM, which is: limited magic items, not feats, no multiclassing, and limited experience (ie. not optimizers and/or limited tactical & strategic skills).  I pretty firmly believe if you play with those assumptions, the MM and encounter guidelines work well (I know they have for one of my groups that fits that description).  However, if you find that not to be the case, you can use some of the following options to increase difficulty as needed.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Make monsters more difficult: increase HP.  There is a range provided for a reason, use it.  If your group mows through monsters, give them max HP so they last longer.  (PS I did this back in 1e too)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Use tougher monsters: if the encounter guidelines don't work for your group, ignore them.  Using higher CR monsters is like #2, except with the added benefit that the monsters should have higher AC/ attack bonus and DPR.  The enounter guidelines are just a baseline, they don't work for most advanced groups and that is OK.  They are not rules to be broken, but suggestions for new DMs with new groups.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Use more monsters.  Did this in 1e and it works in 5e too.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Use more encounters. Using up more resources makes it more dangerous.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Using more dangerous encounters.  I only use 2-3 encounters per "day," so I tend to make them tougher.  Using waves of monsters is good for this. The same basic idea as #5.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Variant & Optional rules.<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Healing kit requirement</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Lingering injuries</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Slow Natural healing (combining that with healing kit requirement can be a game changer)</li> </ol></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Homebrew<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Make monsters tougher:  +1 to AC per tier</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Make monsters tougher, more damage: double strength bonus or +2 damage per tier, or max damage on a hit.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Death and dying:<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">death at 0 hp</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">death at -10 hp</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">1 level of exhaustion each time you go to 0 hp</li> </ol></li> </ol></li> </ol>OK, that is just a few. If you have more specific things your are looking for we can tailor our response to what you need.</blockquote>

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