D&D 5E It's Official! Most of my encounters are "Deadly" (now updated with info through the end of 2022!)

[el-remmen]

So that's it for now. The party has had one more (unusual) combat encounter (two PCs and an NPC versus 10 opponents + the PC druid who was dominated, while the PC gnome and two more NPCs were left way behind and did not arrive until the final round) but I will wait to continue this project until after the next time I award XP (maybe 3 to 4 more sessions?)

Overall, I don't think I am discovering anything people don't already know. Encounter difficulty is wonky to determine because there are so many different factors to account for. Furthermore, while my players do try to approach these combats tactically, they are still learning the ins and outs of the game, and thus their tactics are still developing, which makes things a little more difficult for them (the barbarian player is the best tactically minded player, I think).

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

Were there many non-combat "situations" that required use of skills, or spells and other resources, or that caused HP loss? You've detailed the fights really well, and it sounds like the Druid often burns Wild Shape uses to scout.
The sinking ship definitely sounds like a perilous, but non-combat encounter, but were there others where the players had to get their dice/HP trackers out in a situation where they weren't directly fighting creatures?

 

[el-remmen]

Were there many non-combat "situations" that required use of skills, or spells and other resources, or that caused HP loss? You've detailed the fights really well, and it sounds like the Druid often burns Wild Shape uses to scout.
The sinking ship definitely sounds like a perilous, but non-combat encounter, but were there others where the players had to get their dice/HP trackers out in a situation where they weren't directly fighting creatures?

Oh yeah, too many to list, I think!

But I think the biggest example is that I run U2 - Danger at Dunwater as a essentially a long skill challenge (with the possibility of combat - the koalinth were a part of that) in which the PCs had to prove themselves good guests and friends of the lizardfolk by exploring their home and meeting different groups of LF with different opinions, attitudes, and motives - and their other guests/prisoners.

There was also negotiation with a local wizard to trade a single powerful magical item the party didn't have a use for for four slightly lesser ones. The Whale adventure ended up in combat, but started as a negotiation (and didn't have to be). And they also dealt with corrupt town guards in the Styes that the could have beaten in a fight but the long term consequences would have been too dire, so they had to negotiate a bribe and being left alone, and there was a ton of tracking and investigating in the sea caves hunt for the "turkey-lizards" (velociraptors). Stuff like that, you mean?

 

[Sithlord]

I roll random encounters for ALMOST all short rests its very rare I don’t check for a random encounter. Maybe maybe if safe in an inn, but that can go out the door for an urban adventure. I don’t like a set number of encounters a day. They should be close to random (encounter based on geography and adventure). I’m not saying there isn’t the normal encounters when I go into certain places.

 

[el-remmen]

I roll random encounters for ALMOST all short rests its very rare I don’t check for a random encounter. Maybe maybe if safe in an inn, but that can go out the door for an urban adventure. I don’t like a set number of encounters a day. They should be close to random (encounter based on geography and adventure). I’m not saying there isn’t the normal encounters when I go into certain places.

I don't think I've rolled for random encounters since the late 90s - though sometimes I think I should bring back the tables. Otherwise, I just prep the rough sketch of a few different possible encounters (in the dungeon, on the road, in a town) and then make use of them when applicable to the scenario (to show how dangerous an area of wilderness is, because the party was sloppy about finding a place to hole up in the dungeon, because today's session needs a shot in the arm, because an evil org sent assassins after them, stuff like that. . .). And some "random encounters" can just be a huge flock of sheep and goats blocking the road and the info you can get from the shepherd while he works to get them moving along. ..

 

[Sithlord]

I don't think I've rolled for random encounters since the late 90s - though sometimes I think I should bring back the tables. Otherwise, I just prep the rough sketch of a few different possible encounters (in the dungeon, on the road, in a town) and then make use of them when applicable to the scenario (to show how dangerous an area of wilderness is, because the party was sloppy about finding a place to hole up in the dungeon, because today's session needs a shot in the arm, because an evil org sent assassins after them, stuff like that. . .). And some "random encounters" can just be a huge flock of sheep and goats blocking the road and the info you can get from the shepherd while he works to get them moving along. ..

They should be in every adventure. I still reference my 2E ravenloft books for ideas on how frequent they should be for my own adventures.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

Oh yeah, too many to list, I think!

But I think the biggest example is that I run U2 - Danger at Dunwater as a essentially a long skill challenge (with the possibility of combat - the koalinth were a part of that) in which the PCs had to prove themselves good guests and friends of the lizardfolk by exploring their home and meeting different groups of LF with different opinions, attitudes, and motives - and their other guests/prisoners.

There was also negotiation with a local wizard to trade a single powerful magical item the party didn't have a use for for four slightly lesser ones. The Whale adventure ended up in combat, but started as a negotiation (and didn't have to be). And they also dealt with corrupt town guards in the Styes that the could have beaten in a fight but the long term consequences would have been too dire, so they had to negotiate a bribe and being left alone, and there was a ton of tracking and investigating in the sea caves hunt for the "turkey-lizards" (velociraptors). Stuff like that, you mean?

Yep. Did the party handle these with just roleplaying and skill checks, or did any use resources like spells or hit points that might factor into how they would be able to deal with the next encounter?

 

[el-remmen]

They should be in every adventure. I still reference my 2E ravenloft books for ideas on how frequent they should be for my own adventures.

Well, I would quibble with the words "should" and "every" - but I do agree that rests should never be guaranteed just because the PCs choose to take one.

 

[el-remmen]

Yep. Did the party handle these with just roleplaying and skill checks, or did any use resources like spells or hit points that might factor into how they would be able to deal with the next encounter?

Alston the gnome bard/wizard makes use of Detect Thoughts and comprehend languages a lot and, as you noted, the druid uses wildshape for all sorts of reasons about 50/50 with combat reasons. In some adventures, stuff like traps or unstable architecture has led to stuff like falling or being hit for damage outside of combat. Other than that, it is mostly skill rolls and/or simple sufficient description of a non-combat action that does not have much cost for failure that just gets a handwave success.

 

[Nefermandias]

Well, I would quibble with the words "should" and "every" - but I do agree that rests should never be guaranteed just because the PCs choose to take one.

The scope of what random encounters can do for your adventure goes well beyond just interrupting short rests.