Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Length and difficulty of combats
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="AbdulAlhazred" data-source="post: 5157910" data-attributes="member: 82106"><p>I've tended to both make individual encounters less beefy but also to create pathways around them. There are PLENTY of these encounters but either the party can at least partly avoid the encounter, get a big advantage by some cleverness, etc. They need to figure those things out because if they fight all those things then they're going to come to the nasty level + 4 encounter that is someplace in there where they just plain have to win the day without a margin for victory.</p><p></p><p>For instance the first encounter in my next adventure (for a level 9 party) will start with a level -2 encounter. However the monsters can create a significant obstacle (destroy a rope bridge) if the PCs don't work quickly. If they search a body nearby they can also find an item that will drive off the most significant monster. So I figure all this encounter will do is get them revved up and eat a surge off someone IF they aren't dumb.</p><p></p><p>The next encounter is level + 1 but the monsters arrive progressively and the PCs can use the basic loop design of a cave area to control the engagement. I'll give them a couple decent potions if they kill off all the monsters.</p><p></p><p>The third encounter can be mostly neutralized by properly operating a puzzle. It is in any case a level equal encounter and they just need to get past it.</p><p></p><p>After that is a nice dynamic terrain based encounter. That one can be level + 2 but again proper use of the terrain should allow the PCs a nice advantage. </p><p></p><p>Beyond that I was planning on a level built as a teleporter maze/puzzle where figuring out how to use the teleporters strategically will let them get past the defenders in several short fights at good odds. If they're dumb, then they get to fight a couple of equal level encounters one right after the other with no rest.</p><p></p><p>No doubt the rest of the adventure will go about the same. I haven't had a chance to populate all of them yet. </p><p></p><p>I also think that things will be driven plenty well by story. The PCs have a grudge on one of the bad guys and background reasons for wanting to succeed in the whole mission. There is also a puzzle associated with the whole adventure that leads to uncovering an artifact that ties into another PCs background AND the current artifact one PC is carrying can make a cinematic exit. Combat is a major theme of the adventure, but 30% of the XP can come from quests and having massive DPR isn't a mandatory focus for the PCs. The players simply need to use good tactics and be smart.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="AbdulAlhazred, post: 5157910, member: 82106"] I've tended to both make individual encounters less beefy but also to create pathways around them. There are PLENTY of these encounters but either the party can at least partly avoid the encounter, get a big advantage by some cleverness, etc. They need to figure those things out because if they fight all those things then they're going to come to the nasty level + 4 encounter that is someplace in there where they just plain have to win the day without a margin for victory. For instance the first encounter in my next adventure (for a level 9 party) will start with a level -2 encounter. However the monsters can create a significant obstacle (destroy a rope bridge) if the PCs don't work quickly. If they search a body nearby they can also find an item that will drive off the most significant monster. So I figure all this encounter will do is get them revved up and eat a surge off someone IF they aren't dumb. The next encounter is level + 1 but the monsters arrive progressively and the PCs can use the basic loop design of a cave area to control the engagement. I'll give them a couple decent potions if they kill off all the monsters. The third encounter can be mostly neutralized by properly operating a puzzle. It is in any case a level equal encounter and they just need to get past it. After that is a nice dynamic terrain based encounter. That one can be level + 2 but again proper use of the terrain should allow the PCs a nice advantage. Beyond that I was planning on a level built as a teleporter maze/puzzle where figuring out how to use the teleporters strategically will let them get past the defenders in several short fights at good odds. If they're dumb, then they get to fight a couple of equal level encounters one right after the other with no rest. No doubt the rest of the adventure will go about the same. I haven't had a chance to populate all of them yet. I also think that things will be driven plenty well by story. The PCs have a grudge on one of the bad guys and background reasons for wanting to succeed in the whole mission. There is also a puzzle associated with the whole adventure that leads to uncovering an artifact that ties into another PCs background AND the current artifact one PC is carrying can make a cinematic exit. Combat is a major theme of the adventure, but 30% of the XP can come from quests and having massive DPR isn't a mandatory focus for the PCs. The players simply need to use good tactics and be smart. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Length and difficulty of combats
Top