Ralif Redhammer
Legend
Agreed, large numbers of foes really tell against PCs. If you're getting 2-4 rolls against each PC, those numbers are going to start adding up.
Another big trick to challenging the party is making sure they're not fully rested going into a fight that you want to be really tough. This is a balancing act, though - do this too much and you're looking at TPK, not enough and it doesn't make an impact. I generally go with a low-to-medium range difficulty. Sometimes it's enough to just have them take a few points of damage, use up a few abilities and spell slots.
And if I'm wrong and the group took too much of a beating on that encounter, I can generally alter my adventure so that they can get a short rest in at the least, before I throw the big fight at them. And if it's a case of one or two PCs blowing all their spell slots on a band of skeletons, I'll probably just let it ride and throw that mummy at them right away like I planned.
Absolutlely At least equal their numbers but I tend to make it more than the PCs (sometimes twice as many but not usually) because it forces the PCs to make choices about who to protect and how, or whether to use AoEs that might catch allies, etc...
Another big trick to challenging the party is making sure they're not fully rested going into a fight that you want to be really tough. This is a balancing act, though - do this too much and you're looking at TPK, not enough and it doesn't make an impact. I generally go with a low-to-medium range difficulty. Sometimes it's enough to just have them take a few points of damage, use up a few abilities and spell slots.
And if I'm wrong and the group took too much of a beating on that encounter, I can generally alter my adventure so that they can get a short rest in at the least, before I throw the big fight at them. And if it's a case of one or two PCs blowing all their spell slots on a band of skeletons, I'll probably just let it ride and throw that mummy at them right away like I planned.