Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rhenny" data-source="post: 7272483" data-attributes="member: 18333">Hi DragonKnight88,Welcome to the boards!First and foremost, make sure you are providing lots of opportunity for exploration and interaction in addition to combat.  Make the campaign about the entire world, story building and character development rather than just combat.  You may be doing this already.  I can't tell from your post.  If it is about the story, then combat just becomes part of the story rather than the be-all-end-all.That said, with combat throw in some surprises during combat that change the situation or the landscape.  You can use natural phenomenon, traps, surprise reinforcements,etc.  Use terrain and natural hazards to block access, force other spell use, even do damage.   For the dragon, don't forget the lair actions (and create your own if you feel like it). The big trick for you will be to keep the party guessing.  They should never know for sure if this encounter is the most difficult encounter they will have.  This is one reason why I actually hate the predictable pattern of lots of easy/medium fights leading up to the big bad.  Throw two really tough encounters at them in a row!  Throw in a few medium's and then hit them with another tough one.  The next day, have a few easy ones, a really tough one, and then a medium one and then an easy one.     Don't let them predict the pattern.The best way to make everything less boring is to make sure there is variety and a fear of the unknown.  If they fear that they may encounter the Dragon's mate on the way out of the cave, they'll be a lot more frightened even if they never even encounter it.  Sometimes, just the perception of additional danger is enough to add tension and excitement.Also, as a DM, celebrate their successes.  They made decisions and built their characters because they like to win and they want to win.  Using resources to win is good strategy and it feels good.  Let them enjoy that.  I bet if you double down and give them a very tough encounter after they've gone nova, that will go a long way toward infusing some fear and unpredictability into the game.  Train them to keep something in the tank in case they need it.I hope this helps a little.</blockquote>

Verification