D&D 5E [Princes of the Apocolypse] Random Encounters way to hard?

[Baumi]

My players will just leave the Red Larch Surroundings for the first time (become 3rd Level) and I prerolled (all hail Inspiration Pad!) the Encounters for there next few days:

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Weather: It's warm
Morning: Nothing Happens
Afternoon: Nothing Happens
Evening: Nothing Happens
Midnight: Nothing Happens

Weather: It's warm and with light rain/snow
Morning: Nothing Happens
Afternoon: Nothing Happens
Evening: Nothing Happens
Midnight: Nothing Happens

Weather: It's warm , a bit windy
Morning: Nothing Happens
Afternoon: Nothing Happens
Evening: Nothing Happens
Midnight: Nothing Happens

Weather: It's warm and with heavy rain/snow
Morning: Nothing Happens
Afternoon: Water cult marauders*
Evening: Nothing Happens
Midnight: 5 orcs

Weather: It's warm , with strong Wind
Morning: Fire cult raiders*
Afternoon: Nothing Happens
Evening: Dwarf miners*
Midnight: Nothing Happens
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The first three days are quite nice, but then there are water cult marauders in the afternood, 5 Orcs at night and Fire cult Raiders in the morning!

I will set the Orc-Encounter a few days earlier and start the Session there (start with a fight always gets the blood pumping) and the Water Cult will be a chance to Roleplay since they will have fought the Fire Raiders a day before and are licking there wounds, which give the Players a chance to make them Allies instead of Enemies (but depending on the players it could get either way). But the following Day the Fire Raiders will catch up and fight them.

So thanks to pre-rolling I will soften the blow, while still using the Table, but my problem is that the Cultist Groups are EXTREMLY strong. I rolled nearly minimum for the Water Marauders (3 Reavers, 1 Priest and 1 Fathomer), but this would still add up to an Encounter XP of 2400 (1600 is deadly for a four player group of 3rd Level Characters).

This is already very hard, but this is nothing against the fire Raiders (10 Guardians, 1 Priest) which add ups to 15.600XP!

Of course I can just change the encounters, but what use is the Table if I have to do it myself anyway..

So what are your experiences with it and what would/did you do?

 

[JWO]

An encounter on an encounter table doesn't always have to mean that the PCs fight. It could just mean that the PCs encounter some kind of tracks or something the cultists dropped on the ground, they could hear or see them in the distance, or they could meet them on the road but the cultists are disguised.

I haven't read the campaign myself so I don't know how hostile the cultists are likely to be but could they not just see them on the road and pass each other by? Presumably not all cultists are always fighting all the time...

 

[SigmaOne]

In fact, at least for the air and water cultists, you can go right in and talk to them, and have rather positive interactions with them, at least at first. It's possible but harder with the earth cultists too. So, if the cultists are not yet familiar with the PCs and see them as possible recruits, they might just strike up a conversation.

 

[CapnZapp]

The other answer is:

Encounters in 5e aren't supposed to be "balanced". It is okay to stumble upon overwhelming opposition that you must avoid, run away from, or even die from.

 

[Agamon]

The other answer is:

Encounters in 5e aren't supposed to be "balanced". It is okay to stumble upon overwhelming opposition that you must avoid, run away from, or even die from.

And even then, one might be surprised what capable players can do.

My players were a level behind the adventure's expected level when they took on Scarlet Moon Keep. It was tough, but the managed. They then went down to the fire level of the temple, now 3 levels behind expected. They talked their way into meeting with the 2nd-in-command, who then told them how to find Vanifer. They fight her and her two elementals, and again, it's a tough fight, but no casualties. And that's how a 6th level party takes down the most powerful prophet in the complex.

 

[Baumi]

My players actually managed to "win" against the Fire Reavers. They made a temporary pact with the Water Cult (the Fathomer was an previous Captain of one of the Characters) and the bad weather helped them against ranged weapon attacks, but they were still at the losing side after the Fire Priest Fireballed the 3 Reavers into oblivion and hurt 3 players severely.

The Water Priest doesn't actually have good Attack Spells, but he cast a Sleet Storm in the middle of the battle, which had a massive impact on the battle (huge Area, no sight, and VERY slow to move through). But even with this, the 10 Guardians seemed nearly impossible to kill. But the group managed, after a very long battle, to kill the Fire Priest, which prompted the Guardians to abandon the Fight (if they could have seen more of the battlefield they would have decided differently since only one of the Guardians died and 3 of the 4 players were on the ground).

The Players made some Friends that day, but also some new enemies....

All in all, I am happy to report that fights like this are possible without TPK, but I would still advice such a big fight since it took way too long and the toughness of the Guardians was quite frustrating.

 

[SpikeTailDrake]

I think against crazy odds don't just let the enemy drop a surprise ambush. Maybe the PCs find them walking along the road up ahead. Get a chance to avoid trouble.

 

[Uller]

Part of the point of a sandbox style game is that there are always somethings lurking about that are beyond the PC's strength. When you are 3rd level wandering the wilds you better understand this. Use these encounters to make that point. Cwrtainly cultists don't have to kill the PCs. Give them hints and chances to escape. If they insist on fighting then capture them and take them back to the appropriate haunted keep to be enslaved or converted. Watch the 1980's version of Conan the Barbarian for inspiration on what apocalyptic cults do.

 

[I'm A Banana]

I think random encounters are intentionally hard.

I'm finding them being by-the-numbers difficult in LMoP, too.

The idea probably being: this is your one encounter in the day, so if it doesn't have a chance to kill someone, it's basically a nothing, mechanically-speaking. If you can kill everything and there's no risk of it killing you, you don't even have to run it - just narrate how the heroes kill stuff and move on.

 

[Nebulous]

Just don't force them into a fight. The PCs see the cultist campfire from a 1000 feet away and can go around them. An encounter does not HAVE to mean combat.