Red Hand of Doom - help for a new GM

[hackmastergeneral]

Ok, I started my current group running Worlds Largest Dungeon. We got 1/3 of the way through the second dungeon, and were bored to tears, so I switched to RHofD. Seems much more interesting.

I have a largish group. Anywhere from 5-9, depending on who shows up. Group dynamics looks like this:

I run an NPC Healer/Combat Medic. In WLD, noone was going to play a cleric, and not having any healing was a quick way towards TPK. The Healer class works perfectly for an NPC walking band-aid - little to no combat ability, so no way to "steal the spotlight" from the players, and a total focus on healing means she works the niche well. Plus, if they get a Cleric later (as they seem to have) it frees his player up to play exactly the kind of cleric he wants to, without worrying about depriving the party of needed healing spells.

The party consists of a Monk/Arcane Fist, Fighter, Ninja, Wizard, Lizardfolk Ranger. Those are the "guarantees" of the group - always there. The guy who plays the Wizard, his 13 year old son is with him for the summer, so he made up a Paladin. Another guy, who has yet to play, made up a Cleric - with Strength and Destruction as his domains. My wife MAY join, and another lady may show yup as well.

Those who have run this adventure - what is the best way of jacking up the difficulty to deal with the large group size without also ruining the XP scale?

 

[Mark]

I run an NPC Healer/Combat Medic.

(. . .)

Those who have run this adventure - what is the best way of jacking up the difficulty to deal with the large group size without also ruining the XP scale?

Get rid of the NPC Healer/Combat Medic. That ought to give them a challenge.

 

[Tian Zi]

RHoD is pretty easy to scale. The combats and monsters are ripe for templates, advancement, or just superior tactical positions. Bump the dragons up, add spells, more fodder, make it raining, etc. The vast majority (all?) of the combats occur outdoors, so the engagement range can be modified to the monsters advantage Also, most monsters are humanoids or dragons, which are easy to add levels to.

9 people at a table? That's gotta be hard to keep moving?!!?

 

[Bad Paper]

yeah, supposedly red hand of doom is set in a muggy hot summer, but if you made it rain all the time, or even made it a snow campaign, then that changes the battlefield a lot

i'm not sure i would bother ramping things up too much, maybe just an extra goblinoid here and there. the party will simply advance more slowly, making advancement much sweeter when it happens. [remember: higher level * more players = slower games]

 

[hackmastergeneral]

Thats nothing. Our old AD&D GM in high school often had ten or more at his games - the largest was 15 for a period of about a year.

We're used to big numbers - most of us have been playing together a LONG time now. Any GM that comes in has to realize we are long time friends who have been playing together for over a decade, and the social aspect of gaming is just as important as the game itself. We do a good job of keeping ourselves on track as much as possible. I am bad for getting the group off-track, so, natch, as a GM, I'm bad fro keeping them ON track.

I'm not getting rid of the NPC Healer. I'm not interested in getting into the "GMPC" debate, but suffice to say, unless the players ask for her gone, and so far they haven't been (all are more than happy with her there). She is, seriously, no big deal. In our group, we make frequent use of GMNPCs to deal with gaps, or in the case of people who run a lot, play characters they might not otherwise get a chance to play. They are used with regularity in our group, and we are all fine with it.

 

[Mark]

I'm not getting rid of the NPC Healer. I'm not interested in getting into the "GMPC" debate, but suffice to say, unless the players ask for her gone, and so far they haven't been (all are more than happy with her there). She is, seriously, no big deal. In our group, we make frequent use of GMNPCs to deal with gaps, or in the case of people who run a lot, play characters they might not otherwise get a chance to play. They are used with regularity in our group, and we are all fine with it.

Couldn't care less about the GMPC debate. I am giving advice on how to make the scenarios consistently more challenging.

 

[hackmastergeneral]

Couldn't care less about the GMPC debate. I am giving advice on how to make the scenarios consistently more challenging.

Sure, but with a cleric yet to join, and even the one who has isn't terribly consistant, no cleric in D&D, especially in a time-paced adventure like RH, its basically setting them up for failure, or TPK.

Theres little time to stop and rest for long periods, nor return to town to get healed or buy potions/scrolls.

I appreciate the help, but I can't see getting rid of the Healer.

 

[Mark]

Sure, but with a cleric yet to join, and even the one who has isn't terribly consistant, no cleric in D&D, especially in a time-paced adventure like RH, its basically setting them up for failure, or TPK.

Theres little time to stop and rest for long periods, nor return to town to get healed or buy potions/scrolls.

I appreciate the help, but I can't see getting rid of the Healer.

Oh, I've run the adventure. The group will be

Spoiler

in regular touch with NPC clerics; in Drellin's Ferry, in Brindol, in the Blackfens, plus there's the Druids of the Witchwood. You cannot start or end a section without a Cleric available. I had a couple of NPCs traveling with my group early on (we expected a couple more players who could take those over if they wanted and not be considered new to the group, in that manner), and there was a PC Cleric (two at one point), but they lost party members (it is a tough adventure) and they managed to get along quite well, mostly with potions. Also, there are places where you might want NPCs to come and go with the group so that you can have a shot at infiltrating them with the spy. Further, the adventure is a bit thin on treasure along the way and having communities help them out with potions is a good way to rectify that. Unless there is some personal reason why you need the Healer to tag along, there really is no adventure-based need and it is the simplest way to consistently adjust the challenge level as that adjustment will effect every section, scenario, and encounter. I'll stand by the advice.

 

[EyeontheMountain]

Suggest someone take the touch of healing feat or a level in Dragon Shaman so they can at least sit at 50% hit points.

And then get rid of the NPC healer. You have enough work to do.

As for ramping up the baddies, give them all +25% hit points and +2 on every roll they make and then bump up xp by 10% or so. That is my quick way to balance weaker creatures. It makes a big difference.

 

[MichaelSomething]

Another solution is to simply add in more enemeys in every encouter. The Red Hand IS an army. You could also change the feats the dragons have. Changing their feats can make them a lot stronger.