Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="lichmaster" data-source="post: 9779462" data-attributes="member: 6683330">Swinginess is a major problem of 5E in particular IMO, and monster design, constrained to deal enough damage to end a fight in 3 rounds it the main culprit.That said, IMO telegraphing danger is one of the main responsibilities as a DM. Not easy to do, especially when some players are too cocky, but eventually one learns.However, there are some tricks you can use to gradually increase the difficulty of a fight so that you respond to the intended challenge (which may or may not correspond to what's currently happening):<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">change the number of opponents during a fight. If it was supposed to be hard and it's being too easy, have some reinforcements arrive, introduce some other complication or just silently increase their HP. Or, if it's the opposite situation, have some monsters flee, or drop dead even if they're not at 0 hp</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">change the damage they inflict. Ditch the d10s for 2d4 or something similar. Large dice are the fuel of swinginess, esp when crits eventually happen.</li> </ul></blockquote>