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Sharpshooter/Great Weapon Master and Why They Are Broken 101.
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<blockquote data-quote="Helldritch" data-source="post: 6935860" data-attributes="member: 6855114"><p>Now what would I do to shut down such a group?</p><p>Nothing. I would not shut down their abilities. I would simply turn these against them.</p><p></p><p>In my games, dungeons are usually not static. It is a living eco system. Divination and magical scouting will only give you a picture of the dungeon at that time. It is not always as you see it.</p><p></p><p>The group wants to enter the dungeon. They use arcane eye to map the lay out. An hour pass...</p><p>-Ok boys, in here we have 6 ogres. It will be a nice and quick fight.</p><p>Doors open.</p><p>-Where are the ogres? Where did they go? Where is the treasure?</p><p>DM- You see the treasure but no sign of the ogres what do you do?</p><p></p><p>or...</p><p>-Ok boys, in here we have 6 ogres. It will be a nice and quick fight.</p><p>Doors open.</p><p>You see the Ogres but they are talking with 5 hobgoblins and a human. They all turn toward you.</p><p>-ho <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" />...</p><p></p><p>or (my favourite)</p><p>-Ok boys, in here we have a quite a fight on our hands. Prepare your spells and we storm in. No chance to take with these clerics. 10 of them with a high priest. Let's not take any chance.</p><p>Doors open.</p><p>You see no one. The temple main room is empty.</p><p>-F**k where are they?</p><p>Don't know, but you a small goblin with a broom entering from one of the doors in the back. He has a shocked expression on his face...</p><p>Doors open.</p><p></p><p>or (an other favourite)</p><p>-Nothing in that room guys. Let's open the one to the left instead.</p><p>Fight start</p><p>Right door opens and monsters comes out.</p><p>-You said it was empty!!!!</p><p>It was two hours ago guys...</p><p></p><p>As you can see. The group did scout with divination magic. They used spells, familliars, stealth and whatever but still they can get surprised. Some rooms will stay as they saw. Some will change. But the beauty of doing this is that you can use the variety as much as you want and it works for every kind of group. Yes the players will have a lay out of the dungeon but so what? They now know that it will not always look like what they saw. They will still be on their toes. They will still be challenged and it explains why there are wandering monsters around.</p><p></p><p>As a DM, you have to enforce the 6 to 8 encounters per day. This way, the wizard party will not tend to go nova (or any party for that matter) and players will start to play with ressource conservation in mind. I often see my players using the dodge action to mitigate HP loss. Most of my combat encounters lasts about 5 to 7 rounds even the medium ones. A hard one can go up to 10 rounds if the pc are afraid to go nova because they want to keep their ressource for resting. When they rest, I use random encounters to make sure the 6 to 8 encounter per day is met. With these tools, you can go very far. But the wizard party will be able to handle a bit more of the 6 to 8.</p><p></p><p>I think that with the all wizard party, aiming for a 8 to 10 encounters per day will do the job without increasing difficulty too much. They will have to learn not to nova all the time. Moving monsters around will make things interesting for the players.</p><p></p><p>And if the players rely on rope trick and leomund's tiny hut they're in for a surprise. If they storm a dungeon and some of the inhabitant finds out, then it is possible that they will be searched for. Getting out of the rope trick might drop them in the middle of a search party! Or into an ambush as the resident casters try to find them with detect magic or invisibility.</p><p></p><p>I sincerly believe that by using active resident in the dungeon that you can keep players on their toes. It's not by constantly shutting down their abilities that you will do it. I know, I tried that 30 years ago and almost lost my players. Being challenged is fun. Being shut down is not.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Helldritch, post: 6935860, member: 6855114"] Now what would I do to shut down such a group? Nothing. I would not shut down their abilities. I would simply turn these against them. In my games, dungeons are usually not static. It is a living eco system. Divination and magical scouting will only give you a picture of the dungeon at that time. It is not always as you see it. The group wants to enter the dungeon. They use arcane eye to map the lay out. An hour pass... -Ok boys, in here we have 6 ogres. It will be a nice and quick fight. Doors open. -Where are the ogres? Where did they go? Where is the treasure? DM- You see the treasure but no sign of the ogres what do you do? or... -Ok boys, in here we have 6 ogres. It will be a nice and quick fight. Doors open. You see the Ogres but they are talking with 5 hobgoblins and a human. They all turn toward you. -ho :):):):)... or (my favourite) -Ok boys, in here we have a quite a fight on our hands. Prepare your spells and we storm in. No chance to take with these clerics. 10 of them with a high priest. Let's not take any chance. Doors open. You see no one. The temple main room is empty. -F**k where are they? Don't know, but you a small goblin with a broom entering from one of the doors in the back. He has a shocked expression on his face... Doors open. or (an other favourite) -Nothing in that room guys. Let's open the one to the left instead. Fight start Right door opens and monsters comes out. -You said it was empty!!!! It was two hours ago guys... As you can see. The group did scout with divination magic. They used spells, familliars, stealth and whatever but still they can get surprised. Some rooms will stay as they saw. Some will change. But the beauty of doing this is that you can use the variety as much as you want and it works for every kind of group. Yes the players will have a lay out of the dungeon but so what? They now know that it will not always look like what they saw. They will still be on their toes. They will still be challenged and it explains why there are wandering monsters around. As a DM, you have to enforce the 6 to 8 encounters per day. This way, the wizard party will not tend to go nova (or any party for that matter) and players will start to play with ressource conservation in mind. I often see my players using the dodge action to mitigate HP loss. Most of my combat encounters lasts about 5 to 7 rounds even the medium ones. A hard one can go up to 10 rounds if the pc are afraid to go nova because they want to keep their ressource for resting. When they rest, I use random encounters to make sure the 6 to 8 encounter per day is met. With these tools, you can go very far. But the wizard party will be able to handle a bit more of the 6 to 8. I think that with the all wizard party, aiming for a 8 to 10 encounters per day will do the job without increasing difficulty too much. They will have to learn not to nova all the time. Moving monsters around will make things interesting for the players. And if the players rely on rope trick and leomund's tiny hut they're in for a surprise. If they storm a dungeon and some of the inhabitant finds out, then it is possible that they will be searched for. Getting out of the rope trick might drop them in the middle of a search party! Or into an ambush as the resident casters try to find them with detect magic or invisibility. I sincerly believe that by using active resident in the dungeon that you can keep players on their toes. It's not by constantly shutting down their abilities that you will do it. I know, I tried that 30 years ago and almost lost my players. Being challenged is fun. Being shut down is not. [/QUOTE]
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