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Big Daddy DM
Skirmisher
12 Posts
    
 | | 09/10/2006 12:09 PM |
| I was wondering what other DMs do when it comes to adding thier creatures to scenerios.
Do you like to put it a "beast" or a party of 4-5 mid level creatures? | |
My Have Want list is set up so what I want to keep is seperate for my tradeables.
Always interested in trading for large lots of promos/repaints/epic cards etc... | |
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stonefro2000
Sergeant
465 Posts
| | 09/10/2006 12:21 PM |
| form what i have seen, a party of expirenced players can birng down a single monster in a matter of rounds.
a huge red dragon was quickly dispached in 2 rounds by a barbarin and druid. but the same party was nealry massacured by a swarm of imps.
it also depends on what the party is made up of. if you got lots of fighters more bad guys would be the better choice. if you party in not a melee power house one big baddy could be a big challange. | |
"Well maybe Mr. T hacked the game and created a Mohawk class! Maybe Mr. T is handy with computers! Had that ever occurred to you Mr. condescending Director!" | |
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jacksonm
Warlord
5560 Posts
River City
| | 09/10/2006 12:36 PM |
| Like Stonefro said it all depends on the situation. Sometimes a big batte against a lot of mid-level threats is what's called for and other times you want it to focus on the one big baddy.
I tend to favor the multi threat option early in adventures and graduate to the bigger single monster encounters as the campaign progresses. That being said you have to keep the players on their toes and going with a group when their expecting a big single monster can really keep them quessing. | | | |
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zenthrus
Commander
4909 Posts
SLC, UT
| | 09/10/2006 3:29 PM |
| I vary mobs and titans. Variety is the spice of life (and it keeps the PCs guessing).
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Knight Warlord a.k.a. Commander (#32) in only 6 months. Where's my pie?
Champion of Dwarven Thunderlashers
Knight of the Large Dire Chicken
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sterling40
Sergeant
572 Posts
| | 09/10/2006 4:58 PM |
| hehe i'm mean, i make the least threatening mini on the table the "big guy" and all the others wusses, but nasty looking, skullcrusher ogres are good for that, my party tends to go for the big looking guys first
so in other words, i sort of do a mix, a 5-6 low levels and one with a competitive CR for the party. | |
Knight of Pixies
Champion of Mephits
"how many boards would the orc hoards hoard, if the orc hoards would hoard boards?"
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gss_000
Commander
3204 Posts
Baltimore, MD
| | 09/11/2006 6:13 PM |
| This thread reminds me of a joke my group of friends have:
The encounter we all fear the most is the lone unarmed kobold sitting on a bench.
That has to be the badest kobold. | |
Completed trades: blackthorne, Drakkengi,Thorgrin, Ironfist Boulderbender x2, ckissee, nasamonkey, Username, Star, Ace13 x3, emontedodger x2, Drconveyor, church, Joeyb, Sir Bozak The Damned, Xeromod, the other guy x2, Qucalion of Celene, Dagaron x2, berus316, qillan_dvra, AshloreDarkShadow
For further info go to My Reference Thread and Trade Interface
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Monsoon28
Underboss
2299 Posts
Toronto
| | 09/11/2006 10:44 PM |
| The single High CR creature/boss I like to do, to high-light an event.
Where as mobs are more for the 'forging of steel' that is the PC party. Challenging but not as likely to leave a permanent scar, if the party uses their head's along with their guts and hearts. | |
"I was sittin' here eatin' my muffin, drinkin' my coffee, replayin' the incident in my head, when I had what alcoholics refer to as a moment of clarity." - Jules Winnfield
Sales/Trades Bad (1): Ironfist Boulderbender
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Champion of Gem Dragons, VINDICATED Squire of Duergar Commander, Knight of the Astral Stalker.
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minatoman38
Underboss
1346 Posts
Minaniuonuma-shi, Japan
| | 09/17/2006 1:49 AM |
| It also depends on the abilities of the mid-level creatures.
A war mage in the party will devastate mid-level creatures that are energy vulnerable...not much sport as I have seen.
Also a party with particularily ACs make encounters with mid-level bruisers somewhat boring. | |
Robert Rosehart
Champion of the pixie
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yack
Commander
3198 Posts
Gatineau Canada
| | 09/17/2006 5:44 AM |
| | I use both..I had a party that barely made it out alive with a groups of orcs but had no problem with a blue slaad. They took him out before he could summon a buddy. (or at least try).As stated above it all depends what kind of party you have. | |
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sam500
Sergeant
419 Posts
Berkeley, CA
| | 09/21/2006 9:26 AM |
| The problem with single big bad guys is their hitpoints.Â
Players like to min/max their damage dealing potential and as a result can kill off a single high CR monster before it gets a chance to show off. (150 damage froma a charging catfolk rager will end even the highest DR monster).
So what I've found to work well is give the big monster some minions. They can be as crap as you like as long as they DELAY the party enough to let the bad guy do his stuff. Also, if you give the bad guy time to prepare before the party gets there it can really help. If the BBEG has his protective magics up all of a sudden his easily smiteable AC becomes more formidable.
Cheers,
Sam
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CHAMPION OF ALL TOWNSFOLK
47 COMPLETED TRADES ON MAXMINIS
14 COMPLETED TRADES ON WOTC BOARDS
I USE THE SAME HANDLE ON HORDELINGS, WOTC DDM BOARDS, AND DWARVEN FORGE FORUMS. | |
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sam500
Sergeant
419 Posts
Berkeley, CA
| | 09/21/2006 9:28 AM |
| Also for intelligent monsters at higher levels it's much more important to remember the player characters saves rather than their hitpoints.
My group is 15th level and I routinely take them out with the right spell here and there.
Will Saves against fighters
Fort Saves vs. Wizards
Ref Saves vs. Clerics
No Saves vs. Monks. (why are monks so annoying). 
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CHAMPION OF ALL TOWNSFOLK
47 COMPLETED TRADES ON MAXMINIS
14 COMPLETED TRADES ON WOTC BOARDS
I USE THE SAME HANDLE ON HORDELINGS, WOTC DDM BOARDS, AND DWARVEN FORGE FORUMS. | |
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glauron
Underboss
1379 Posts
Sydney, Australia
| | 09/26/2006 11:24 PM |
| Last night I ran a Chuul CR7 against a party of five CR5 PCs. It was touch and go, and a very close fight. The Chuul's high AC and hit points kept it in for 5 rounds.
Chuul tactics were hit with claw, move to mouth, paralyse, drop and repeat, with the intention of paralysing everyone and dining at it's leisure. It could easily kill one or two PCs before going down if it 'went for the kill'. As it was 3 were immobilised before the critter was finished.
Not only do you have lots of choices for encounters, e.g., mob or single critter, but the choice of tactics can also make for some interesting outcomes.
A big critter can definitely kill one or more PCs if it attacks from surprise and gets in a few big hits. Probably not the nicest thing to do to a PC. Mid-level encounters are tricky to balance. One approach is to employ different tactics, depending on the abilities of your party. At least give them a chance. :-)
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I have always been here. | |
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gss_000
Commander
3204 Posts
Baltimore, MD
| | 09/27/2006 6:34 AM |
| Posted By glauron on 09/26/2006 11:24 PM
Mid-level encounters are tricky to balance. One approach is to employ different tactics, depending on the abilities of your party. At least give them a chance. :-)
Always a good piece of advice. I find though, that these issues are much harder to balance when everyone is high level. It seems PCs either wins the fight handily or are completely crushed, and there could be no CR difference between those two outcomes.
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Completed trades: blackthorne, Drakkengi,Thorgrin, Ironfist Boulderbender x2, ckissee, nasamonkey, Username, Star, Ace13 x3, emontedodger x2, Drconveyor, church, Joeyb, Sir Bozak The Damned, Xeromod, the other guy x2, Qucalion of Celene, Dagaron x2, berus316, qillan_dvra, AshloreDarkShadow
For further info go to My Reference Thread and Trade Interface
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