@newbiedmInteresting thing I hadn’t noticed in the #dnd MM… It specifically calls out monsters of CR21 or higher as being too tough for typical PCs Unlikely to be true except for the highest of CRs. Even then, only a maybe. It's a statement that should have died in editing.
— Chris Sims (@ChrisSSims) September 9, 2016
@newbiedm Frex, @SlyFlourish said his 8th-level PCs got a lich. I DMed a playtest in which a lich laid waste to five 14th-level characters.
— Chris Sims (@ChrisSSims) September 9, 2016
@newbiedm The Challenge Rating sidebar in the DMG (p 82) is a better piece of advice with regard to eyeballing CR.
— Chris Sims (@ChrisSSims) September 9, 2016
@newbiedm @SlyFlourish but his PCs are uber-optimized it seems. Once you analyze, it's obvious CR is imprecise, and any precision it has diminishes the higher the character level.
— Chris Sims (@ChrisSSims) September 9, 2016
@newbiedm @SlyFlourish Luck plays a part, too. Cloudkill was devastating in that playtest; the lich built its lair to optimize that spell.
— Chris Sims (@ChrisSSims) September 9, 2016
@newbiedm @SlyFlourish But no one had prepared gust of wind, either, and no one counterspelled.
— Chris Sims (@ChrisSSims) September 9, 2016
@newbiedm @SlyFlourish i’m having to toughen up my encounters in my game. I use a lot of easyish encounters. Lets the players feel badass and extends the adventuring day and exploration.
— Chris Sims (@ChrisSSims) September 9, 2016
@newbiedm @SlyFlourish I concern myself with toughness only when I want an encounter to have a specific feel. Otherwise, I go with the flow.
— Chris Sims (@ChrisSSims) September 9, 2016
@Zhern75 @newbiedm @SlyFlourishSo do you go with the 6-8 encounters before the party needs a long rest, @ChrisSSims? Kind of. I tend to build adventuring environments that allow mission completion in one adventuring day.
— Chris Sims (@ChrisSSims) September 9, 2016
@Zhern75 @newbiedm @SlyFlourish But if we're talking megadungeon or something similar, yeah, sure.
— Chris Sims (@ChrisSSims) September 9, 2016
@Zhern75 @newbiedm @SlyFlourishI’ve gotten into a rut where my areas tend towards small megadungeons. I need to mix it up better. The dungeon in X1 Isle of Dread is a decent example of the sort of pacing I'm talking about.
— Chris Sims (@ChrisSSims) September 9, 2016
@newbiedm @Zhern75 @SlyFlourish I like X1's dungeon. The original hex crawl needs more direction, especially for inexperienced DMs.
— Chris Sims (@ChrisSSims) September 9, 2016
@Bartoneus In X1 overland or . . . ?
— Chris Sims (@ChrisSSims) September 9, 2016
@SlyFlourish I know you said you wiped a group with it. How’d it worn out?Cloudkill is a great supplement damage over time, not the whole game. 💀
— Chris Sims (@ChrisSSims) September 11, 2016