I'm currently running RotR AE for a group of six friends and we're just coming to the end of chapter two now. I have read most of the campaign and am a little worried about how to run some of the later encounters.
I have no experience in running encounters past about the level five mark for players, there are a lot of later game sections where I really just have no idea what I should do.
I know it's a very broad question and there are so many things which could be said but I was hoping there might be some general advice or evens specifics based on monsters, encounters, traps etc. which normally come in a later game.
I would say largely the same, but not entirely. You gain an additional job as GM. You set the pace.
It's important to realize that players can not do this. It's up to you, or it won't happen. What do I mean?
Players will gain options at a more or less steady pace. That can be difficult, and grows more difficult for them. They can easily get sucked into option paralysis or under-preparation. You have to keep the game moving.
Ex:
can i wild shape into a leopard?
Gm: Do you have the stats for leopard with you?
Um....
Gm: Then no, you can't be a leopard.
Ex:
i could full attack, or i could move over here and attack this guy. I could tumble, but then i won't go as far. It would cool if i sundered his shield, or i could grapple him....
Gm: you're on delay.
Ex:
i cast glitter dust
Gm: what's that do?
I'm not sure.
Gm: you're on delay
Now, don't be a tyrant, but don't wait forever either. And don't look up rules in the middle of anything unless you MUST. I usually go with 1-3 it works, 4-6 it doesnt, and we look it up after the game, so we get it right next time.
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For flight, or 3-d in general, my rule of thumb is the long side of the triangle, plus half the short side.
So, if a bird is 80 feet away, and 40 feet up, that's 80 + 20, about 100 feet. Sure, pythagoras, but this is faster, and you only need to get within the closest 5ft interval.
If you need to simplify, reduce the kinds of opponents, not the number. As long as the stats are the same, ten ogres are no more difficult to run than one ogre.
There's not much point to having ogre fred have six more hit points than ogre amanda.
If you want to simplify even more, treat the ogres as one thing. We do this by adding their hit points together. Ten ogres, 30 hp each = 300 hp
Then, attack as normal. Whenever the heap of ogres takes 30 pts of damage, one of them dies. So, at 270 hp, there's nine ogres, at 240 hp, there's 8, and so on.
It's not as precise, but it's faster, and you've got some larger battles ahead of you.
Some really nice advice thank you!
In regards to flying combat is there any more specific advice people can give, for example flyby attacks and such are going to be new to me.
Otherwise still happy to have more generic points as well. :)
You'll need something to indicate height. I like the boxes that come with chessex dice, they're clear, and support either a medium or large creature.
Slap a die next to it for height, if you care, but really, you only need ground level, low flight, and upper flight.
If someone is really far away, push them off the map an inch, and mark their position with percentage dice, meaning, edge of map + 90, for example.
Be prepared for them to not take the front door, the side door, or even the secret rear window. The can make their own door with earthglide, disintegrate, dim door/teleport, or many other things.
This. The PCs will almost certainly "run you off your module" and do something that neither you nor the author of the adventure path expected. Be prepared for this, and you can get away with almost anything except breaking down and crying.
In most of the APs I've seen, the bad guys will have listed tactics for a given fight -- e.g., "the sorcerer has the following spells prepared; in round 1, he will attempt to cast dispel magic on any obvious casters, then use "stinking cloud" to take out any large groups of PCs or hit individual PCs with acid arrow." Their tactics are almost always not the best, but it gives you something to fall back on..... and remember that the PCs are supposed to win, so it's not a problem if they do something creative that turns into an "I win" button.
Don't be afraid to use their gear. If the bad guy has a potion of blur, use it.
Concentration of attacks is key. It's better to drop one person in one round than to injure three. This applies to both sides as well. Basically, anything that presents itself as a target should not have more than a round to consider the mistake it just made. At about level 9, there's nothing you can do to PCs that they can't fix with money, so don't feel bad about killing someone. That's what raise dead is for.
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And draw out the maps in advance, please. It's not a good use of your players' time to watch you draw lines.
And since you're running an AP, go down and read through the judges thread for that AP. Lots of very specific advice there about the details of each book.
And since you're running an AP, go down and read through the judges thread for that AP. Lots of very specific advice there about the details of each book.
Judges thread? Not sure what you mean with that one sorry.
Otherwise thanks again for all the great tips. :)
And draw out the maps in advance, please. It's not a good use of your players' time to watch you draw lines.
This is good advice but of limited usefulness, since the PCs will almost certainly run you off your map and you'll need to draw anyway. If I can earthglide through the walls of the dungeon -- and so can the BBEG -- then the combat can and will wander all over the dungeon.
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If I can earthglide through the walls of the dungeon -- and so can the BBEG -- then the combat can and will wander all over the dungeon.Wooden walls.
Lead lined walls.
High level combat is a combat of system mastery.
That's sort of my point, actually. High level combat is a combat of system mastery, and if you need to ask how to run it, you don't have very good system mastery.
It's much better to be prepared to be run off your map than it is to try to prep for contingencies to keep them on the map.
Most people -- by which read, most GM's -- aren't going to think about making walls layered out of a half-dozen separate materials to prevent high-level exploits. ("Well, let's see, I need to make it adamantine to keep it from being smashed through by a barbarian, but I also need to line it with lead to prevent scrying, and wood to prevent someone simply gating in a green slime, and...." -- and even then, I can use disintegrate.)
To put it another way, a sufficiently motivated party of high-level characters will be able to get through the dungeon walls for tactical advantage. Rather than preventing this, accept it and work within the larger, but more realistic universe of "walls are obstacles, not barriers."
High-level combat is not about limiting player actions, because you can't (and will merely irritate them). It's about reacting intelligently to player actions in a way that preserves the fun.
And since you're running an AP, go down and read through the judges thread for that AP. Lots of very specific advice there about the details of each book.Judges thread? Not sure what you mean with that one sorry.
Otherwise thanks again for all the great tips. :)
Scroll down. You should be able to find an area for the AP you are running. Inside that area will be threads, and some of those will be threads specifically for GM's. Read as many as you can find.
You might be able to find a campaign journal on EN World, or Obsidian Portal as well, look around.
And draw out the maps in advance, please. It's not a good use of your players' time to watch you draw lines.This is good advice but of limited usefulness, since the PCs will almost certainly run you off your map and you'll need to draw anyway. If I can earthglide through the walls of the dungeon -- and so can the BBEG -- then the combat can and will wander all over the dungeon.
Sorry, I meant draw out ALL the maps. I aim to have every floor of the dungeon mapped out in advance. Teleporting the party 500 feet up just moves you from map 2 to map 5...
*flip*
...and you're in an underground lake. Swim checks, please...
( Yep, i have a lot of flip mats, but easel paper also works if you're on a budget)