I want to make adjustments to this NPC to make him an ally to my party who I expect will be about level 3 when they encounter him. He will serve as their guide through Uskwood.
In Uskwood the party will encounter vampires, Zyphen cultists and a number of ghost-like monsters (still working on specifics).
I want to challenge the players very hard and give them the Psychopomp for backup, but I don't him to be overpowered. I want to the encounters to be deadly but balanced.
Psychopomps are servants of fate - they don't have to engage in battles at all. For players it's more rewarding to win on their own, anyway. So I'd stick with the shoki as written, and in combat it might just watch or help with detect spells respective protection from evil.
If you want a psychopomp fitting to a level 3 party, a nosoi (CR 2) would also be an option. It's very stealthy, can speak with dead and could throw in a single sound burst per day. Heck, maybe even a player will want this one as a familiar in the future...
SheepishEidolon wrote: Psychopomps are servants of fate - they don't have to engage in battles at all. For players it's more rewarding to win on their own, anyway. So I'd stick with the shoki as written, and in combat it might just watch or help with detect spells respective protection from evil.
If you want a psychopomp fitting to a level 3 party, a nosoi (CR 2) would also be an option. It's very stealthy, can speak with dead and could throw in a single sound burst per day. Heck, maybe even a player will want this one as a familiar in the future...
Hey thanks for the input. When the players get to level 3, they will have had plenty of encounters they got to win. And they'll need an NPC they can talk to. But I like your idea of the Shoki acting more as an observer.
So that means I need to scale back the monsters. Which leads to another question, other than reducing AC what can be done to weaken monsters and with the CR rating being distorted by the changes made, how do you know how weak is too weak?
ClingClong wrote: Which leads to another question, other than reducing AC what can be done to weaken monsters and with the CR rating being distorted by the changes made, how do you know how weak is too weak? Hmm, some ways to weaken encounters come to my mind:
1) Remove one or two creatures.
2) Apply the young template.
3) Apply the degenerate template (same link).
4) Don't force them into many encounters per day.
5) Be careful with foes which are simply immune to popular attacks (sleep, sneak attack etc.). You can add them, but make sure to also use others where those attacks work.
6) Be careful with foes which deny PCs' actions (trip, paralysis etc.) or which do potentially very high damage for their CR (x4 crit of a scythe, four natural attacks of a gargoyle etc.). There will be much less casualities if the PCs have a chance to escape (without leaving someone back).
CR is a solid guideline, but it's just that - a guideline. Start with relatively easy encounters (CR = their PC level) and increase the pressure from there. You will notice when they struggle...
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SheepishEidolon wrote: ClingClong wrote: Which leads to another question, other than reducing AC what can be done to weaken monsters and with the CR rating being distorted by the changes made, how do you know how weak is too weak? Hmm, some ways to weaken encounters come to my mind:
1) Remove one or two creatures.
2) Apply the young template.
3) Apply the degenerate template (same link).
4) Don't force them into many encounters per day.
5) Be careful with foes which are simply immune to popular attacks (sleep, sneak attack etc.). You can add them, but make sure to also use others where those attacks work.
6) Be careful with foes which deny PCs' actions (trip, paralysis etc.) or which do potentially very high damage for their CR (x4 crit of a scythe, four natural attacks of a gargoyle etc.). There will be much less casualities if the PCs have a chance to escape (without leaving someone back).
CR is a solid guideline, but it's just that - a guideline. Start with relatively easy encounters (CR = their PC level) and increase the pressure from there. You will notice when they struggle... This is very helpful! It's going to go straight to my google drive for reference. Thanks a lot!
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