| SockPuppet |
So, I'm running a dungeon adventure I picked up. The dungeon is for 1st level characters and builds them up through a higher level.
My players didn't feel like starting at level 1, so I made a deal with them. They could start at 3 and I would only advance them every couple of dungeon levels so that after the 3rd or 4th, they would be on track with the adventure. The first level of the dungeon, I would modify by raising the CRs by 2 of each encounter, and the second / third level I would only raise by 1.
It is a lot of book keeping, but it is manageable at this level.
So the first level, without getting into specifics or easy to identify spoilers, there is an encounter that is a little worse than a CR 3, but not quite a 4, that I boosted to a little worse than a CR 5. The first level creature gained two class levels and another creature gained the advanced monster template and became large.
While I expect the party to demolish the encounter, they are going to burn spells and use healing. There is just no way around it. The encounter had synergy already and now it is off the hook. The two NPCs really build off one another and can do some damage.
Despite the creatures in this dungeon being dumb as a box of rocks, their leader is very smart. Not only is he smart, but he is sneaking, ruthless and capable of dealing a lot of damage from a good distance away. If you play the module straight through, you are suppose to catch him alone in his room. While he can defend himself, you are starting the fight. That beats the hell out of arrows during the surprise round and the round after both going unanswered, which is the other way this can play out.
This is what I think is going to happen:
The party is going to throw down with the BBEG's chief minions and kill them. They are going to be hurt so grievously, they are going to try to escape the area, camp, heal up and come back later.
If they try that, there is just no credible reason for the BBEG to ignore the party. Watching them limp off from his lofty perch is just going to incite him further.
I can't, in good conscience, let the party ransack this place, make this dangerous enemy, and walk away like bosses.
Either they come hard and go all the way, or they die full of arrows in their sleep.
I'm not really asking for advice. I'm just putting this out there for general discussion.