Balancing KM for 6 players.

[ncaron]

Hello,

I started the kingmaker AP with a group of 6 players done with a point build at 17 points. After our first session it is clear that with such a large group I need to balance the encounters by making them a big tougher.

I've tried doing it a bit but I'd like to hear if anyone else has run KM with 6 players and what steps they took to balance it all out.

Thanks!

NC

[Daviot]

ncaron wrote:

Hello,

I started the kingmaker AP with a group of 6 players done with a point build at 17 points. After our first session it is clear that with such a large group I need to balance the encounters by making them a big tougher.

I've tried doing it a bit but I'd like to hear if anyone else has run KM with 6 players and what steps they took to balance it all out.

Thanks!
NC

Alex Kilcoyne, General Chaos/Shane, and Dean Siemson have done a tremendous amount of work towards upcoverting Kingmaker for a 6-player party. Some of the threads may have been pushed to the archives, so here's linkage:

•Converting Book 1-Stolen Land for 6 PCs
•Converting Book 2-Rivers Run Red for 6 PCs
•Converting Book 3-The Varnhold Vanishing for 6 PCs
•Converting Book 4-Blood for Blood for 6 PCs
•Kingmaker Book 5/6 Conversions (Currently up to Book 5)

[Geeky Frignit]

These are great resources, and I've been scaling my encounters for six players as well (been doing my own as I enjoy the number crunching).

One thing to also keep in mind, if the XP is split among six, they will advance more slowly than a group of four characters. In the beginning, this means they are able to overpower everything they encounter. Eventually, it should end up balancing out as the opponents become slightly overpowered for a group of 4 of PCs, but not six.

I think Lisa Stevens has commented before about running Rise of the Runelords for seven players without changing the encounters and things balanced nicely.

[xn0o0cl3]

Daviot wrote:

ncaron wrote:

Hello,

I started the kingmaker AP with a group of 6 players done with a point build at 17 points. After our first session it is clear that with such a large group I need to balance the encounters by making them a big tougher.

I've tried doing it a bit but I'd like to hear if anyone else has run KM with 6 players and what steps they took to balance it all out.

Thanks!
NC

Alex Kilcoyne, General Chaos/Shane, and Dean Siemson have done a tremendous amount of work towards upcoverting Kingmaker for a 6-player party. Some of the threads may have been pushed to the archives, so here's linkage:

•Converting Book 1-Stolen Land for 6 PCs
•Converting Book 2-Rivers Run Red for 6 PCs
•Converting Book 3-The Varnhold Vanishing for 6 PCs
•Converting Book 4-Blood for Blood for 6 PCs
•Kingmaker Book 5/6 Conversions (Currently up to Book 5)

This is fantastic! Thanks so much for posting it, I've definitely been in need of something like this.

[General Chaos]

Speaking of which, I've begun work on Chapter 6. Anyone who wants to contribute should email me. ;)

Spoiler:

generalchaos81 at gmail

Geeky: The purpose of these convernsions is to avoid slower progression. Besides, the scaling isn't perfect. 6 players at the end of the campaign will still be appoximately level 16, instead of level 17. Without those extra monsters, a larger group will have no trouble.

That said... Up to the GM. Even with the 6 player mod my players tend to mop the floor with the enemies - as long as they take them down fast.

[Alexander Kilcoyne]

Good luck on Chapter 6 Chaos- i'd like to help but University has swallowed my time. Once all six are finished, we should really get a single thread linking to all of them; and bully Paizo into stickying it.

[Bobson]

This is great! I'm planning on starting a KM game some time late spring/early summer, and I'll probably have 5-6 players in it, which was worrying me since I knew it was designed for 4.

Thanks!

[Pendagast]

make the stag lord NOT drunk... he will ruin their day now! was a tough fight with him drunk

[calagnar]

Yes for the first part of any AP it will be easy with out changing any thing. When they get to book 2. The slower advancement kicks in and pulls them back to where a party of 4 wold be. Iv done this on 2 APs so far runing a group of 7. It dose work well. Just have to let them shine early on. This realy gets rid of the problem of geting lucky shot and level 1 killing one or more of them.

[Alexander Kilcoyne]

Pendagast wrote:

make the stag lord NOT drunk... he will ruin their day now! was a tough fight with him drunk

Hes not NOT drunk, hes just a slightly more functional alcoholic ;).

Calagnar, see my arguments on keeping them a level back etc. at the start of my first conversion topic in this forum, I will not make my points again on this.

Your more likely to get someone killed by an unlucky roll by having them end up a level or two behind but make it up for it with their greater numbers than by converting the AP in the first place.

[calagnar]

If your seting your CR for a 6 person group. They are going to be 1 to 2 levels lower then the CR. Even if you redo every thing that just how it is with large groups.
1-2 player -2 CR
3-4 player CR
5-6 players +1 CR
7-8 players +2 CR

15 point buy CR
20 point buy CR or +1 CR
25 point buy +1CR

[Alexander Kilcoyne]

Again, see my original thread for my counter arguments. I'm not discussing this again- run your own games the way you like but don't come onto a thread asking for help converting encounters to s%&~ on it.