So, my players love combat. The thing is, they're terrible at it. healbot paladin, blaster wizard, tower shield/overrun halfling fighter, and a barbarian. I have to try my hardest to not let them die from CR appropriate monsters. Any advice? I implemented the armor as DR rule, but that just made the casters more dangerous. Should I let them epic point by?
Just cut back on the encounters, make them a little easier. Don't power up the Pc's.
This is assuming they are having fun. Are they?
1.dial back the encounters so they get a sense of accomplishment and courage.
2.strike them down like the whelps they are.
3.feed upon their bitter tears.
4. ???
5. Profit.
Just cut back on the encounters, make them a little easier. Don't power up the Pc's.
This is assuming they are having fun. Are they?
They're having fun until one of them dies. I feel like im a killer DM with them but im just throwing weak mobs at them.
It would be nice to know how things are going wrong.
Also what are your expectations and theirs?
And awarding hero points liberally can give them access to resources to turn the tide and whatnot.
I remember when are group first started pathfinder, I had an NPC dwarf ranger with them, he was an ex-soldier turned merchant. They were guarding his caravan and whenever people did crazy stuff, he would rip on them in a surly scottish voice. It was good times. They are level 13 now and got that dwarf working in their kingdom.
Not the most optimal choices but those too can be made more than decent if stats, equipment and feats are in the right place. What level are they? Did you check their sheets for mistakes?
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What are the ages and experience levels of the players? Knowing that will help in figuring out how to help you.
To be honest, a poorly built PC can be great at combat if played really, really well. It sounds like you have a mix of poorly built PCs and poorly played tactics in battle.
I would talk to them. Let them know that you are toning down combat to try and keep them alive and you are almost to the point of making it stupid easy.
Ask them what they expect out of the game. Find out how they feel about character death, and let them know that you are not purposely trying to kill them. Talk with them about what they can do to up their game, and help them learn from their mistakes.
One idea on how to teach them how to work together and fight better is to set aside the game you are playing now and try out a survival game. Each one of them has five characters. They play one at a time and run through a dungeon delve that has a wide variety of challenges and difficulty. There is no resting, they cannot bring in healing potions, scrolls, or items. They can have healing spells known, but everyone is supposed to play a different class. Let them know there will be treasure in the dungeon that can heal them. Also let them know that you are not actively trying to kill them, but you will be doing all you can to challenge them. That means there will be deadly challenges the party will have to learn when to go all out or when to retreat. If a PC dies, the next character the player has appears once the party is out of danger. This means that if the PC was killed in combat and the party ran away, the new PC won't be able to immediately loot the old PCs body.
I leave the other details up to you.
They're having fun until one of them dies. I feel like im a killer DM with them but im just throwing weak mobs at them.Just cut back on the encounters, make them a little easier. Don't power up the Pc's.
This is assuming they are having fun. Are they?
Fine, just make it weak sauce until they can beat better.
Run a practice game once with them running pre-gens, show them some tactics.
Run them through a series of encounters designed to showcase particular tactics, one at a time.
One: The 3rd level rogues who flank and aid another
Two: The goblin tribe who love alchemical items
Three: The archer brothers with great perception and entangle
Four: The giant skeleton that needs to be fought with blunt weapons
And keep in mind, the goal is for the PCs to LEARN. It's not an excuse to beat them into the ground, you're trying to teach them. Explain how it works as you go.
Example: In such an open field, the rogues find it easy to maneuver around you. Since you don't have any concealment, they can see exactly where your weaknesses are.
They have also learned that zone offense is better than man to man.
You can do it in character as well. Just have the rogues talk to each other during combat. "Oy, lets start wit' the finger-wiggler, den we'll get to Mr. Righteous. We'll save the little one for last, in case yer mum shows up, Larry, and wants to join in"
The other suggestions and perhaps consider making the loot a bit higher until they find their niche. It's a fairly easy way you can control campaign flow and give them a bit more power that wouldn't necessarily need to carry into higher levels.