Hello guys, I'm quite a new Pathfinder GM. My group and I have longed for a game such as Kingmaker, so when I saw a Pathfinder Core Rulebook on my local store I decided to learn it, despite I found learing PF impossible years ago.
Since 5e is a more steamlined (and severely limited...) version of 3.5/PF, It was way easier to learn this game after playing 5e for about a year.
My 3 players picked a Cavalier (plans to make him Dragon Disciple by multiclassing), a Trapper Archetype Ranger, a Summoner, and an alchemist (Mindchemist) I made myself since guys wanted me to add another female character to the group.
However since we started playing, the group has been breezing thru all of the challenges. The first bandit attack was a succesful ambush, with the Ranger ending Hapss' life with a confirmed critical, followed by the Eidolon pouncing on a surprised Bandit and the Cavalier arresting the last.
Since that point, the party has been murdering everything they find without losing much HP. No matter if I try to use tactics, I either forget them, get confused, or they fail anyways. I remember a Warg they found who lost because he made a critical miss against the horse, then they surrounded the Warg and proceeded to rip his life out.
The rest of the encounters, they've solved with Dicplomacy or sheer luck. They're level 2, almost level 3, and yesterday they breezed thru the Tatzlwyrm encounter without even trying, since the only 2 attacks the monster could pull were misses against the tanky monster the Cavalier is.
The only time a character was abut to die was my Alchemist, since she's not optimized and is built for roleplay purposes (based her on Elizabeth from Bioshock, so she's got both Charisma and Intelligence balanced, not much of a threat), but it was on the Temple of Erastil Encounter, so after the bear died being a piñata, they just washed her wounds on the fresh water they discovered was blessed.
So, here I am, about finishing book 1, and my PCs have been making every single encounter explode, be it random or planned, without even trying.
Any tips? As I mentioned, luck has been on their side, they like to see my rolls for creatures (we play online, roll20), and also I forget a lot about certain tactics despite using the SRD site and having the Unchained Action Economy broad open for me to see.
There's a long list of tools a GM has to challenge his table, but what form should the challenges take? Here's some things to consider:
The players. Are we dealing with a group who favors the more boardgamey aspects, or do they prefer roleplaying and go with alot of backstory? Whatever the case, answering that question is the most important aspect of your game because that sets the overall tone.
If the group likes killing stuff, then go for things like enhancing the encounter's action economy (substitute creatures w/ multiple attacks, swarms, haste/slow, etc). The previous entries have great ideas to that effect. Don't worry if you forget stuff, you'll get better as you go which will make the high level stuff easier for you.
If the group prefers intrigue then you can play around w/ moral quandaries like introduce a tribe of neutral to neutral-good creatures that you need to find a way to clear them out or live in harmony w/ them. Have consequences for the players actions and have that drive the narrative. Incorporate aspects the players backstories or incorporate their backstories into the AP.
Best case scenario, you run w/ both. Just remember action economy is one of the keys to making an encounter challenging.
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Run through and beef up all the encounters. My rule of thumb when making guys follows.
Minions:
-Should hit the party on a 13-15.
-Should deal damage equal to about 1/6th of the health of the character they're attacking on average at maximum.
-Should save against spells on a 14+
-Spell DCs very low (PC needs to roll like a 5+ to pass).
Tough enemies/Minibosses:
-Should hit the party on an 11-12.
-Should deal damage equal to about 1/3 of the health of the character on average at maximum.
-Should save on spells on an 11+
-Spell DCs about average (PCs need to roll like a 9+ to pass).
Bosses:
-Should hit the party on an 8 or so.
-Should deal damage equal to about 1/3-1/2 of the health of the character they're attacking on average every round.
-Should save on spells on an 8+.
-High spell DCs (PCs need like a 13+ to pass).
Tweak as needed if, for example, you want enemies that hit like a Mack truck but only rarely (So they need a 15 to hit, but take like half of the target's HP per swing). That's pretty much how I balance encounters in general.
They can still stomp over minions with ease, can generally wipe Minibosses out in about 2 rounds, maybe 3, and need healing afterward, and Bosses are often going to knock out at least one member of the party.
In kingmaker? Just fumble the roll on the random encounter table and have them meet a couple of consecutive Shambling mounds and/or will o wisps.
Travelling through the Stolen Lands at low level can be a long, exausting thing. Use weather conditions, pests, and the like to weaken them, use wandering monsters to keep them on edge and prevent full recuperation of powers/spells. Then have them wondering if reaching their target destination will be such a good idea... will they be able to make it back if they meet that many wandering monsters on the way home?
Basically, don't treat kingmaker as your standard AP: random encounters and weather conditions are your friends, make for great roleplay and contribute a lot keeping your pesky PCs on their toes.
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I'm running a Kingmaker game right now with the house rule that characters only regain their spell slots and daily powers with two days of downtime in a safe location (such as Oleg's, or one of their cities later), rather than with a night's rest. (Inspired by the "Gritty Realism" variant in 5e.)
Based on my experience so far, I highly recommend this variant. It lets me think in terms of "encounters per expedition" rather than "encounters per day", and re-introduces a sense of attrition where multiple weak encounters over the course of a weak can wear a party down.