Greetings folks. I wanted to check on encounter difficulty.
I have a group which is all 2nd level. It is 5 players.
2nd lvl Female Human Paladin (hps 26, AC 21)
2nd lvl Male Human Cleric (hp 20 AC 19)
2nd lvl female hafling (unchained) Rogue (hp 18, AC 21)
2nd lvl female 1/2 elf Wizzard (hp 16, AC 16)
2nd lvl Male Dwarven (unchained) Monk (hp 26, AC ?? cant remember)
They are cliche caravan Guards. The trip is at the start of next session and will have one major encounter prior to where I need them to be.
This encounter was going to be on the highway/road between major cities. It is a rough but maintained road for caravan/trade use. It is patrolled but not frequently enough say, once every 2 weeks I suppose.
I was initially thinking an Ogre who attacked on of the caravan drivers at range with a rock and killed him for openers.
The party will be on horseback.
I was going to have the encounter start at medium range for the Ogre tossing rocks from a cluster of trees off the road.
My worry is that a single Ogre is too powerful for a group of 5 adventurers at 2nd level or do you think its too easy?
Your advice and Ideas are most welcome.
Single monster encounters tend to be easier than you might think. As long as there is terrain that the PCs can use to gain cover from the rocks, and get close enough to gang up on that ogre, his lifespan will be reduced to rounds.
It's a good encounter. Ogres will be very dangerous for 2nd level PCs, and there is a real risk of one or two of them taking a dive. But they should manage to come out victorious, if for no other reason than due to action economy.
A single ogre is a CR 3; the party's APL is 2, so it's an APL+1 encounter.
With its 2d8+7 damage with a greatclub, an ogre is extremely dangerous to low-level PCs in melee, but much less so at range (1d8+1 damage with javelins).
Your party should be fine, especially if the ogre starts at range. This gives the PCs at least one round of ranged attacks before itthe ogre can close to melee, which should soften it up. Assuming your PCs are played somewhat competently, the fight should be over in 3-4 rounds or so.
Good luck!
Great thanks for the replies. Party will be full strength, however it is 'new' players. I doubt any will think about ranged weapons to be completely honest nor will any think to use ride skill to help prevent dmg to horse, although I may suggest that.
On the ranged weapon not, In fact I think ONLY the rogue has a sling. Thats it.
An Ogre battle is less difficult than high stakes. The odds are firmly in the favor of the party; ogres have average AC/HP and garbage saves, so bringing one down isn't difficult. However, Ogres have a very high damage roll and can potentially kill even tough party members with a single blow (and a crit at these levels is virtually guaranteed death, even with maximum hit point rolls you appear to be using). That can make encounters like these problematic. In terms of probabilities the ogre gets to make one attack per round while the players get to make five. The odds are that the players will get lucky before the Ogre does, but with a monster like this it's basically all-or-nothing and that's kinda risky.
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This sounds like a rather easy encounter.
A CR 3 encounter shouldn't be particularly troubling for a group of 4 level 2 PCs. 5 PCs will make it even a bit easier.
As long as the party can shoot the ogre back, it should be simple enough. If nobody has a ranged weapon and everyone has to run into melee to get at the ogre, it'll be a bit tougher, though probably not too much.
Being a bit pedantic, ogres don't have any particular affinity for rock throwing; their stat block has them using javelins for range.
You could have a box of bows in one of the wagons they can pull from, if you're worried about them not being able to fight him at range.
Have the ogre's first attack be against Corporal Redshirt the Mook, or maybe a horse -- that way, the PCs have some warning as to how dangerous the ogre is. I do like the idea of Grizzled Old Sergeant yelling about how dangerous these things are, and about how the PCs really need ranged weapons.
Ogre reach also makes them dangerous -- PCs have to eat an attack of opportunity to close with the creature, and even without crits 2d8+7 can easily knock someone unconscious with a single blow if the ogre rolls high. A crit of 4d8+14 (avg 32) is right on the edge of killing a PC.
Definitely have the ogre throw some rocks. Maybe it's on top a cliff, taking cover in the brush from ranged attacks, and the PCs have to figure out how to get to it before they can fight it. (Another reason to have ranged weapons).
Consider the value of taunting and challenging the ogre. They're very stupid and might easily fall for a ruse. (Again, Grizzled Old Sergeant can point this out, if the PCs don't seem to be getting the point.)
For extra melodrama, it's a female ogre, trying to obtain food for her starving kids... maybe it'll go away if the PCs throw enough rations at it, or if it kills a horse.)