What level players? Level 1? Nevermind, I see where you said that now.
I recommend reading through the Encounter Building rules and trying to build a couple encounters using the Goblin stat blocks.
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Seems like a reasonable 1-shot to me.
For creating this in Pathfinder 2nd edition:
I think I want the party to be level 3 or 5?
Pick one. Either will work. Both won't.
I have read the rules on trap design and recommended DC, but I'm not sure how to translate some of this over to PF2E.
What specifically are you wondering about?
Arrow traps, spiked pit traps, axe traps and such are classified as simple traps. Make sure not to have them be too much higher of a level than the party or they can 1-shot a character that trips it. Simple traps by themselves are either an annoyance that causes the party to have to slow down and heal up after getting hit, or they are character killers. There isn't much wiggle room in between.
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For a party of probably 5 players. How many goblins would be a pretty simple fight for 5 players? What level should the players be to find them relatively easy so it's a fun first first gradually increasing in difficulty as they progress through the dungeon?
It doesn't matter what level the player characters are. What matters is the relative level difference between the player characters and the enemies.
So if the PCs are at level 3, then the enemies should be around level 1-4. If the PCs are at level 5, then the enemies should be around level 3-6.
There is the tables for building encounters.
As an example:
You have 5 level 3 characters in the party.
You want an easy fight => I would put that at 'Low' threat level on that first table. Which gives a base of 60 xp plus 15 points for the additional player (5 players instead of 4).
Now, with 75xp to buy creatures with, you could spend all of it on one level 4 creature (party level +1 = 60xp), but that isn't really what the rules recommend. It recommends that there should be approximately as many enemies as there are players, and that the additional xp for additional players adds more creatures rather than boosting the level of existing creatures.
So a better choice would be one level 2 creature and two level 1 creatures (party level -1 + 2x party level -2 = 70xp), or four level 1 creatures (4x party level -2 = 80xp).
If you decide to play with a party of level 5 characters, then nothing about the encounter building changes except the final level of the creatures chosen as enemies. It would be one level 4 creature and two level 3 creatures, or four level 3 creatures.
If the goblins and orcs that you want to use aren't already created in the bestiary, you can create your own or edit the stats of the printed ones using the Building Creatures rules and tables.
Should they find cool loot like +1 weapons and armor and consumables? I'd like to think so, but I don't know how that works due to weapon property runes and such. Should everyone come in with some runes already?
For starting a 1-shot adventure with new characters at higher level than level 1, there is the Treasure for new characters table.
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What level players? Level 1?I think level 1 would maybe be ideal to not throw too many details at newer players, however I was considering level 3 or level 5 depending on the level of the monsters in the Bestiary. The mean level of Orcs in 5e was about 3 to 5 and i had all the special Orcs planned like Fist of Gruumsh and stuff like that, which I don't think PF2E has.
Level 1 can be kinda rough. Low HP on the characters means that they can drop rather quickly if the enemy's dice are hot.
Level 3 is probably fine. A few more feats and a skill boost to pick, but that is about it.
I don't know the exact details of resurrection but it seems difficult to do mid dungeon at these lower levels so I think a slow down and heal up would be more effective. Should the trap be like part level -1 or -2?
Yeah, a party level +0 trap would be fine even. You just don't want to throw in a party level +3 simple trap. It would be wickedly difficult to detect, and may do enough damage to level 1 or 2 characters to kill instantly from the Massive Damage rules. By character level 3 or 4 that becomes less likely, but it will still drop a character instantly, though they can be revived by the rest of the party fairly easily.
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I think Level 1 is a good starting place here. I'll take a stab at some of this to show you how I'd translate it.
When they first enter the dungeon there's a poison arrow trap mostly meant to fire at them and alert them: THIS DUNGEON HAS TRAPS!
Reflavor a Poisoned Lock trap as a dart. I'd only use one or two, since the way Simple Hazards are balanced mean they are pretty much guaranteed to hit and damage a PC.
Goblins Tunnels with some sword and shield goblins engaging the party, and goblin archers hitting and running through the tunnels ambushing the party.
The standard Goblin Warrior has both a melee and ranged attack. Let's also throw in a Goblin Commando as a leader!
Let's aim for a Low difficulty encounter for a Level 1 party, since we're trying to ease the players into things. That gives us a budget of 75XP (60XP standard + 15XP for additional PC) for a 5 person party.The Goblin Commando is 40XP, since it is Level=Party Level. The Goblin Warriors are Party Level-2, so they are 20XP each.
So a good encounter here would be 1 Goblin Commando and 2 Goblin Warriors.
The second is a trap I was inspired by from Goblin Slayer in which there's a hard to see hidden passage past a break in the wall on the way to the very obvious straight ahead spider warren for goblin reinforcements to ambush the party from behind...or get ambushed if the party has great perception! Along the way there are spider webs all over the walls and a giant acid pit between the party and the spider warren.
Sounds like you want a secret door, let's say that's a DC15 Perception to spot, with a trapped hallway and a safer hallway.
You could use this Spider Web trap and a Dream Spider to spice up another goblin encounter.There will be a spiked pit trap down this corridor leading up to the first mixed orc and hobgoblin trap.
I'd recommend just using a regular old Pit Trap. My first time playing my character got stuck in one for ages and couldn't climb out!
Let's go for a Moderate encounter with the orcs and the pit trap here. An Orc Brute is a level 0 creature (party level-1), so worth 30XP. The trap is worth 6XP for being a party-1 simple hazard. The encounter budget for a 5 PC moderate encounter is 100XP. So we can get pretty close with 3 Orc Brutes and 1 Hidden Pit Trap.
The level 2 Orc Warchief would probably be a great boss encounter for the end! Make sure you follow the Encounter Building rules. They are accurate, unlike 5e's encounter guidelines!
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I think this is going to be awesome. With this encounter builder I can plan all my enemies and using simple trap rules I think I should be able to create my traps. I also think there is a recommended DC for table somewhere. What do you think that should look like? Easy traps escalating to more difficult to see traps that still only slow down the party? Not really looking for party deaths, I don't think that makes the game "more exciting" I think it would just bum out a player.
There are both.
There is the rules and tables for Creating Hazards such as traps.
And there is the DC by level table. Mostly that is for when players come up with something you hadn't thought of and need a DC on the spot. (Can I use Force Open to rip the torch sconce off the wall in order to use it as an improvised weapon?)
There is also the standard DC table for similar things, but especially for if the players want to do something fairly standard that you think there should be a skill check for - like climbing a tree or something like that.
Also, there is Pathbuilder2e (android app and web app) and Wanderer's Guide (web app) that both have fairly reasonable free versions and are great character build tools. It can help keep track of everything that is available and handles prerequisites and such. Helps you to not miss something while building a player character.
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This is perfect. I think this will be a really good experience for both myself as a first time DM and my players, especially giving my forever DM a chance to play since he has been running 5e and other games for years. If possible I would like to transition them into an Adventure Path or one of those medium length one shot adventures (I'm not sure what they are called, not the multi-book ones, just like 3-5 sessions in one setting)
That's still an Adventure, just not an Adventure Path.
They're in the category of Standalone Adventures on the paizo website.From there, it sounds like Pathfinder Adventures is what you're looking for. One-Shots are just that. Bounties are even shorter than one-shots. Free RPG Day Adventures are free one-shots. They tend to be a little on the skimpy side for my taste, but hey, they're free.
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https://2e.aonprd.com/Monsters.aspx?ID=1853
https://2e.aonprd.com/Monsters.aspx?ID=230
Given that you have your baddie a staff of necromancy, here's two thematically appropriate monsters that use necromancy spells and are 3rd level.
And here's a few non-necromancy ones, just for options or inspiration:
https://2e.aonprd.com/Monsters.aspx?ID=331
https://2e.aonprd.com/Monsters.aspx?ID=56
https://2e.aonprd.com/NPCs.aspx?ID=922
Yeah, that should be fine for stats and such. A CR= enemy spellcaster with several CR-2 allies.
but now I am on the spells part and I feel a bit lost.
1) Pick a tradition in order to make the spell selection believable.
2) Pick spell levels to choose spells for. a 3rd level spellcaster can cast a few 1st and 2nd level spells, and a handful of cantrips.3) Pick only spells that you actually intend to use during the battle. Don't worry too much about filling all of the possible spell slots or repertoire - or even making a distinction between prepared or spontaneous casting. Fill your top level spells the most, and don't worry too much about the lower level spells unless there is an important utility spell that will actually come up during the fight.
4) Pick spells that are generally useful or would be thematically appropriate for the enemy character - don't go out of your way to tailor the spell selection to what the players have (that would be GM metagaming) unless this enemy does actually have some prior knowledge of the party and is deliberately trying to thwart them specifically.
So with a staff of necromancy, I would suspect Divine or Occult tradition.
So for Occult tradition (as an example), maybe pick:
Cantrips: Telekinetic Projectile, Shield, and Guidance
1st: Fear, Magic Missile
2nd: Blistering Invective, Mirror Image
Now, if this was a player character it would either be a Bard (that has composition cantrips), a Psychic (that has amps), a Witch (that has a familiar) or a sorcerer (that has blood magic effects and more spell slots). But NPC enemies aren't built by the same rules as a player character, so you don't really need to worry about all of that. The point is to make it feel like a spellcaster enemy. Not feel like a player character that went rogue.
The final boss encounter will
4 level 1 Orc Warriors
1 Level 3 Orc Warlock4 Crystals which give the Orc Warlock immunity to all damage (force field bubble) that must be broken to break the forcefield. The Orc Warlock will be unable to fight while in the Force Field and unable to cast spells for he will be concentrating on his great ritual.
A two stage battle should be a lot of fun. But it does need to be handled well.
I somehow need to come up with item rules for hardness and HP and such for the crystals. I think they should be pretty easy to break maybe the same as a level 0 or -1 creature, if items get AC.
There are some suggestions for item hardness and HP - though you don't necessarily have to follow those since these are custom items.
But you do need to come up with your own rules for AC and how to actually do damage. Strike doesn't have rules for attacking objects. I would go with either auto-hit (but not crit) once per round and just roll damage, or use Force Open with a burst DC based on the item level and have it ignore hardness and HP entirely.
The main point is to distract the players from the crystals with the Orc Warriors, to buy time for the Warlock to summon his master (Pit Fiend? IDK something awful. Bela'kor the Dark Master haha).
Once the Force Field is broken he begins raising dead on his allies to provide more distractions. At half health he tries his health potion. He also clings to life with Ferocity. He's Ray of Enfeeblementing everyone and slinging cantrips for damage.
Thoughts on this final boss encounter in a simple one shot adventure?
Is there option in the plot of the Orc Warlord completing the ritual and successfully summoning a big monster? If so, then that encounter needs to be planned and balanced for as well. Basically the idea is that if the party succeeds at destroying the crystals in time (probably by ignoring the Orc guards), then they can fight just the remaining guards and the Warlord as the remaining encounter. If they fail (probably by killing the Orc guards and allowing the ritual to finish) then they can fight the Warlord and its summoned ally as the remaining encounter.
If not - and the ritual is just a threat to raise tension - then you will need to handle the action costs of raising the dead allies. It is going to be difficult for one enemy to have enough actions to raise enemies, defend themselves, and attack the party members.
You might have a couple or three more bodyguards in the bubble with him as well. When he raises a fallen ally, have it be a minion (which means that it will take actions from the Warlord in order to sustain) and give it even lower stats - probably a CR -1 enemy which is normal for a level 1 casting of Animate Dead.
I think I did an ok job at designing this.
Absolutely. I'd love to be a character playing through this.
One last last thing, is there a Hazard Building tool for simple or complex Hazards? If not I believe they have examples of almost all of my traps.
There is the Hazard Building tables similar to the ones for building creatures.
I'm not aware of any official or 3rd party published statblock sheets for hazards. I just create something that works using Word or Excel.