A Warlord (modified to be mounted with a lance and shield) accompanied by a squad of Knights (similarly modified) (possibly with all of them having the Mounted Combatant feat). Hidden in foliage in the distance is a squad of Archers with Sharpshooter. Once the party is beaten down by the initial charge and volley, the Gnome Evoker that advises the Warlord pops out of the Warlord's pack and fires off a Chain Lightning into the party.
Be the DM: *Adds Invisible stalkers to maze encounter and first one sneaks up and attacks me.* Be the DM again: Be Smug. "You can't see what's attacking you. It's invisible." Be me: Barbarian. Thinks the air is picking a fight. Rage. Use fists, disadvantage but thing is already invisible. Nofucksgiven.jpg Start punching wildly at *nothing* until makes contact, then grapple and strangle *nothing* to death. Be the party: Watch in pure amazement and bewilderment as Barbarian flips out for no reason, start beating up air, and strangle the air to death complete with audible death rattle and sounds of struggle. Be the rest of the invisible monsters: Watch as pack leader gets beat up and strangled to death over course of few turn.. Don't approach anymore. Be rest of the party again: Notice dead stalker stops being invisible when dead... All stand closer to BSF Ghost Puncher.
I had one time where I really wanted to throw a curveball at my party. They were obsessed with doing fire damage, and the barbarian even had a flame tongue (and a +1 glaive they never use). They were able to destroy most things I threw at them pretty easily, especially since 3 members of the party could use fireball. So, I planned an encounter a month ahead of time where they would be in an arena. and fight a Wyvern, a T-rex, and then... a Remorhaze. I knew they could kill the Wyvern and the T-rex easily since they were a level 6 party, but the remorhaze was going to be a challenge. One of the players was a storm sorcerer who didn't have fireball, so I figured he would be the most useful member of the party during that fight, given that the remorhaze is immune to both fire and cold damage. Fast forward to a month later when the arena fight is supposed to happen, as soon as the game starts the guy playing the storm sorcerer wants to change characters, so me being a nice guy I allowed him to. Meanwhile, in my head, I was panicking and wondering if I still wanted to go through with the remorhaze being the last fight. I eventually decided to go through with it. Now for this session we ended up having a new player as well joining us as a druid, and our barbarian was sick so i had to let one of the other players control him during combat. The arena fights begin and the light cleric immediately wastes his 3rd level spell slots on fireballing the wyvern because he thought that they were only going to do one fight and not three, as expected they killed the wyvern in about two or three rounds. The T-rex also got wiped pretty fast, but it did manage to instantly down the wizard. The third round begins and at this point, the players are missing some health, but not much of their resources which is what I wanted. The party tries fireballing it... as expected and then learns the hard way that fire doesn't do anything. The (somewhat npc) barbarian then uses the +1 glaive to stay a little bit away from the remorhaze and not get burned after each attack. The wizard also realizes the only spell he has that can do anything to the remorhaze is magic missile, so every round was just him upcasting it as much as he could, and the cleric had to actually focus on healing instead of nuking everything. On top of that, my friend's new character who was a winged tiefling monk had managed to stun the remorhaze twice during the fight and it ended up being what saved the party. By the end of the fight the only who wasn't knocked unconscious was the barbarian with 1 health. It was a tough fight and it taught my players a very valuable lesson about picking different spells and thinking before they waste their high-level slots, and afterwards, they thanked me for giving them such a tough fight and said it was one of the most fun challenges they had.
This encounter series has been super helpful. May my players forgive me for my parking lot surround and pound encounters of the past. No more I say no more!
The 4th edition monster manuals were better for that kind of encounter building, because groups of monsters that worked well together but had different stat blocks were often grouped together. Not like the Bugbear, Goblin and Hobgoblin in 5E Monster Manual. All Goblinoids in 4E Monster Manuals and the Essentials Line Monster Vaults were grouped together, so the DM had all the stat blocks he needed on one or two pages right next to each other.
The 4th edition monsters also always had one or two special abilities each that gave them flavor. Goblins were shifty and could easily get into close quarters with characters and out again without incurring opportunity attacks, and wolves employed pack tactics, trying to flank and encircle prey and getting bonuses when teaming up on one enemy.
@@blablubb4553 On your second point, 5E still does that. Goblins can Dash or Disengage as a bonus action. Wolves get advantage when an ally is within melee range of the same target, etc. Orcs have the Aggressive ability to Dash as a bonus action, owing to their violent nature. And it incremented on bosses getting multiple turns with Legendary status - which also added some new features as well with things like Lair Actions and Legendary Resistance.
Isn't that the truth. LOL. My players do that to me all the time. As soon as there's a wizard it's a bead line right toward him in a swift beat down. I make sure I return the favor of course.😸
TidalShores that leaves the wizard to destroy the party. Wizards don’t get much hp. They can be taken down in a round or two of focused fire, which means the cleric can’t heal him in time.
9:44 the sentinel feat doesn't give you the ability to attack someone as they enter your area that's the pole arm feat and it only works with something like a staff or glaive
My tips: What environment are they in, what would they be found with, what is the chance of encountering, what’s the rarity, and then take all the different subgroups you listed in the video and there you go. Also I make subspecies, like bloodland lizardfolk which are a slightly more aggressive lizardfolk spices and Hoarder’s Hydras which are a hydra spices that like a dragon collects stuff and hoards it, though it doesn’t have a reason to.
I love 4th Edition and regularly use stuff from it. I wish it were more popular so I could find a group for it. I think it was the most balanced and most tactically satisfying version of the game we'd ever had. If it hadn't been called D&D, I'm of a mindset that it would have been very popular.
I've that same conversation with others: if they hadn't called 4e D&D it would have been very popular. It's calling it D&D that killed it, because it felt so much NOT like traditional D&D, I understand.
Sadly, that intro was me with firenewts. I was so excited about my firenewts, my players were going to find a creative solution to getting around this small army in this area. It all sort of escalated, and basically my players spent 3 sessions fighting firenewt after firenewt. Now they'll probably go insane if I ever give them a firenewt again in the future. :(
Good stuff man. I do use the 4th edition monster manual all the time. In my opinion it was on was the best monster manuals ever with dc checks and premade encounters for every kind of monster in the book, can't really go wrong there.
@@JohnDoe-gg1jn If you have the monster manual for 4e the dc knowledge checks in the book go right across no problem and the encounters listed in the book give you a pretty good idea about what kind of monsters any given enemy might group up with. As far as the stat blocks are concerned they are really just inspirational the numbers do not port across in any reasonable way.
Dude, Thank you for making helpful tips that also don't include a load of language. The worst thing about being a DM and a teacher is that you want to teach your players how to DM.... But can't point them anywhere without cursing and bad references. I'm pointing all my little DMs here, so they can watch and learn. Thanks, budro!
You're very welcome! The worst I say around here is crap...but that's only a bad word to .01% of the population. Lol Zant, I don't know, I've heard some bombs, especially on a VERY popular channel.
That solitary mage example reminded me of our pre-final boss for our first story. The party just completely beat the crap out of it without much effort, it was kinda funny and sad at the same time... _then again we almost died to skeletons twice._
I personally still use minions to this day in any RPG. I think it is an awesome way to make characters feel like heroes when they are blasting storm troopers off a cliff side, or knocking aside hundreds of undead to face the necromancer and his mummified guards. It just adds atmosphere.
@@theDMLair It is especially useful in army battles. I think it is important the players are pivotal in any large scale battle. I use minions for just about every soldier the enemy has (sometimes even larger monsters) so that way the players can just make it up to the leaders or stronger battalions. It's a great effect to make the battle seem to be as big as you say, while also making the character feel like more than just a soldier on a field of war. Maybe I should start my own TH-cam channel hahaha
when I create encounters, I like to consider the enemy alignment, intelligence and wisdom. - Chaotic monsters will generally just charge head on. Some will desert; they really don't have a plan beyond "attack" or "run away". - Lawful creatures will definitely exploit terrain and or numbers. They will try to ambush when possible and put attackers in positions that give them an advantage (high ground, cover, ect). - Higher intelligence groups will be better prepared and have ways to counter PC strengths. I will allow them to create 1-3 advantages "mid-fight" to turn the tides of battle. Maybe they will slow the charge of a mounted warrior by throwing down a few flasks of oil they had, or maybe they had several ambushers hiding with ranged weapons or a net or behind a tumble of piled heavy rocks, waiting for just the right moment. Also possible is I will roll for a random potion or scroll and see what happens. This can be used to gain an advantage or in dire circumstances , used as a bribe/ peace offering. - High wisdom groups will adapt better to situations. Like if they have a flying PC causing them a lot of grief, they will seek cover or a way to bring him down. If they cant counter a strategy, they will retreat. Low wisdom will ignore players in advantageous positions and focus on whats easy to get at; if they cant do that then they will likely just run away. An ogre (CE) within the ranks of a troop of hobgoblins (LE) will charge a lesser threat, looking to claim the kill, while the hobgoblins strike at range and get their melees and spellcasters in position. The ogre will attack whoever is closest until one of them drops, while the hobgoblins establish cover and pick off anyone attempting to move past or flank the ogre. The Hobgoblins will hopefully only engage once the PCs are weakened and will be prepared to pursue with mounts nearby and a means to counter the most powerful tactic or attack they witness the PCs using. I nearly killed off the entire party once when they were 8th or so level by using a group of kobolds who had set some fairly sinister and unavoidable traps. One PC did make it through though. The kobolds really didn't know what to do once he started cutting them down, so they ran away.
Wizards of the Coast or DM Guild have a free combat encounter form. I enjoy using this for a couple reasons; it has stat blocks for up to 3 types of creatures (Luke suggested Hobgoblins, Wargs and a spellcaster) along with spots for multiple copies of said creatures (6 Hobgoblins, 2-3 Wargs and a mage). There’s also a built in initiative tracker as well. It comes in a printable or fill-in PDF and is FREE.
I have a lot of fun flipping through the Monster Manual to think about what creatures might work together. A Treant could command a team of Awakened Trees and Shambling Mounds, with a bunch of Awakened Shrubs.
I always like to pair up different enemy types like you suggested in the video, though I hadn’t ever consciously categorized them. I also will print out stat blocks for every planned encounter before hand, and prep minis ahead of time. He’s my schtick, though- I like the environment. Buildings blowing up shower the party and/or the enemies with pyroclastic debris. Rain mixes with dirt making mud, and now some people have to roll dex saves from time to time. A pitched battle in the forest attracts a pack of owl bears that attack both PCs and their enemies because owlbear don’t care. Avalanches, rockslides, wooden seconded story floors that are rotted... Then there are the environmental hazards the baddies prepared ahead of time, from traps the PCs have to avoid while engaged in combat, to floors that are designed to retract revealing lava beneath. I consider these another class of monster to encounter, and can change the tactics of the PCs, make encounters more dynamic and organic, etc.
I have one more category: lynchpin for example a necromancer casting Danse macabre Also one fight I have set up is a ship full of pirates, 1 swashbuckler, 4 bandit chiefs, 5 berserkers, 20 bandits. Not super varied but I have a fix for that: they use tactics, throw people overboard, rush healers and squishies trip, grapple etc The whole point of this is that you don't need really varying monsters to make players think tactically, just something more than a mindless assault
Yes, great point. Run of the mill creatures using interesting tactics will spice things up for sure. I love the shove to ground and then grapple combination to keep PCs from getting back up. (I usually fail my attempts though. :( )
Great video and I gotta thank you i was starting to feel like a bad dm (forever dm I have near nothings to compare to in my group) while watching your videos you incorporate alot of what I do myself an It really made me feel better about my dm skills, admitly my battle maps still need work but you got a video for that too!
One thing you didn't mention that you can do with the monsters is write them down on a piece of paper. Yes I was very low-tech but not only does it's help like the other options do, writing them down helps put them to memory.
I actually really enjoyed 4e. It's the only edition that ever managed to solve the linear fighter, quadratic Wizard problem. Honestly I think if they'd changed since if the language in the handbook (calling powers something like spells or abilities depending on class for example) it would've been much better recieved.
There were other problems with 4E that I in particular had besides the language. There's also the problem with the powers being so closely tied to the combat encounters - in particular the aptly named Encounter powers that could only be used once per encounter. How do you adjudicate someone wanting to use their EPs outside of combat encounters? How often can they use them, and how might this blur the line between EPs and At-Will powers? Especially since a combat encounter could last variable amounts of time (though with how the monsters were initially poorly calculated due to having too high HP and too low damage, fights could take forever), I immediately didn't like how literally everything was anchored around the combat. Yeah sure, previous editions weren't what you'd call super RP-oriented, but the adherence to more natural units of measurement (seconds, minutes, hours, etc) better enabled you to think of those abilities outside of battle. For players brand new to D&D being introduced to it by 4E, I had my concerns that it might generate more of the brand of player who never considers using their abilities outside of battle in creative ways. I had other problems with it besides that, but that's not to say 4E was unplayable. There were some things it did I liked - like the minions - and the way it handled boss monsters by giving them multiple turns was interesting (and I'm glad 5E incremented on that with Legendary status, rather than eschewing it entirely). But in the end, I was happy when 5E came out. It's not a perfect system either and I've been considering cribbing a few things from 4E (minions, for example), but otherwise I'm enjoying 5E way more.
@@Draeckon the thing is, and "encounter" isn't JUST combat. That's just what everyone assumed. Social encounters, exploration encounters and puzzle/trap encounters are all encounters as well. The language as to how often you could use your powers wasn't an issue if you used the proper definition for encounters. Was 4e perfect? No, but no edition is. My point is I dont think 4e deserves the amount of ire it receives, it IS a good edition.
You asked if we steal pieces from other editions. I'm running a campaign on Ixalan, and i thought the Hidden Mask of Tomoachan (something like that) from original edition would be a nice dungeon for an Inca type of culture. Found out it has been remade for 5e on Tales from the Yawning Portal. Nice add to te campaign, with my adjustments of course.
(Edit: sorry for the novel, I'm a verbose fella) This video got me thinking about encounters, but didn't answer a question I've been pondering (exactly) lately. I've found as a DM, that I've been *pretty* good at designing big, fun boss fights. High difficulty, complex blends of enemies, unique and scary homebrew creatures, etc etc. But what I feel my campaign has been lacking in, is easier fights along the way that don't take 30 minutes to run, but still feel interesting and enjoyable for the players. The efforts I've made so far feel like the players more or less stomp the badguy(s) I send at them in usually no more than 1 (MAYBE) two rounds. Recently, I've attempted to use more ambushes to make these fights feel more interesting. By adding the sudden surprise (and the surprise round for the enemies) I feel it's creating a *better* experience. But it still seems to be missing that sense of danger I love to create. I want the players to get some confidence in these fights, but I don't want them to feel *overconfident* in the boss fight! Besides the ideas in this very helpful video (ie mixed unit encounters, etc) are there any ideas/suggestions you can think of that help make *small* encounters, still feel rewarding and fun? Thanks!
To be honest, I homebrew or modify many of my monsters. The encounter I'm most proud of is a kind of crystal golem with an adaptive shield that gives it resistance to damage types it was recently hit with, forcing players to work with different ways of attacking. This one had four flying minions who were weak on their own, but could support the golem and also make a powerful AoE attack together, that dealt damage in a triangle between three of them.
Fourth adition is more tactical amd mechanic based the issue people genraly have is its restrictions on rp as it has many mny rules with too many core rule books , it plays like a strategy video game rather than a pen and paper rpg
4e was nothing like a video game. Its primary focus of COMBAT, was COMBAT, **WHO'D OF THOUGHT THE COMBAT PORTION OF THE BOOK WAS DEDICATED TO FUCKIN COMBAT???** People like you merely called it a video game, or an mmo, when it still had plenty of great skill checks and unique ways to use powers and feats outside of combat. My own character who was my first character for dnd, had plenty of options of backstory, plenty of options for races, plenty of options for deities, and despite choosing a class, i was able to select what sort of playstyle they'd have, controller, single target dps, aoe target dps, and even then when i was LEVELING UP AND GRABBING FEATS, there was plenty of noncombat options and roleplay options, a inquisitive rogue in our party specifically grabbed a feat to give him a strong and effective bonus on insight checks to try and match my insanely high deception. there was more than plenty of roleplay both from this new group of players and interesting uses of spells/powers. There is nothing wrong with a dnd game book ON COMBAT focusing on strategy and special playstyles, especially when that's exactly what is lacking in 5e, complex strategies and personal play styles. Now in 5e if youre a caster, you can be a mix of literally any caster, controller, aoe damage dealer, etc. while 5e greatly lacks single target damaging spells that my sorceror with twin spell asked me for a stronger higher level spell version of chromatic orb just to keep his playstyle at higher levels. 4e was a great and welcome edition, made to make people able to play dnd across different games, universes, and DMs without the issues we now have again in 5e of characters having special feats from some book, or overpowered magic items for their level. 4e was made to be standardized and allow people who cant game because of lifes events, able to join in, it was especially standardized for online play. Please dont EVER say that about 4e again i fuckin swear...
@@anthonynorman7545 yes and I cant stand this idea that they tried to "make an mmo" or such when each creator of 4e was actually just trying to make a new system of dnd for the digital age, the online expansion weve all had. If dnd wanted to be an mmo, its be simple and even profitable and theyd be in charge of the SERVERS AND WEBSITE, instead it's still books being sold at your local game store.
@@elgatochurro I think you should reread the OP. It seems like they were trying to make 4e more similar to video games than a pen and paper rpg. That's not an insult.
On the note of Rakshasas, campaign/encounter/one-shot I've always wanted to run/play: Rakshasa king who's paranoia leads him to build a palace where each entrance leads into a room with a permanent aura of detect magic. All visitors are required to turn in all magic items. The throne room itself is beautiful, filled with tastefully displayed sculptures, gorgeous tapestries and paintings, and is also an anti-magic field. Rakshasa has a "key" to the anti-magic field and can use magic, has guards stationed around each door to call in and more than can arrive in a few rounds, and the players are stripped of most of their equipment. However, two things 1. If the key to the anti-magic field is taken/destroyed it will either dissipate or the Rakshasa will also be unable to use magic (DM's discretion based on what they think makes more sense) 2. Each piece of art destroyed enrages the Rakshasa, driving them to ever more erratic actions. The Rakshasa's paranoia is well-known and players can find out about the detect magic by asking almost anyone, the throne room by asking those who would have visited or otherwise have access, and the borderline obsessive love of art can be found out by either taking the palace tour and logic-ing it out themselves (it's basically a museum and while paranoid, the Rakshasa also wants to display his wealth/beauty, though the tour is limited to certain areas of the palace) or asking merchants/artisans in the area.
for the card recommendation i use an excel for my encounters. its a bit extra prep but i can keep track of initiative and HP on it plus i can refer tu pictures of the stat blocks i paste on the docs
I like to give my bosses unique abilities. Alot of players know the Monster abilities and know how to counter them. So, using special abilities, it makes things much more dynamic.
I just always photocopy and print out some stat blocks for whatever monsters I plan to use that session, then stick them with my DM notes. I also like sticking at least one enemy type per major encounter that can possibly permanently fuck up a PC by means of either crippling them or body horror: like if I have some mind flayers, I'll stick some intellect devourers there, or I'll have a Spawn of Kyuss (from Volo's) with a group of cultists. I don't do this all the time, but I do do it quite a bit.
One encounter I enjoyed as a dm was willow wisp and shambling mound. Wisps can heal the shambling mound and go invisible. When the mound dies wisp can consume life on it.
I like to put monsters on each other to mix abilities like kobolds on giant lizards the kobolds get a climb speed and their pack tactics is always going
I think my favorite encounter I made was for a one shot campaign where they have a dark room with two zombies and two skeletons. There is a pit and only two paths to the other side. It was a fun encounter that wasn’t meant to be hard. They had a fun time.
My classes are less stat oriented but more function based Horde - throw them in large numbers and in formations (goblins, kobolds, etc) Elite - leader of sub group or the caged animal (ogre’s, champion, etc) Boss- leader of a group *can become high level elites based on Power Level* (Kraken, Young Red Dragon, etc) Specialist - either don’t fight or fight weirdly i.e. stealth/artillery (Noble, Hell Engine, etc) This allows for flexible categories that are useful but you still have to think critically when designing an encounter
*4th edition had a lot of awesome concepts .* *The biggest problem with Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition is it is called Dungeons & Dragons an all the inherent presumptions & habits players have .* *The 2nd Problem with Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition is that it was very deep in combat but very light in out side of combat situations ( except stuff tangentially related to combat ) .*
Personally I think more about the story and base the encounter around that. Over looking at monsters I like. The story should drive what monsters you pick over anything else. Like currently my group is playing in weird fantasy dystopian story line. So yes lots of orcs and goblins. But the story is what drives my game forward and my players are loving it. And not one encounter has been anything but orcs, goblins, or drow. Worry less about encounter and more about story. My last game on Thursday had no encounters at all and my players threw a fit when I called it at midnight, because they wanted more story. Encounters though a super fun part of the game remember as a dm if your story is on point, the players are okay with any encounter that fits in your story.
I think I run a slightly different flavor of DnD. There is always a story, but I heavily embrace the wargame side of DnD. 90% of the rules and character sheet are build around combat, after all. I enjoy heavy story and less combat games, too, but I feel like if I wanted to run a game like that I'd probably pick a game system more suited to it. This is just my personal take on things. Not saying there is a right or wrong way to play DnD.
Personally, I like to use 3.5e prestige classes to make interesting NPC bosses Maybe even armies or groups with weaker prestige classes Obviously I change the abilities for 5e
Happened just yesterday, we were playing Pathfinder and walking around what we think is a giant creature's belly, we crossed some sort of beam or ship's mast to go from one island to another and avoid the acid water, our witch and fighter stayed behind and were going to make their way when suddenly, a gigantic Owlbear appears and grabs our fighter, almost killing him instantly (we are level 2 atm), now, our witch is not focused on DPS, he mainly buffs and debuffs, so there was no way he could take on an owlbear by his own. Me, a rogue and my friend monk, we just jumped back on that mast and rushed back (we got good rolls and had good athletics), witch just started unleashing every debuff he had upon the owlbear. Long story short, through a combination of positioning, debuffing, good rolls and our witch even tanking the splash damage from an alchemist's bomb, we stun-locked the owlbear, gave him a severe beating, and our fighter was also able to survive
I started with 2e. 😀 Recently I played the basic rules (pre 1st ed) and then 1st edition at a convention and it was tons of fun. High nostalgia factor.
Would you consider adding images of the things you're talking about? Maybe like an image relevant to a subject, or just the monster/character to giva a visual of the situation for some prospective new players? (not necessarily full screen) Just a suggestion, of course.
Leaders a good example is evil paladins say of an oath of conquest who is hobgoblin crusader of Nemog-Geaya, nothing like a smack down between heroic paladins and wikid black knights.
Thank you for that great video! Very instructional!! One question: How many encounters of each difficulty should be in a campaign? For example, is one easy, one hard and two deadlies (including the boss fight) a good starting point?
Once my players had to deal with a tribe of gnolls that raised pet death dogs and had manticore allies that gnoll archers would ride into battle. That got pretty interesting.
I don't have an opinion of 4th as me and my friends still play 2nd edition. We just couldn't get past the changes in 3rd that seemed to make no sense so we stuck with what we loved.
I think Matt Coleville pretty much nailed why every good DM should be using 4E at least for the monsters and combat encounters. I enjoyed 4ed personally, a very different game, but an extremely enjoyable one, certainly the best edition for combat encounters, by a long way. I was playing pathfinder and 4ed at the same time, and combat in 4ed was always far more enjoyable and memorable... and I'd say that still rings true today.
My current Master piece Encounter and Central tension for the Region. Trolls (one dimensional monster) attacking a town since the PC's killed the BBEG who kept the trolls in check. Slaadi who reproduce by infecting a humanoid with a chest burster ( usually kills the victim and slows their reproduction due to lack of victims) but together these monsters form a Exponentially growing Threat.
Yeah, the fact that those monster boxes don't include ALL of them really bothers me. So, Ive just decided not to go there. But, when I am prepping for a session I may make my own similar to how youve done. Thanks for the great ideas!
What about giving the hobgoblins the sentinel feet and the polearm master feet that could be nasty. Ps good idea to use feet on monsters i would never have thought of that. 👍
There are apps that allow you to build encounters if you use a pad or phone while DMing. Much cheaper and less effort than buying/making cards. At least, there are some for Pathfinder, but I'd assume such a thing has to exist for 5e as well.
all people have abilities on their own select monsters that only one or 2 off the party off 6 can kill but make sure its not to strong enemies but they need to work together with using their powers to beat their specific enemies with the stuff they can do like person one has fire person two has ice person three has sword person four has bow enemy one is immume to fire but weak to ice some enemies are only vurnlrable (idk) to melee or only to ranged attacks and one is immume to ice and fire and elements but needs normal attacks to beat stuff like that
*I freely play D&D 3/3.5 , 4th & 5th Editions and borrow stuff from D&D 0e , Be , A1e , A2e , 3/3.5e , 4e , 5e and Pathfinder 1e & 2e .* *I might post videos on them in the future .*
I currently play in 2 different campaigns with 2 different dungeon masters and the difference between them is pretty obvious. One of them tends to have single insanely powerful enemies that reduce the damage we can do and tries to mess with the party dynamics by controlling the PC's minds. Everytime we face these we almost always have the same strategy because the party has a good mix of players. The 4 melee characters dash in and try to distract the monster while my ranger and the warlock try to force it back to provoke opportunity attacks. Its not the most interesting at times.On the other hand with a similar group of players in the other campaign we have a lot more issues as that DM usually throws in complex surroundings and numerous weaker creatures for us to face and it relies on the party being in a good position and utilizing every characters abilities to get out of it. Definitely a lot more interesting and we always walk out with a sense of accomplishment at being able to be in the correct position within the engagement when we need to be.
I was thinking about making an encounter with a Venom Troll, Troglodytes, and a poisonous Water Weird in and around a desert oasis surrounded by a dragon skeleton and a cursed sand storm from the elemental plane of earth
I'm a big fan of all your tips but I noticed a small mistake with your hobgoblin example in this video. Sentinel allows you to stop an enemy on an oppurtunity attack. Also the only way to attack an enemy when they enter your range is with polearm expert.
I haven't played 4th edition but I've looked through the books and just by looking at them I think there is way more potential in there than a lot of people give it credit for. Almost everything I look at in any of the 4e books are better than what's in the 5e books. For example the sentient magic items section has advice for how to roleplay the item for every type of relationship it can have with it's wielder. 5e should have been a combination of 3.5 and 4th edition, huge missed opportunity there. Hopefully that's what they'll do with 6e if we can all suffer through the rest of the 5e which only skates by with us creating our own rules or homebrewing the broken or unexplained systems there are in the books.
With me for a 20 room dungeon i find 20 not too big or too small just the size of Montreal lol i do 5 types of monsters but i also try 3 out side the dungeon
I feel like the leader type of monster is only really relevant when your dealing with an intelligent, numerous, and organised enemy. Which doesn't really come up much in DnD. Furthermore the "leader"abilities could be replaced with the appropriate application of actual tactics.
Personally I like a good puzzle and enjoying thinking tactically however role playing a character sometimes my character doesn't. I don't disagree with this concept. I think it does make things interesting. But I also think that a lot of times people forget to continue role playing during combat as well. That being said I think a party that has traveled together for awhile would have fallen into a good routine and these fights could be introduced slowly
I use to play (and briefly DM) 3.5e, but since coming back into the game in 5e, you're the first person I heard mention that 4e even exists! That says something about 4e I think...
I started seriously reading about D&D around the time when 3.5e and 4e were fighting the strongest for popularity ;) Having just fallen in love with 5e, the most important things to know are: 3.5 felt the most thematically familiar to people who grew up on the original D&D, but the math was nightmarishly complicated with too many moving parts for new players who didn’t love spending hours of their free time doing math homework as much as I do 4e was more mathematically streamlined, but thematically felt more like the tabletop version of a video game than like an actual tabletop game Whereas 5e combines the thematic familiarity of 3.5 with the mathematical simplicity of 4e :)
📣 What tips do you have for selecting monsters for D&D encounters?
An Efreeti with Fire Lizard, Salamaders and 2-4 Iron Golems.
I endorse that encounter. 😈
A Warlord (modified to be mounted with a lance and shield) accompanied by a squad of Knights (similarly modified) (possibly with all of them having the Mounted Combatant feat). Hidden in foliage in the distance is a squad of Archers with Sharpshooter. Once the party is beaten down by the initial charge and volley, the Gnome Evoker that advises the Warlord pops out of the Warlord's pack and fires off a Chain Lightning into the party.
It's a high level encounter, but one made mostly from lower level NPCs.
Lol. You sir are an evil genius. 😈👊
*Invisible flying enemy.
Be me: Druid, turn into a bat and use echolocation.
Be the DM: *Adds Invisible stalkers to maze encounter and first one sneaks up and attacks me.*
Be the DM again: Be Smug. "You can't see what's attacking you. It's invisible."
Be me: Barbarian. Thinks the air is picking a fight. Rage. Use fists, disadvantage but thing is already invisible.
Nofucksgiven.jpg
Start punching wildly at *nothing* until makes contact, then grapple and strangle *nothing* to death.
Be the party: Watch in pure amazement and bewilderment as Barbarian flips out for no reason, start beating up air, and strangle the air to death complete with audible death rattle and sounds of struggle.
Be the rest of the invisible monsters: Watch as pack leader gets beat up and strangled to death over course of few turn.. Don't approach anymore.
Be rest of the party again: Notice dead stalker stops being invisible when dead... All stand closer to BSF Ghost Puncher.
@@SuperRoboPopoto lol I'm dying! 🤣
I had one time where I really wanted to throw a curveball at my party. They were obsessed with doing fire damage, and the barbarian even had a flame tongue (and a +1 glaive they never use). They were able to destroy most things I threw at them pretty easily, especially since 3 members of the party could use fireball. So, I planned an encounter a month ahead of time where they would be in an arena. and fight a Wyvern, a T-rex, and then... a Remorhaze. I knew they could kill the Wyvern and the T-rex easily since they were a level 6 party, but the remorhaze was going to be a challenge. One of the players was a storm sorcerer who didn't have fireball, so I figured he would be the most useful member of the party during that fight, given that the remorhaze is immune to both fire and cold damage.
Fast forward to a month later when the arena fight is supposed to happen, as soon as the game starts the guy playing the storm sorcerer wants to change characters, so me being a nice guy I allowed him to. Meanwhile, in my head, I was panicking and wondering if I still wanted to go through with the remorhaze being the last fight. I eventually decided to go through with it. Now for this session we ended up having a new player as well joining us as a druid, and our barbarian was sick so i had to let one of the other players control him during combat.
The arena fights begin and the light cleric immediately wastes his 3rd level spell slots on fireballing the wyvern because he thought that they were only going to do one fight and not three, as expected they killed the wyvern in about two or three rounds. The T-rex also got wiped pretty fast, but it did manage to instantly down the wizard. The third round begins and at this point, the players are missing some health, but not much of their resources which is what I wanted. The party tries fireballing it... as expected and then learns the hard way that fire doesn't do anything. The (somewhat npc) barbarian then uses the +1 glaive to stay a little bit away from the remorhaze and not get burned after each attack. The wizard also realizes the only spell he has that can do anything to the remorhaze is magic missile, so every round was just him upcasting it as much as he could, and the cleric had to actually focus on healing instead of nuking everything. On top of that, my friend's new character who was a winged tiefling monk had managed to stun the remorhaze twice during the fight and it ended up being what saved the party. By the end of the fight the only who wasn't knocked unconscious was the barbarian with 1 health. It was a tough fight and it taught my players a very valuable lesson about picking different spells and thinking before they waste their high-level slots, and afterwards, they thanked me for giving them such a tough fight and said it was one of the most fun challenges they had.
Bro, a feral tiefling monk sounds sick
Fourth Ed can’t burn in hell, I hear inferno creatures have fire immunity.
This encounter series has been super helpful. May my players forgive me for my parking lot surround and pound encounters of the past. No more I say no more!
In the future you'll be asking their forgiveness for challenging encounters that make them think and be creative. 😁
@@theDMLair Yes!
The 4th edition monster manuals were better for that kind of encounter building, because groups of monsters that worked well together but had different stat blocks were often grouped together. Not like the Bugbear, Goblin and Hobgoblin in 5E Monster Manual. All Goblinoids in 4E Monster Manuals and the Essentials Line Monster Vaults were grouped together, so the DM had all the stat blocks he needed on one or two pages right next to each other.
The 4th edition monsters also always had one or two special abilities each that gave them flavor. Goblins were shifty and could easily get into close quarters with characters and out again without incurring opportunity attacks, and wolves employed pack tactics, trying to flank and encircle prey and getting bonuses when teaming up on one enemy.
@@blablubb4553 On your second point, 5E still does that. Goblins can Dash or Disengage as a bonus action. Wolves get advantage when an ally is within melee range of the same target, etc. Orcs have the Aggressive ability to Dash as a bonus action, owing to their violent nature. And it incremented on bosses getting multiple turns with Legendary status - which also added some new features as well with things like Lair Actions and Legendary Resistance.
PC tactic number 1: kill the wizard first. Then the cleric.
Isn't that the truth. LOL. My players do that to me all the time. As soon as there's a wizard it's a bead line right toward him in a swift beat down. I make sure I return the favor of course.😸
I’d personally get rid of the healer first so that they don’t get a chance to heal the others, but that’s just me.
TidalShores that leaves the wizard to destroy the party. Wizards don’t get much hp. They can be taken down in a round or two of focused fire, which means the cleric can’t heal him in time.
Logan Sanders
That’s a fair point.
AoE! AoE!
9:44 the sentinel feat doesn't give you the ability to attack someone as they enter your area that's the pole arm feat and it only works with something like a staff or glaive
You need both Polearm Mastery and Sentinel
He did mention glaive
A handy note: I use screenshots of the D&D Beyond website to grab the screenshots and slap onto monster cards etc. Handy tip, no PDFs required 8)
Rip in peace Chris Farley
Yeah, I loved his movies.
Wait, so rest in peace in peace?
...
RIP = Rest In Peace.
Hopefully he wasn’t buried in a van down by the river.
In Chris Rock voice: “I think Chris Farley gonna sue somebody!!”
This is super helpful! I struggle horribly with balancing fights and building them.
Awesome, glad I could help! 😁
This advice is pretty obvious in hindsight, but at the same time, like... really, really helpful.
My tips:
What environment are they in, what would they be found with, what is the chance of encountering, what’s the rarity, and then take all the different subgroups you listed in the video and there you go.
Also I make subspecies, like bloodland lizardfolk which are a slightly more aggressive lizardfolk spices and Hoarder’s Hydras which are a hydra spices that like a dragon collects stuff and hoards it, though it doesn’t have a reason to.
A good way to add spice to the campaign!
I love 4th Edition and regularly use stuff from it. I wish it were more popular so I could find a group for it. I think it was the most balanced and most tactically satisfying version of the game we'd ever had.
If it hadn't been called D&D, I'm of a mindset that it would have been very popular.
I've that same conversation with others: if they hadn't called 4e D&D it would have been very popular. It's calling it D&D that killed it, because it felt so much NOT like traditional D&D, I understand.
Sadly, that intro was me with firenewts. I was so excited about my firenewts, my players were going to find a creative solution to getting around this small army in this area. It all sort of escalated, and basically my players spent 3 sessions fighting firenewt after firenewt. Now they'll probably go insane if I ever give them a firenewt again in the future. :(
I liked 4E. I still use minions and I steal ideas from the massive magic weapons catalog for homemade magic items.
Good stuff man. I do use the 4th edition monster manual all the time. In my opinion it was on was the best monster manuals ever with dc checks and premade encounters for every kind of monster in the book, can't really go wrong there.
i have the 4e manual. how do you use it?
@@JohnDoe-gg1jn If you have the monster manual for 4e the dc knowledge checks in the book go right across no problem and the encounters listed in the book give you a pretty good idea about what kind of monsters any given enemy might group up with. As far as the stat blocks are concerned they are really just inspirational the numbers do not port across in any reasonable way.
@@Johnkarlburg thank you
Dude,
Thank you for making helpful tips that also don't include a load of language.
The worst thing about being a DM and a teacher is that you want to teach your players how to DM.... But can't point them anywhere without cursing and bad references.
I'm pointing all my little DMs here, so they can watch and learn.
Thanks, budro!
Dude, most DM Teaching Channels don’t swear.
You're very welcome! The worst I say around here is crap...but that's only a bad word to .01% of the population. Lol
Zant, I don't know, I've heard some bombs, especially on a VERY popular channel.
That solitary mage example reminded me of our pre-final boss for our first story. The party just completely beat the crap out of it without much effort, it was kinda funny and sad at the same time... _then again we almost died to skeletons twice._
LOL - Yep, solo bad guys usually fall flat. :D
I personally still use minions to this day in any RPG. I think it is an awesome way to make characters feel like heroes when they are blasting storm troopers off a cliff side, or knocking aside hundreds of undead to face the necromancer and his mummified guards. It just adds atmosphere.
Agreed! I love minions for the same reasons.
@@theDMLair It is especially useful in army battles. I think it is important the players are pivotal in any large scale battle. I use minions for just about every soldier the enemy has (sometimes even larger monsters) so that way the players can just make it up to the leaders or stronger battalions. It's a great effect to make the battle seem to be as big as you say, while also making the character feel like more than just a soldier on a field of war. Maybe I should start my own TH-cam channel hahaha
when I create encounters, I like to consider the enemy alignment, intelligence and wisdom.
- Chaotic monsters will generally just charge head on. Some will desert; they really don't have a plan beyond "attack" or "run away".
- Lawful creatures will definitely exploit terrain and or numbers. They will try to ambush when possible and put attackers in positions that give them an advantage (high ground, cover, ect).
- Higher intelligence groups will be better prepared and have ways to counter PC strengths. I will allow them to create 1-3 advantages "mid-fight" to turn the tides of battle. Maybe they will slow the charge of a mounted warrior by throwing down a few flasks of oil they had, or maybe they had several ambushers hiding with ranged weapons or a net or behind a tumble of piled heavy rocks, waiting for just the right moment. Also possible is I will roll for a random potion or scroll and see what happens. This can be used to gain an advantage or in dire circumstances , used as a bribe/ peace offering.
- High wisdom groups will adapt better to situations. Like if they have a flying PC causing them a lot of grief, they will seek cover or a way to bring him down. If they cant counter a strategy, they will retreat. Low wisdom will ignore players in advantageous positions and focus on whats easy to get at; if they cant do that then they will likely just run away.
An ogre (CE) within the ranks of a troop of hobgoblins (LE) will charge a lesser threat, looking to claim the kill, while the hobgoblins strike at range and get their melees and spellcasters in position. The ogre will attack whoever is closest until one of them drops, while the hobgoblins establish cover and pick off anyone attempting to move past or flank the ogre. The Hobgoblins will hopefully only engage once the PCs are weakened and will be prepared to pursue with mounts nearby and a means to counter the most powerful tactic or attack they witness the PCs using.
I nearly killed off the entire party once when they were 8th or so level by using a group of kobolds who had set some fairly sinister and unavoidable traps. One PC did make it through though. The kobolds really didn't know what to do once he started cutting them down, so they ran away.
Wizards of the Coast or DM Guild have a free combat encounter form. I enjoy using this for a couple reasons; it has stat blocks for up to 3 types of creatures (Luke suggested Hobgoblins, Wargs and a spellcaster) along with spots for multiple copies of said creatures (6 Hobgoblins, 2-3 Wargs and a mage). There’s also a built in initiative tracker as well. It comes in a printable or fill-in PDF and is FREE.
I have a lot of fun flipping through the Monster Manual to think about what creatures might work together. A Treant could command a team of Awakened Trees and Shambling Mounds, with a bunch of Awakened Shrubs.
I always like to pair up different enemy types like you suggested in the video, though I hadn’t ever consciously categorized them. I also will print out stat blocks for every planned encounter before hand, and prep minis ahead of time. He’s my schtick, though- I like the environment. Buildings blowing up shower the party and/or the enemies with pyroclastic debris. Rain mixes with dirt making mud, and now some people have to roll dex saves from time to time. A pitched battle in the forest attracts a pack of owl bears that attack both PCs and their enemies because owlbear don’t care. Avalanches, rockslides, wooden seconded story floors that are rotted... Then there are the environmental hazards the baddies prepared ahead of time, from traps the PCs have to avoid while engaged in combat, to floors that are designed to retract revealing lava beneath. I consider these another class of monster to encounter, and can change the tactics of the PCs, make encounters more dynamic and organic, etc.
Heck yeah! Environment stuff like that makes encounters AMAZING!
Love your nickname btw! Dumbgeon Master. 😀👊
You were a good TH-camr, now you're my favorite TH-camr. One Tommy Boy reference and it's over. U win. Congrats!
4th = skill challenges and minions!
I have one more category: lynchpin for example a necromancer casting Danse macabre
Also one fight I have set up is a ship full of pirates, 1 swashbuckler, 4 bandit chiefs, 5 berserkers, 20 bandits. Not super varied but I have a fix for that: they use tactics, throw people overboard, rush healers and squishies trip, grapple etc
The whole point of this is that you don't need really varying monsters to make players think tactically, just something more than a mindless assault
Yes, great point. Run of the mill creatures using interesting tactics will spice things up for sure. I love the shove to ground and then grapple combination to keep PCs from getting back up. (I usually fail my attempts though. :( )
I love this channel :) My D&D skills are getting WAY better.
Awesome! Happy to help. 😀
Great video and I gotta thank you i was starting to feel like a bad dm (forever dm I have near nothings to compare to in my group) while watching your videos you incorporate alot of what I do myself an It really made me feel better about my dm skills, admitly my battle maps still need work but you got a video for that too!
One thing you didn't mention that you can do with the monsters is write them down on a piece of paper. Yes I was very low-tech but not only does it's help like the other options do, writing them down helps put them to memory.
I actually really enjoyed 4e. It's the only edition that ever managed to solve the linear fighter, quadratic Wizard problem. Honestly I think if they'd changed since if the language in the handbook (calling powers something like spells or abilities depending on class for example) it would've been much better recieved.
There were other problems with 4E that I in particular had besides the language. There's also the problem with the powers being so closely tied to the combat encounters - in particular the aptly named Encounter powers that could only be used once per encounter. How do you adjudicate someone wanting to use their EPs outside of combat encounters? How often can they use them, and how might this blur the line between EPs and At-Will powers?
Especially since a combat encounter could last variable amounts of time (though with how the monsters were initially poorly calculated due to having too high HP and too low damage, fights could take forever), I immediately didn't like how literally everything was anchored around the combat. Yeah sure, previous editions weren't what you'd call super RP-oriented, but the adherence to more natural units of measurement (seconds, minutes, hours, etc) better enabled you to think of those abilities outside of battle. For players brand new to D&D being introduced to it by 4E, I had my concerns that it might generate more of the brand of player who never considers using their abilities outside of battle in creative ways.
I had other problems with it besides that, but that's not to say 4E was unplayable. There were some things it did I liked - like the minions - and the way it handled boss monsters by giving them multiple turns was interesting (and I'm glad 5E incremented on that with Legendary status, rather than eschewing it entirely). But in the end, I was happy when 5E came out. It's not a perfect system either and I've been considering cribbing a few things from 4E (minions, for example), but otherwise I'm enjoying 5E way more.
@@Draeckon the thing is, and "encounter" isn't JUST combat. That's just what everyone assumed. Social encounters, exploration encounters and puzzle/trap encounters are all encounters as well. The language as to how often you could use your powers wasn't an issue if you used the proper definition for encounters.
Was 4e perfect? No, but no edition is. My point is I dont think 4e deserves the amount of ire it receives, it IS a good edition.
You asked if we steal pieces from other editions. I'm running a campaign on Ixalan, and i thought the Hidden Mask of Tomoachan (something like that) from original edition would be a nice dungeon for an Inca type of culture. Found out it has been remade for 5e on Tales from the Yawning Portal. Nice add to te campaign, with my adjustments of course.
(Edit: sorry for the novel, I'm a verbose fella)
This video got me thinking about encounters, but didn't answer a question I've been pondering (exactly) lately. I've found as a DM, that I've been *pretty* good at designing big, fun boss fights. High difficulty, complex blends of enemies, unique and scary homebrew creatures, etc etc.
But what I feel my campaign has been lacking in, is easier fights along the way that don't take 30 minutes to run, but still feel interesting and enjoyable for the players. The efforts I've made so far feel like the players more or less stomp the badguy(s) I send at them in usually no more than 1 (MAYBE) two rounds.
Recently, I've attempted to use more ambushes to make these fights feel more interesting. By adding the sudden surprise (and the surprise round for the enemies) I feel it's creating a *better* experience. But it still seems to be missing that sense of danger I love to create.
I want the players to get some confidence in these fights, but I don't want them to feel *overconfident* in the boss fight! Besides the ideas in this very helpful video (ie mixed unit encounters, etc) are there any ideas/suggestions you can think of that help make *small* encounters, still feel rewarding and fun? Thanks!
Love that Tommy Boy reference!
Awesome movie! :)
I'm just here to give you props for that 'Tommy Boy' reference.
Thanks!
Totally stealing the Hobgoblin Sentinal Idea! That is gold and will work well with my Army of Wights attacking the land!
To be honest, I homebrew or modify many of my monsters. The encounter I'm most proud of is a kind of crystal golem with an adaptive shield that gives it resistance to damage types it was recently hit with, forcing players to work with different ways of attacking. This one had four flying minions who were weak on their own, but could support the golem and also make a powerful AoE attack together, that dealt damage in a triangle between three of them.
Fourth adition is more tactical amd mechanic based the issue people genraly have is its restrictions on rp as it has many mny rules with too many core rule books , it plays like a strategy video game rather than a pen and paper rpg
I've heard similar things about it. I never played it myself but I've heard that others either loved it or didn't like it at all.
4e was nothing like a video game. Its primary focus of COMBAT, was COMBAT, **WHO'D OF THOUGHT THE COMBAT PORTION OF THE BOOK WAS DEDICATED TO FUCKIN COMBAT???**
People like you merely called it a video game, or an mmo, when it still had plenty of great skill checks and unique ways to use powers and feats outside of combat. My own character who was my first character for dnd, had plenty of options of backstory, plenty of options for races, plenty of options for deities, and despite choosing a class, i was able to select what sort of playstyle they'd have, controller, single target dps, aoe target dps, and even then when i was LEVELING UP AND GRABBING FEATS, there was plenty of noncombat options and roleplay options, a inquisitive rogue in our party specifically grabbed a feat to give him a strong and effective bonus on insight checks to try and match my insanely high deception. there was more than plenty of roleplay both from this new group of players and interesting uses of spells/powers.
There is nothing wrong with a dnd game book ON COMBAT focusing on strategy and special playstyles, especially when that's exactly what is lacking in 5e, complex strategies and personal play styles. Now in 5e if youre a caster, you can be a mix of literally any caster, controller, aoe damage dealer, etc. while 5e greatly lacks single target damaging spells that my sorceror with twin spell asked me for a stronger higher level spell version of chromatic orb just to keep his playstyle at higher levels.
4e was a great and welcome edition, made to make people able to play dnd across different games, universes, and DMs without the issues we now have again in 5e of characters having special feats from some book, or overpowered magic items for their level. 4e was made to be standardized and allow people who cant game because of lifes events, able to join in, it was especially standardized for online play.
Please dont EVER say that about 4e again i fuckin swear...
@@elgatochurro your summary seems to match what OP stated...Passion leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to the dark side.
@@anthonynorman7545 yes and I cant stand this idea that they tried to "make an mmo" or such when each creator of 4e was actually just trying to make a new system of dnd for the digital age, the online expansion weve all had. If dnd wanted to be an mmo, its be simple and even profitable and theyd be in charge of the SERVERS AND WEBSITE, instead it's still books being sold at your local game store.
@@elgatochurro I think you should reread the OP. It seems like they were trying to make 4e more similar to video games than a pen and paper rpg. That's not an insult.
On the note of Rakshasas, campaign/encounter/one-shot I've always wanted to run/play: Rakshasa king who's paranoia leads him to build a palace where each entrance leads into a room with a permanent aura of detect magic. All visitors are required to turn in all magic items. The throne room itself is beautiful, filled with tastefully displayed sculptures, gorgeous tapestries and paintings, and is also an anti-magic field. Rakshasa has a "key" to the anti-magic field and can use magic, has guards stationed around each door to call in and more than can arrive in a few rounds, and the players are stripped of most of their equipment. However, two things 1. If the key to the anti-magic field is taken/destroyed it will either dissipate or the Rakshasa will also be unable to use magic (DM's discretion based on what they think makes more sense) 2. Each piece of art destroyed enrages the Rakshasa, driving them to ever more erratic actions.
The Rakshasa's paranoia is well-known and players can find out about the detect magic by asking almost anyone, the throne room by asking those who would have visited or otherwise have access, and the borderline obsessive love of art can be found out by either taking the palace tour and logic-ing it out themselves (it's basically a museum and while paranoid, the Rakshasa also wants to display his wealth/beauty, though the tour is limited to certain areas of the palace) or asking merchants/artisans in the area.
Best Chris Farley impression I've heard in a while
for the card recommendation i use an excel for my encounters. its a bit extra prep but i can keep track of initiative and HP on it plus i can refer tu pictures of the stat blocks i paste on the docs
Imagination is a weapon. Those who lack it always die first
Is this a Goblin Slayer quote?
Richard Ties Indeed, traveler.
I like to give my bosses unique abilities. Alot of players know the Monster abilities and know how to counter them. So, using special abilities, it makes things much more dynamic.
I just always photocopy and print out some stat blocks for whatever monsters I plan to use that session, then stick them with my DM notes. I also like sticking at least one enemy type per major encounter that can possibly permanently fuck up a PC by means of either crippling them or body horror: like if I have some mind flayers, I'll stick some intellect devourers there, or I'll have a Spawn of Kyuss (from Volo's) with a group of cultists. I don't do this all the time, but I do do it quite a bit.
One encounter I enjoyed as a dm was willow wisp and shambling mound. Wisps can heal the shambling mound and go invisible. When the mound dies wisp can consume life on it.
I like to put monsters on each other to mix abilities like kobolds on giant lizards the kobolds get a climb speed and their pack tactics is always going
So like kobolds riding giant lizards? Yeah mounted monsters are fun.
4e can burn in the 9 hells.
I frequently use stuff from 3.5 though.
I think my favorite encounter I made was for a one shot campaign where they have a dark room with two zombies and two skeletons. There is a pit and only two paths to the other side. It was a fun encounter that wasn’t meant to be hard. They had a fun time.
My classes are less stat oriented but more function based
Horde - throw them in large numbers and in formations (goblins, kobolds, etc)
Elite - leader of sub group or the caged animal (ogre’s, champion, etc)
Boss- leader of a group *can become high level elites based on Power Level* (Kraken, Young Red Dragon, etc)
Specialist - either don’t fight or fight weirdly i.e. stealth/artillery (Noble, Hell Engine, etc)
This allows for flexible categories that are useful but you still have to think critically when designing an encounter
I like it. Good way to think about it too. What do you call throwing Hordes of Elite Bosses at the PCs? A TPK Specialist?🔥 😈🔥
The party being overpowered
*4th edition had a lot of awesome concepts .*
*The biggest problem with Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition is it is called Dungeons & Dragons an all the inherent presumptions & habits players have .*
*The 2nd Problem with Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition is that it was very deep in combat but very light in out side of combat situations ( except stuff tangentially related to combat ) .*
Nice Wheel of Time collection. Props.
Personally I think more about the story and base the encounter around that. Over looking at monsters I like. The story should drive what monsters you pick over anything else. Like currently my group is playing in weird fantasy dystopian story line. So yes lots of orcs and goblins. But the story is what drives my game forward and my players are loving it. And not one encounter has been anything but orcs, goblins, or drow. Worry less about encounter and more about story. My last game on Thursday had no encounters at all and my players threw a fit when I called it at midnight, because they wanted more story. Encounters though a super fun part of the game remember as a dm if your story is on point, the players are okay with any encounter that fits in your story.
I think I run a slightly different flavor of DnD. There is always a story, but I heavily embrace the wargame side of DnD. 90% of the rules and character sheet are build around combat, after all. I enjoy heavy story and less combat games, too, but I feel like if I wanted to run a game like that I'd probably pick a game system more suited to it. This is just my personal take on things. Not saying there is a right or wrong way to play DnD.
Personally, I like to use 3.5e prestige classes to make interesting NPC bosses
Maybe even armies or groups with weaker prestige classes
Obviously I change the abilities for 5e
Happened just yesterday, we were playing Pathfinder and walking around what we think is a giant creature's belly, we crossed some sort of beam or ship's mast to go from one island to another and avoid the acid water, our witch and fighter stayed behind and were going to make their way when suddenly, a gigantic Owlbear appears and grabs our fighter, almost killing him instantly (we are level 2 atm), now, our witch is not focused on DPS, he mainly buffs and debuffs, so there was no way he could take on an owlbear by his own. Me, a rogue and my friend monk, we just jumped back on that mast and rushed back (we got good rolls and had good athletics), witch just started unleashing every debuff he had upon the owlbear. Long story short, through a combination of positioning, debuffing, good rolls and our witch even tanking the splash damage from an alchemist's bomb, we stun-locked the owlbear, gave him a severe beating, and our fighter was also able to survive
I’m a big fan of second edition.... and would love a retro campaign
I started with 2e. 😀
Recently I played the basic rules (pre 1st ed) and then 1st edition at a convention and it was tons of fun. High nostalgia factor.
Muscle wizard?
Would you consider adding images of the things you're talking about?
Maybe like an image relevant to a subject, or just the monster/character to giva a visual of the situation for some prospective new players? (not necessarily full screen)
Just a suggestion, of course.
Leaders a good example is evil paladins say of an oath of conquest who is hobgoblin crusader of Nemog-Geaya, nothing like a smack down between heroic paladins and wikid black knights.
Thank you for that great video! Very instructional!! One question: How many encounters of each difficulty should be in a campaign? For example, is one easy, one hard and two deadlies (including the boss fight) a good starting point?
Once my players had to deal with a tribe of gnolls that raised pet death dogs and had manticore allies that gnoll archers would ride into battle. That got pretty interesting.
Luke. Could you tell us how to run dragons? How it shoud be?
Nice category listing really helpful. :D
Thanks dude! 👊
I dm pathfinder with some stuff incorporated from 5e. Kind of weird but works pretty well I think.
Can you tell me more?
I don't have an opinion of 4th as me and my friends still play 2nd edition. We just couldn't get past the changes in 3rd that seemed to make no sense so we stuck with what we loved.
There is no foe more terrifying than an Ork Barbarian with max strength and only 1 intelligence.
I think Matt Coleville pretty much nailed why every good DM should be using 4E at least for the monsters and combat encounters.
I enjoyed 4ed personally, a very different game, but an extremely enjoyable one, certainly the best edition for combat encounters, by a long way. I was playing pathfinder and 4ed at the same time, and combat in 4ed was always far more enjoyable and memorable... and I'd say that still rings true today.
I have the most trouble with lv1 battle building. Give me a clue?
The thing that screwed 4th edition was its actual game mechanics. everything else about it was artistically amazing and creative and just gorgeous
4th edition had many useful and fun concepts. Nothing wrong with stealing the best bits
My current Master piece Encounter and Central tension for the Region.
Trolls (one dimensional monster) attacking a town since the PC's killed the BBEG who kept the trolls in check.
Slaadi who reproduce by infecting a humanoid with a chest burster ( usually kills the victim and slows their reproduction due to lack of victims) but together these monsters form a Exponentially growing Threat.
Yeah, the fact that those monster boxes don't include ALL of them really bothers me. So, Ive just decided not to go there. But, when I am prepping for a session I may make my own similar to how youve done. Thanks for the great ideas!
I use the 4e monster categories all the time. I also use the 4e MM for interesting monster ability ideas.
What about giving the hobgoblins the sentinel feet and the polearm master feet that could be nasty. Ps good idea to use feet on monsters i would never have thought of that. 👍
Yep, works amazingly well! I've given sentinel and polearm mastery to enemies before. Look on my players faces was priceless. Lol
🤣🤣🤣😂😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂👍
how about no?
Put them in a phalanx, with wizards on the back. That way you can use low-ish level monsters against high level PCs
I actually play that as a fighter
Just getting interested in D&D but isn't 5e supposed to be the most flexible edition?
Can someone tell me what is wrong with 4th edition I don't dm often and have only played 5e
There are apps that allow you to build encounters if you use a pad or phone while DMing. Much cheaper and less effort than buying/making cards. At least, there are some for Pathfinder, but I'd assume such a thing has to exist for 5e as well.
kobold fight club
all people have abilities on their own
select monsters that only one or 2 off the party off 6 can kill
but make sure its not to strong enemies but
they need to work together with using their powers to beat their specific enemies with the stuff they can do
like
person one has fire
person two has ice
person three has sword
person four has bow
enemy one is immume to fire but weak to ice
some enemies are only vurnlrable (idk) to melee or only to ranged attacks
and one is immume to ice and fire and elements but needs normal attacks to beat
stuff like that
*I freely play D&D 3/3.5 , 4th & 5th Editions and borrow stuff from D&D 0e , Be , A1e , A2e , 3/3.5e , 4e , 5e and Pathfinder 1e & 2e .*
*I might post videos on them in the future .*
I currently play in 2 different campaigns with 2 different dungeon masters and the difference between them is pretty obvious. One of them tends to have single insanely powerful enemies that reduce the damage we can do and tries to mess with the party dynamics by controlling the PC's minds. Everytime we face these we almost always have the same strategy because the party has a good mix of players. The 4 melee characters dash in and try to distract the monster while my ranger and the warlock try to force it back to provoke opportunity attacks. Its not the most interesting at times.On the other hand with a similar group of players in the other campaign we have a lot more issues as that DM usually throws in complex surroundings and numerous weaker creatures for us to face and it relies on the party being in a good position and utilizing every characters abilities to get out of it. Definitely a lot more interesting and we always walk out with a sense of accomplishment at being able to be in the correct position within the engagement when we need to be.
What do you think of an encounter of elite goblins who are profisint in a shild wall with archers in the back?
Sounds like fun!!! Also give the goblins halberds, the sentinel feat, and the two-handed weapon feat. :D
Thanks
I LOVE the tommy boy reference!
I was thinking about making an encounter with a Venom Troll, Troglodytes, and a poisonous Water Weird in and around a desert oasis surrounded by a dragon skeleton and a cursed sand storm from the elemental plane of earth
I'm a big fan of all your tips but I noticed a small mistake with your hobgoblin example in this video. Sentinel allows you to stop an enemy on an oppurtunity attack. Also the only way to attack an enemy when they enter your range is with polearm expert.
Ah great point. Thanks. All that stuff sometimes blurs together for me. 😂
I haven't played 4th edition but I've looked through the books and just by looking at them I think there is way more potential in there than a lot of people give it credit for. Almost everything I look at in any of the 4e books are better than what's in the 5e books. For example the sentient magic items section has advice for how to roleplay the item for every type of relationship it can have with it's wielder. 5e should have been a combination of 3.5 and 4th edition, huge missed opportunity there. Hopefully that's what they'll do with 6e if we can all suffer through the rest of the 5e which only skates by with us creating our own rules or homebrewing the broken or unexplained systems there are in the books.
The leader (from memory) heals and supports them, they have similar stats to a solider except higher hp
Loved the tommy boy reference
With me for a 20 room dungeon i find 20 not too big or too small just the size of Montreal lol i do 5 types of monsters but i also try 3 out side the dungeon
Sentinel Hobgoblins? The warlock laughs at their range
how tf do you not have more subscribers
I'm working on it. 😁
If you'd like to help grow the channel, share with your friends, on social media, Reddit, all that cool jazz. 😁
@@theDMLair definitely will, my good man. Keep up the good work!
Anyone else notice he pulled a Sam Riegel with the way he pronounced Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes?
Meanwhile, I am copying the stats blocks of my monsters by hand in my campaing notebook like I'm living in the middle ages 🤣
I feel like the leader type of monster is only really relevant when your dealing with an intelligent, numerous, and organised enemy. Which doesn't really come up much in DnD. Furthermore the "leader"abilities could be replaced with the appropriate application of actual tactics.
My suggestion is to create a fact-sheet with all of the stats needed (on one page).
Personally I like a good puzzle and enjoying thinking tactically however role playing a character sometimes my character doesn't. I don't disagree with this concept. I think it does make things interesting. But I also think that a lot of times people forget to continue role playing during combat as well. That being said I think a party that has traveled together for awhile would have fallen into a good routine and these fights could be introduced slowly
thanks for this one
Love your show.
Thanks! 😁
I use to play (and briefly DM) 3.5e, but since coming back into the game in 5e, you're the first person I heard mention that 4e even exists! That says something about 4e I think...
I started seriously reading about D&D around the time when 3.5e and 4e were fighting the strongest for popularity ;)
Having just fallen in love with 5e, the most important things to know are:
3.5 felt the most thematically familiar to people who grew up on the original D&D, but the math was nightmarishly complicated with too many moving parts for new players who didn’t love spending hours of their free time doing math homework as much as I do
4e was more mathematically streamlined, but thematically felt more like the tabletop version of a video game than like an actual tabletop game
Whereas 5e combines the thematic familiarity of 3.5 with the mathematical simplicity of 4e :)
Tommy boy! Lol nice reference
Great Tommy Boy reference there lol
So like the Phalanx army strategy
Lol. I love Tommy Boy and that speech.
Thanks! 😁