Welcome back to this series about helping D&D 4e DM’s keep up with players who manage to become more performing than the game’s default assumption.
In part 1, I described the “Secret Synergy Bonus” that made players a lot better at dealing with combat encounters that should otherwise be more challenging. Then in part 2, I started sharing some solutions to bring challenges back to combat encounters, some bad and some easy to implement.
Today, I want to present ideas to make you think about implementing more elaborate solutions to this very interesting phenomenon. I find the Synergy Bonus to be a very cool aspect of D&D 4e, I’m glad it exists, I just wish it was easier for DMs to deal with when it crops up. Fortunately, the game offers the best DM toolbox ever created to deal with such issues, all it needs is some creativity and a little flair for “fun” dirty tricks.
Ruin the PCs’ Game Plan
As my players developed into elite adventurers, I noticed that there was a method to their efficiency. They would pick or settle on a strong point on the battle map. The defenders and leaders would occupy it by forming a line against which the monsters would invariably crash. The melee striker would then close in and create a triangle with that line, catching monsters in the middle and dishing massive damage. The controllers and ranged strikers would just stand behind the line and deal death from afar.
I noticed that the sooner the PCs established this (or similar) pattern, the faster they took control of the fight. That’s what I call the PCs’ game plan. It occurred to me that my goal should be to try to break that plan to swing momentum toward my monsters long enough to worry the players. Turns out that it worked!
Examples:
- Having lurkers pop behind the ranged PCs a few rounds into the fight
- Having defenders get snatched by flying/tentacled monsters and dropped in the middle of monsters/ in a trap
- Forcing high damage striker to attack minions before reaching juicer targets.
- Traps/magical effects that hit large areas and cause forced movement, sending PCs flying all over the place
Of course the PCs will eventually reestablish control of the fight, but chances are more resources will have been spent and the players will feel more satisfied with the challenge.
Complex Encounters
As I said yesterday, mixing monsters, terrain and traps together can make for phenomenal encounters. While you can pick and chose encounter elements rapidly as a quick fix, a DM willing to invest some more time can develop his own evil combos and synergies that will rival the PC’s. Lots of monsters have powers that combine together and with many fantastic terrain and traps. I personally love ‘pinball’ effects where PCs are thrown left and right on the battlefield into traps and ‘interesting’ terrain.
The trick is to combine various elements together and create interrelationships between them. Traps are cooler when they interact with PCs and Monsters, fantastic terrain can hide a monster or push creatures into traps and so forth.
Here’s a simple example:
A cave encounter features a bunch of Kuo Toa (Insane Fish men), a few 3X3 pools of what’s apparently water and many Stalagtites/Stalagmites.
The Stalagmites provide cover and have truncated tops that are great shooting platforms for ranged creatures. They can be climbed but they are covered by some gunky sap that deals acid damage to climbers and slows climbing.
The Stalagtites have been weakened by the acidic gunk such that whenever a creature walks within 1 square of one, it falls and crashes in a burst attack (vs Ref), dealing damage and immobilizing creatures hit by it (It also creates difficult terrain).
The pools are very acidic (notice a theme here?) and slightly neurotoxic. They deal acid damage every per round (5 per tier) and slow any creatures in it (until end of next turn).
But, in those pools are… wait for it…
ACID SHARKS! (Thank you Rich Burlew!)
They are immune to the pool’s effect and have a Grab Bite power, keeping PCs in the pool, getting burned and eaten at the same time.
Finally, the Kuo Toa leader is a Kuo Toa Whip, a controller whose power set includes Sliding PCs….into the stalagmite and pool.
Add a few Brutes, Minions, Artillery (on the Stalagtites) or Skirmishers and you have a a challenging encounter for your players.
Of course, if your players are truly at “that point”, they’ll eventually crack your setup and start throwing monsters into the pool so THEY get eaten by a shark… but that’s part of the fun of it all no?
For a more extreme example here’s an entry I sent for the Wizards of the Coast Holiday Encounter Contest a few weeks back. It’s a toy factory line made of dangerous traps. All monsters have forced movement powers and the line has 2 control panels to trigger traps out of sequence or reverse the direction the whole thing is going. Tons of fun.
Adding complex elements to split the PCs, surprise them and screw their game is the way to catch up to them.
Make Encounters not about Combat Anymore
If the players have reached a point where combat is almost always too easy for them. You may prefer to move away from hyper crunchy encounters (like the examples above) and go another way. You might want to have encounters stop being primarily about combat.
What if combat occurred in encounters where PCs had more pressings things to do? You create scenes where PCs need to perform critical tasks that can’t be interrupted (usually a high-tension skill challenge, one where each failure is harsh for the PCs) and then have monsters come and interrupt the fun! Now PCs must deal with the Skill Challenge and the monsters.
In the current issue of Kobold Quarterly, I wrote an article exactly about using skill challenges in combat (woot 2 plugs in one post) to add new dimensions to them (Woot, plug!).
Other examples:
- PCs must find an object hidden in an area, the longer they search for it, the more monsters pop out and attack
- Indiana Jones Special: The monsters have different roles: Vermin Swarms, Defenders and Rival adventurers!
- Allied Load Bearing King just died and PCs must escape the crumbling castle or be crushed underneath it (a great Skill Challenge just there). However, the elite guards sworn to die with their deceased sovereign face the PCs, accusing them of murder as the castle crumbles around them (Embedded Skill Challenge or Combat!)!
I could write whole posts about those 3 subjects, and maybe I will if there’s a demand for it. This is just a few examples to get your brain going. The Secret Synergy bonus is a great feature of 4e, it’s just that it’s a lot easier to stumble upon it than it is for the DM to master all the elements of the impressive DM’s toolbox to act as a counterweight to it.
I may also revisit this later with a post about helping players transition to the synergistic state.
Thanks for reading, I hope you’ve enjoyed my 1st full series here. I’m starting to enjoy myself a lot!
Very nice. I like the bit about ruining the PCs’ game plan, although it should probably be used in moderation. A striker is going to get very unhappy if you keep shutting him out from high-damage targets. I really, though, like the idea of introducing unexpected events to shake up the PCs and their plan. (Makes me think of the Joker… 😉 )
Ultimately, I think that’s where the solution lies. Hit ’em fast, and unexpectedly, so that they have to plan on the fly. Use shifting tactics. I really like the idea that when you start an encounter, the players suffer from an information disadvantage. You know…I think that’s probably the biggest thing that DMs have to combat synergy: the information disadvantage. The PC plans can only work so much, until what they don’t know comes in and bites them.
.-= Andy´s last blog ..Something We Can Relate To =-.
@Andy: Good point. I frequently have tricks in my combat encounter that appears mid fight. My players are now used to it and they are constantly on their guard for the next surprise that will change the face of the encounter. The other side effect of this is that they will refrain from committing all their strongest attack at the start of a fight not knowing what might come up…
I agree that messing with the gameplan should be limited in scope. Just enough to bring players to the ‘oh Crap!’ point of fights that I love the most. At that point, players are half-excited and half-convinced that you’re trying to kill them.
Then you let combat take it’s course.
Yan is more patient than I am (and his game sessions last much longer than mine) so he often has surprises pop up on round 7 or 8 while I tend to bunch everything in rounds 2-4.
As Yan says, seeing players adapt to your dirty trick is cool… and an indicator you need to take another tack to keep things excited.
.-= ChattyDM´s last blog ..Keeping up with the PCs: Part 2, What Not to Do and Quick Fixes =-.
I like your recommendations. After reading about what your players do, although mine are pretty good, they’re still not nearly as coordinated as yours are. Still, mine are having a pretty easy time with most encounters.
I am going to end my 75% hp houserule, but will still keep with the +5 damage/+10 damage suggestion, as well as the extra damage at bloodied that Mike Shea recommends.
However, after looking at the math, I’ve realized how little difference there is between the Low/Medium/High damage amounts on Page 42. I’ll discuss this a bit further on my blog later today.
.-= Dean´s last blog ..What I want WotC to do in 2011 =-.
In hindsight, I might not have analyzed the differences of damage all that much. If they are that close from one another, the 5 pts per tier is a good rule of thumb… But I think that disrupting the PC’s gameplan and creating encounters with synergistic elements is a more effective solution.
Combining everything is also great for really good players and Tournament adventures should be based on that.
.-= ChattyDM´s last blog ..Keeping up with the PCs: Part 2, What Not to Do and Quick Fixes =-.
I would say more like round 3 or 4 since a fight typically last less then 7 round… Round 7 is usually something that will end the fight… The enemy flees or surrender…
Yes I have more time for my game then yours although they are less frequent and therefore the total game time his pretty much the same.
And you don’t want to do this with the starting, warmup fights all the time, or you, the DM are really metagaming and it is DM v. Party, rather than Party v. Encounter. If your group is good with that, I guess it is okay. But most groups I’ve been in would be at Us v. Them and probably disintegrate.
However, the general premise is good. Take the strengths of your critters, traps and terrain into account and maximize them. If the Party is hitting the 3rd or 4th encounter, then foes should be starting to react to their SOP.
But just because you know the party is going to do X, Y and Z, you as the DM shouldn’t automatically set things up to squash it, I don’t think.
It is a matter of degree and frequency, I think.
Right. What I meant to say is that you can sometimes afford these 7 rounds to last more than 2-3 hours. So you may have a bit more flexibility adding monsters and surprises. But yeah… a new monster can arrive at the point where it gets too easy and bring back challenge.
@Dean: Totally. Some encounters have to be straight up. You have to let your tactician win more easily so they get their motivations answered. Screwing the gameplan is one of many elaborate methods DMs have in their toolbox.
What I’m saying here is the DM equivalent of Civilization’s AI. If you can’t keep up with the player’s expertise and synergies, use all the tricks at your disposal to bring back encounters to the ‘Challenging’ level, one where the outcome of the fight is not determined after the first d20 roll.
Thanks for the feedback.
.-= ChattyDM´s last blog ..Keeping up with the PCs: Part 2, What Not to Do and Quick Fixes =-.
If you hadn’t written this series of posts, though it may have come up eventually in one of our frequent discussions, I may never have thought so much about my player’s synergy and how it is effecting my encounters. Thanks again Phil!
I am definitely going to ruin some of my party’s game plans now, though I’ve always been good at throwing surprise monsters at ranged strikers now my party is light on strikers and heavy on leaders so I think dealing more damage might be part of the solution.
I love the idea of making combat the least important part of an encounter. This esepcially works with rituals. It also reminds me of the most terrifying combat in an old 7th Sea game. The characters were fighting the guards of a cardinal while he was standing back and reading the rites of excommunication!
Great advice.
A little while ago my players and i got fed up with the Grind of combat and i started experimenting with other methods to run combat which have both been fun and interesting. While it may not help with dealing with Synergy bonuses it might help shake things up a bit.
Firstly, i love my minis and i use them often, but sometimes the battle maps and minis can detract from a battle. Every now and then, i don’t use them at all and rely on descriptions and skills to run battle. Using the Att and Dmg as oppossing skill checks to AC and HP. Some of the best and biggest battle scenes recently haven’t involved mini’s. A massive chase scene really came to life through the shared descriptions of my players and myself on the environment and the actions. Previous chases that involved combat died once that minis hit the mat.
Secondly, Story is the biggest part of my dnd campaign and i find it very helpful to focus on the story elements of the battle instead of the maths and mechanics. This being said, i tend to throw in extra monster abilities and traps during combat when i feel it helps to improve the story.
Finally, my monsters go hard and fast, i always used increased damage and each monster has some simple objectives to achieve. Ranging from making a PC bloodied, to sacrificing the princess before dying. The Pc’s don’t know the exact objectives of each monster but have hints given to them. Once a monster completes his objective, the next hit kills it. Depending on how many objectives were achieved by the monsters, affects how well the PC’s went through the battle. If all monsters pass, the PC’s fail the battle causing dificulties, either immeadiately or later on. I find this increases the battle speed as some monsters can die quickly when they shouldn’t. Primarily it removes the focus on abilities and just killing monsters for the sake of killing them but it also keeps the PC’s guessing, a small skirmish with three goblin bandits was an extremely intense battle as the Pc’s strived to defeat them before the objectives were completed, the Wizard grappled a goblin soldier for most of the battle in a back and forth epic wrestling match to stop the goblin killing a civillian (the goblin’s objective)
I hope some of these ideas are useful for someone out there.
Scott
Yes I have more time for my game then yours although they are less frequent and therefore the total game time his pretty much the same.
Yan, Chatty frequently describes seeing his players get antsy and tired near the end of a four-hour session. How do you get the same group to stay longer? I don’t want to cause a fight between you guys but I am thinking you might say “by being a more interesting DM” while Chatty would say “by being oblivious to the obvious social cues that everyone is getting tired.”
Ha! Occam’s Razor says there’s a simpler explanation. Yan plays on Saturdays/Sundays during the day, I play on Friday nights. My players start more tired and my adventure designs require me to take it into account.
But I find it interesting how you phrased that little internal discussion of yours. 🙂
Lol! Yep, I strap them on their seat and if any dares to move, I freeze them with my death stare…
So no need to be oblivious to social cues they play with me out of sheer terror….
OH, and there’s what chatty said, take your pick… 😉
I love this series of articles, and the comments. Great thoughts everyone! I feel like I have a lot of work to do to bring my encounter design up to the levels Phil is describing here. I’m inspired though, rather than daunted. Thanks!
@Scott: I’m particularly intrigued by your objective system for combats. I will absolutely experiment with this!
.-= anarkeith´s last blog ..Getting Started in D&D 4e: Entry 3: Role playing vs Role Playing and the WoW effect =-.
I had a moment and skimmed this… Apologies for commenting without reading more in-depth. I think the “Ruin the PCs Game Plan” option is ripe with potential for storytelling elements. Does it only happen in areas where they’re well known? Does this only happen when they run across highly experienced shock troopers who regularly grind adventurers to dust? Or perhaps the PCs were setup to fail somehow?
All in all this could be a blast to run. And if your players have time to grouse about how their plans didn’t work it just means you have to sell them on buying into your story more.
haha! This series of posts seems like an exact opposite to my most recent quandary, which is how to referee a campaign where the plot has been decided by the players before the campaign even starts. How to ruin the PCs game plan when they wrote the campaign plan…?
My experience of PCs becoming too hard to beat is largely that I set up encounters which they have time to plan for in advance. This is partly a consequence of my scene-to-scene style of DMing (so they always know that they’re being presented with a potential encounter when I open my mouth!) but it’s also partly because I’m a nice DM and they always seem to end up in this position. PCs with a chance to plan can often swing a significantly over-powered campaign in their favour. I suppose then the solution is more ambushes. Or more creative ambushes. And less scene-setting…
.-= faustusnotes´s last blog ..Player-driven campaigns =-.
Scott, I really like your idea of monster objectives and will definitely be “leveraging” it for my own games, thank you!
One of my biggest challenges as a DM is keeping track of monsters and which are doing what. I try to find monsters with synergistic abilities and draw up a plan to use them effectively, but my plans are usually specific to how I imagine things playing out. When the players go off script (this usually occurs by round 2 at the latest), my plan falls apart and the monsters end up behaving like old-school video game AI (“attack the nearest thing to me at all times regardless of my own helath and well-being”).
I think assigning simple objectives to each monster would be a great way to give the bad guys better focus and cohesion while requiring less planning on my part.
This could even be useful for a simple generic encounter setup, for example…
– A soldier monster engages the defender toe-to-toe for as long as possible, then attacks melee strikers if the defender goes down.
– Two skirmishers assist the soldier, providing combat advantage whenever possible. If the soldier goes down, they assist their next-closest ally.
– A brute attacks the nearest ranged damage dealer or controller, then moves to the next if its target goes down.
– Two more skirmishers try to knock the brute’s target prone and trigger its special attack.
– Two artillery are assigned to move in and provide support fire after the brute or soldier becomes bloodied.
Going to try this out during my next one-shot game and see what happens.
Valuable post, thankyou. I run a group of 11-year olds which has been getting steadily larger over time (seven now, gasp) so I am doing something right, but they dearly need the frighteners put on them.
I recently learned a great deal from the game Left4Dead. The players are attacked by huge numbers of relatively weak opponents, all the locations have multiple entrances and sometimes unexpected entrances (zombies break through the partition wall) and there are special attackers that drag players out of their fortified position and make them helpless forcing other party members to mount an urgent rescue mission. Another blinds one player temporarily and makes him or her the focus for all attacks, so that other players must provide cover. I recommend following the designer commentary track for the game one time: very thought-provoking stuff. I shall be building some of this into my next encounter….