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  1. - Top - End - #1
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    d20 Could use some advice on a high-seas module.

    I've been working on developing a custom campaign setting for 4e, centered around high-seas adventures. One of my primary methods of world building is to create a specific story for the setting and then build around that, as odd as that may sound. So, I decided to create an adventure module for this setting, which I'll use as the base for the setting's foundation. To develop the synopsis for it, I brainstormed up various ideas in sets of 6, then started putting them together. What I came up with was the following template:

    "People who visit the [Location] have been coming back with a disease called [Disease]. The area is also home to [Ship], the ship of the famous pirate captain [Captain]. In the captain's quarters is a chest containing [Artifact], an artifact rumored to [Power]."


    This is pretty much locked in as the outline for the adventure. Next, I wanted to decide how strong the PCs would start out, then use that to work out the adventure's balance. Currently, I'm thinking it's meant for a party of 3-5 PCs at Level 5, with 250gp, 1 magic weapon up to level 7, 2 magic armor items up to level 5, 3 potions of healing, and a ring of sending. Here's where I'm sort of hitting a roadblock.

    I've had the opportunity to run a campaign in 4e, but it was set in a landlocked region. This is meant to primarily take place on, in, and around the ocean, so I don't think it's appropriate to just slap a few goblin tribes in and call it a day. Also, there's something about that PC setup that doesn't feel right. It sort of seems like they might be a little over-equipped, but since I haven't been able to decide what encounters will be in this, it's hard to say.

    So, what I'm wondering is this: What's reasonable starting equipment for a 3/5-person party at level 5, and what sort of encounters could they expect, in an adventure of moderate challenge with the final rewards being a powerful magical artifact and a famous pirate ship? This entire thing is meant as a way to introduce players to the setting with a bang and some nice loot, but not in such a manner as to create a Monty Haul campaign.
    I do not think the way you think. If you try to apply your own mindset to the things I say, there will be miscommunications. If something I say seems odd to you or feels like it's missing steps, ask for clarification. I'm not some unreasonable, unknowable entity beyond your mortal comprehension, I'm just autistic and have memory problems.

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    Default Re: Could use some advice on a high-seas module.

    Have you read AD&D modules U1-U3:
    U1 - Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh
    U2 - Danger at Dunwater
    U3 - The Final Enemy

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Si...t_of_Saltmarsh

    It has some interesting parallels with what you're describing. They're my favorite set of mods from way back when in AD&D.

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    Default Re: Could use some advice on a high-seas module.

    Quote Originally Posted by MwaO View Post
    Have you read AD&D modules U1-U3:
    U1 - Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh
    U2 - Danger at Dunwater
    U3 - The Final Enemy

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Si...t_of_Saltmarsh

    It has some interesting parallels with what you're describing. They're my favorite set of mods from way back when in AD&D.
    I might give those a quick look at some point. For now, I'm more focused on creating a balanced 4e one-shot adventure. I might consider switching it to 5e if that starts to look unfeasible.
    I do not think the way you think. If you try to apply your own mindset to the things I say, there will be miscommunications. If something I say seems odd to you or feels like it's missing steps, ask for clarification. I'm not some unreasonable, unknowable entity beyond your mortal comprehension, I'm just autistic and have memory problems.

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    Default Re: Could use some advice on a high-seas module.

    Quote Originally Posted by Delicious Taffy View Post
    So, what I'm wondering is this: What's reasonable starting equipment for a 3/5-person party at level 5
    The "starting gear" for my campaigns (this is slightly more generous than the default, which is actually mentioned in the DMG, iirc) is 4 magic items of level +1, level, level -1, and level -2 with gold equal to a magic item of your level - 1 (so, for a level 5 character, that would be magic items of level 6, 5, 4, and 3 and 840 gold to spend on whatever).

    Keep in mind that you shouldn't force the players to buy a ship or other necessities of adventure (like traveling animals, which aren't the same as combat functional mounts) since (1) it doesn't really help them in combat which is what their gear and resources are supposed to do and (2) the ship is kind of "requisite" for the adventure and there isn't really any benefit to spending more on a more powerful ship, as far as the players are really concerned.

    what sort of encounters could they expect, in an adventure of moderate challenge with the final rewards being a powerful magical artifact and a famous pirate ship?
    It depends heavily upon how hard you want to hit your players and whether you have any house rules about extended rests and/or healing surges and how heavily optimized your party is. My game is pretty heavily houseruled on both accounts and I tend to have entire adventures cover an entire level without allowing extended rests until after the adventure is complete (I also have rules that normalize the number of HSs so that CON based chars don't have twice as many as non-CON based chars) and my players are pretty heavily optimized so, even at level 5 (where I start my campaigns), I tend to have 8-10 conflicts (skill challenges or combat encounters), 4-6 of which are 0-1 levels above the players, 2-4 which are 2-3 levels above the players, and 1-2 which are 4-5 levels above the players.
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    Default Re: Could use some advice on a high-seas module.

    Quote Originally Posted by Delicious Taffy View Post
    I might give those a quick look at some point. For now, I'm more focused on creating a balanced 4e one-shot adventure. I might consider switching it to 5e if that starts to look unfeasible.
    I'm not sure why the general encounter guidelines wouldn't work for you? Use MM3 stats?

    Get rid of goblins, think about how a boat combat would be interesting, etc...

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    Default Re: Could use some advice on a high-seas module.

    Quote Originally Posted by MwaO View Post
    I'm not sure why the general encounter guidelines wouldn't work for you? Use MM3 stats?

    Get rid of goblins, think about how a boat combat would be interesting, etc...
    I think I may have miscommunicated something about this, and so I apologise if that's the case. See, I ran a standard suggested encounter from the Monster Manual for a 1st-level party, and they sort of got their throats kicked in. It was the Goblin Blackblade/2 Goblin Archers/2 Fire Beetles encounter, against 3 PCs. Something went wrong with this, considering it was the first combat encounter in the game, and nobody was satisfied. My line of thinking is this: If a 3-person party can't handle that encounter, either I misread it, the combat was mishandled, or the recommended encounters are meant for a larger party. What I'm hoping to accomplish is a way to present setting-appropriate encounters that can be managed by a 3-5 person party without it becoming a curb-stomp or slog. My previous attempts at going by the Monster Manual were not well-received.

    Also, ThePurple, I love your setup and will definitely be using a similar one.
    I do not think the way you think. If you try to apply your own mindset to the things I say, there will be miscommunications. If something I say seems odd to you or feels like it's missing steps, ask for clarification. I'm not some unreasonable, unknowable entity beyond your mortal comprehension, I'm just autistic and have memory problems.

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    Default Re: Could use some advice on a high-seas module.

    Quote Originally Posted by Delicious Taffy View Post
    See, I ran a standard suggested encounter from the Monster Manual for a 1st-level party, and they sort of got their throats kicked in. It was the Goblin Blackblade/2 Goblin Archers/2 Fire Beetles encounter, against 3 PCs. Something went wrong with this, considering it was the first combat encounter in the game, and nobody was satisfied. My line of thinking is this: If a 3-person party can't handle that encounter, either I misread it, the combat was mishandled, or the recommended encounters are meant for a larger party.
    I think you didn't read how to design encounters in the DMG because it actually goes over it pretty well. The encounter in question is actually a *level 5 encounter* when pitted against 3 PCs.

    Encounters are supposed to be set up in a budgetary manner (and many of the pre-generated encounter groups are just plain *bad* so it's better to just make your own). The budget you provide yourself is based off of the level (equal to the xp reward provided by a standard rank enemy of the given level) times the number of PCs, such that a "simple" even level encounter will be a number of enemies that are equal in level to the PCs and equal in number.

    6 level 1 enemies at 100 xp each, is 600 xp. Divided across 3 PCs, that ends up being 200 xp each, which is the xp provided by a standard level 5 enemy, ergo it was actually a *level 5* encounter, not a level 1.

    I highly recommend you review and reread the encounter design rules, especially if you're running with a small party (4e is designed with a 5 person group in mind; personally, I run with 4 because it goes faster while still providing everything that the party needs).
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    Default Re: Could use some advice on a high-seas module.

    Wow, holy crap. I've really been fumbling my encounters. Thanks for the tip, I'll definitely be reviewing that section of the DMG.
    I do not think the way you think. If you try to apply your own mindset to the things I say, there will be miscommunications. If something I say seems odd to you or feels like it's missing steps, ask for clarification. I'm not some unreasonable, unknowable entity beyond your mortal comprehension, I'm just autistic and have memory problems.

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    Default Re: Could use some advice on a high-seas module.

    Quote Originally Posted by Delicious Taffy View Post
    Wow, holy crap. I've really been fumbling my encounters. Thanks for the tip, I'll definitely be reviewing that section of the DMG.
    Something that's really important that the DMG doesn't really go over particularly well is that you shouldn't really put in enemies whose levels deviate too heavily from the players'. Because defenses and attack bonuses scale with level, enemies that are too low level are basically impossible to miss and effectively incapable of hitting while the inverse is true of higher level enemies (although extremely well optimized parties in the paragon/epic tier can actually manage to handle enemies that are +5 or even higher without problem). As a rule of thumb, in the heroic tier, stick to enemies that are +/- 2 levels of your party.

    Also, don't feel beholden to the monsters that are printed. MM3 on a Business Card gives you pretty much everything you need to know about designing your own 4e enemies. As long as you stick to that math and don't go crazy with status effects (e.g. at-will dazes or stuns in heroic tier), it should be all you need when coming up with functional minions, standards, and elites (solos tend to need their action economy tweaked to some extent so, until you've had a bit of experience running the *well made* MM3 and later solos, don't try making your own).

    I'm actually pretty confident that most of us that still run 4e don't even bother *using* written monsters and prefer to just make our own (such that they fit our campaigns rather than the inverse).
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    Default Re: Could use some advice on a high-seas module.

    Quote Originally Posted by ThePurple View Post
    As a rule of thumb, in the heroic tier, stick to enemies that are +/- 2 levels of your party.
    Right. Also, another important thing to remember is that monsters don't use the same rules that PCs do in creation. An evil Wizard PC is built using PC rules. An evil Wizard NPC is built using monster rules.

    And in that context:
    A Solo = Elite+5 levels = Standard + 9 levels = Minion + 17 levels in terms of XP usually.

    So if you're challenging a 1st level 5 person party, you can throw a 1st level Solo at them. You don't throw a 6th level Elite at them or 10th level Standard or 18th level Minion. Now let's say the party chases off the Solo and it vows revenge. At 6th level, it has gotten some friends together to beat up the PCs. You can and should rewrite him up as a 6th level Elite, because it'll be boring as a 1st level Solo. Again, its plans fail and it runs away. The party gets up to 10th level and this time, it is so desperate for revenge that it isn't even in charge. And now it can and should be written up as a 10th level standard. Bad things happen, it runs away. It decides maybe it isn't a good idea to challenge the PCs. It signs up for some evil plan for some 18th level Solo far away from the PCs. And then 18th level arrives and one of the PCs accidentally kills the long-time threat by sneezing on it haphazardly. Because he's now an 18th level Minion.

    And you can justify this by saying basically:
    When it was a 1st level Solo, it could tell it way outmatched the PCs one on one, so took lots of risks. Its burst 2 attack with giant club would be something just stupid to attempt with experienced(read 6th level adventurers), so it goes away. Ditto the extra action point - representing no fear. Which all goes away at 10th. At 18th, it is just desperate to try to survive, so it sticks to the easiest, least risky option.

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    Default Re: Could use some advice on a high-seas module.

    Quote Originally Posted by MwaO View Post
    And in that context:
    A Solo = Elite+5 levels = Standard + 9 levels = Minion + 17 levels in terms of XP usually.
    While I don't like to feel beholden to specific level conversions (I generally go by tier, such that an epic standard is a heroic solo), I do a lot of this kind of stuff except in reverse. In one of my games, I wanted the group to fight a Balor as a boss so I took it down to the party's level (reducing defenses, damage, hp) and made it solo (doubling hp, improving its action economy). In one epic tier campaign set in Eberron's Argonessen (the "continent of dragons" for those unaware of Eberron), I had wyrmlings as epic tier minions, young dragons as standard, adults as elites, and only ancient dragons were still solos (and, even then, at the end of the epic tier, the ancients would be relegated to elite status while only the truly legendary great wyrm dragons like Ashardalon, sorcerer-kings, and the Dragon of Tyr would be done as solos). I've used this trick several times, in fact, when I want to have a broodmother dragon fight in the vein of Onyxia from WoW.
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    Default Re: Could use some advice on a high-seas module.

    Quote Originally Posted by MwaO View Post
    When it was a 1st level Solo, it could tell it way outmatched the PCs one on one, so took lots of risks. Its burst 2 attack with giant club would be something just stupid to attempt with experienced(read 6th level adventurers), so it goes away. Ditto the extra action point - representing no fear. Which all goes away at 10th. At 18th, it is just desperate to try to survive, so it sticks to the easiest, least risky option.
    I do this a lot. I've always wished there was a category halfway between Standard and Minion.

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    Default Re: Could use some advice on a high-seas module.

    Quote Originally Posted by Beoric View Post
    I do this a lot. I've always wished there was a category halfway between Standard and Minion.
    I'm thinking about doing this with Lurker, since I don't think "Lurker" really works as a role. Compared to a standard, lurkers would have half hp, deal full damage, but only really participate in combat every other round (standard action to prep an attack, standard action to attack). Lurker solo never really worked for me since the entire lurker shtick is that they disappear and then attack (which, on a solo, means that you've got 4-5 standard enemies disappearing all at once). Doing it as a rank rather than a role makes a lot more sense to me (and makes including them much more effective). Most traditional lurker enemies would then just be skirmishers or controllers.

    I've seen some other people do a similar thing with "super minions" that take 2 hits: the first hit bloodies them and the second hit kills them (crits instantly kill them). Just like with my lurker rank, 2 super minions equal 1 standard.
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    Default Re: Could use some advice on a high-seas module.

    Quote Originally Posted by Beoric View Post
    I do this a lot. I've always wished there was a category halfway between Standard and Minion.
    I've played around with using half monsters. Something like half the hit points, and three fifths or two thirds the damage. They fill up the battle mat nicely, and players can thin their numbers out fairly fast to reduce incoming damage.

    For two-hit minions, you could also add a damage threshold that will kill them with one hit, to favour PCs with large single-target damage. Also, IIRC there is one printed minion that has a 50% chance to not die the first time it is hit.
    Last edited by Excession; 2017-05-02 at 08:04 PM.

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    Default Re: Could use some advice on a high-seas module.

    Quote Originally Posted by Excession View Post
    For two-hit minions, you could also add a damage threshold that will kill them with one hit, to favour PCs with large single-target damage. Also, IIRC there is one printed minion that has a 50% chance to not die the first time it is hit.
    I've been doing this with my normal minions for a while now to reduce the impact of auto-hit mechanisms (like monk Flurry of Blows and Cleave) which end up trivializing minions pretty quickly. In general, I'll either have a minion get a free attack upon expiry (after a single hit), allow them a saving throw (once/round, such that 2 attacks in a single round will kill them) to avoid dying (if the damage wasn't above the threshold), or make it so that they're dazed until EoE after the first hit and dead on the second (if the damage wasn't above the threshold). In doing so, I also tend to get rid of the "never take damage on a miss" part of the minion rank as well (so that blowing a daily on a big bunch of minions *does* actually get rid of them all, as a daily should).

    The threshold for damage that I tend to use is 5 + 1/2 level. It's low enough that a missed daily will still break the damage threshold (which I think is appropriate) but high enough that you're not going to see minions dying to automatic damage effects.
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    Default Re: Could use some advice on a high-seas module.

    I like your variety of possibilities, ThePurple. Lots of ways to change battles.

    I've been using superminions that take any two instances of damage to fell, and the first one bloodies them -- which I like because a lot of PC effects deal with the bloodied condition. A single shot will kill if it's a crit, it's a hit with a striker mechanism, it's a hit from a hidden foe, or with any instance of damage the superminion is vulnerable to.
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    Default Re: Could use some advice on a high-seas module.

    Quote Originally Posted by Excession View Post
    I've played around with using half monsters. Something like half the hit points, and three fifths or two thirds the damage. They fill up the battle mat nicely, and players can thin their numbers out fairly fast to reduce incoming damage.

    For two-hit minions, you could also add a damage threshold that will kill them with one hit, to favour PCs with large single-target damage. Also, IIRC there is one printed minion that has a 50% chance to not die the first time it is hit.
    I'm always interested to learn how people deal with this. I use a half-standard monster with half hit points, doing three-quarters damage, and worth half XPs.

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    Default Re: Could use some advice on a high-seas module.

    Right, so I've spent some time looking through the Monster Manuals, and I've come up with a few things that fit thematically with the sort of setting I'm aiming for. Things like apes, cave fishers, crauds, kuo-toa, mimics, spawn of Ulban, crocodiles, boars, and lizardfolk seem appropriate, so now all I've got to figure out is which ones are the best fits in the environments I've designed for this module. The suggestions above have been pretty helpful, so far.
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    Default Re: Could use some advice on a high-seas module.

    Quote Originally Posted by ThePurple View Post
    I'm thinking about doing this with Lurker, since I don't think "Lurker" really works as a role.
    A solo lurker stalks the party, tries to pick off the straggler or the scout, does hit and run so the party have to stop it getting away and make it stand and fight. Kinda like predator (or the actual "Lurker"! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lurker...s_%26_Dragons))
    The elite Lurker might be working with a friend in much the same way as the solo, but there's two of them.
    The standard lurker is probably a hanger-on to something braver and tougher
    Luker minions hope to get in a single attack before anyone notices them
    I love playing in a party with a couple of power-gamers, it frees me up to be Elan!


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    Default Re: Could use some advice on a high-seas module.

    Quote Originally Posted by Duff View Post
    A solo lurker stalks the party, tries to pick off the straggler or the scout, does hit and run so the party have to stop it getting away and make it stand and fight. Kinda like predator (or the actual "Lurker"! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lurker...s_%26_Dragons))
    The elite Lurker might be working with a friend in much the same way as the solo, but there's two of them.
    The standard lurker is probably a hanger-on to something braver and tougher
    Luker minions hope to get in a single attack before anyone notices them
    Being able to identify tactics that would be used by such a creature in theory is dramatically different than figuring out a way to make the fight work as a *fun encounter* in practical terms.

    Enemies with the Lurker role are basically defined as using the following general tactic: one round out of combat and another round in combat. Stealth-y lurkers will sneak away and hide and then jump back in to stab someone really hard the next round; gargoyles will enter their stone form (becoming next to immune to all damage) and then explode out the next round for huge damage; magical lurkers vanish into the aether and then reappear in an explosion of damage the next round.

    Their stats follow suit with this intended tactic: their basic attacks, defenses, and hp all suck but their conditional damage is *extremely high*. Their defenses and hp are supposed to suck since you're only supposed to be able to attack them every other round, their basic attacks suck while their conditional attacks are *amazing* because they're supposed to disappear for a round in order to be most effective.

    This tactic is extremely fun to use on smaller (standard and minion) enemies, who can disappear from the fight while still giving the players something to do other than "prepare for them to appear" or "try and find out where they are". This tactic *doesn't* work on a solo, which is supposed to represent a vast majority of the xp and threat present on the battlefield. It works less well with elites, though a single elite lurker with a bunch of soldier/brute standards can be decent enough (if the players manage to take out the soldier/brutes before the lurker has taken much damage, it ends up turning into a similar situation with the solo).

    The kind of "fights" that you're describing with the pair of elite lurkers or the solo lurker (e.g. any fight in which a majority of the xp is supposed to come from enemies with the lurker role) works better as a skill challenge, imo, because that's what it turns into: a puzzle fight (if you're trying to deduce where the hidden lurker is in order to deal damage to it this round) or a straight up skill challenge (in which you're constantly rolling dice *other* than attack rolls in order to accomplish anything).

    On top of this, Lurkers have absurdly high burst damage and day ruining potential, which means that a solo Lurker getting a crit can *very quickly* wipe out a PC. Turning it into a rank rather than a role also opens up other interesting creations, such as Lurker Soldiers, who, be default, can only mark targets and deal a tiny modicum of damage, but deal extremely large amounts of damage with their retributive effects.
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    Default Re: Could use some advice on a high-seas module.

    I sort of like the idea of a common damage track of minions.

    1: Each minion has a HP total. Damage beyond this to a minion does nothing.
    2: If a minion takes damage, it becomes bloodied.
    3: You add up minions to a HP pool. Every HP total damage is a dead minion.

    The goal is to remove per-unit HP tracking.

    Suppose you have a 10 HP minion. If you have 10 of them, the minions have a pool of 100 HP.

    Do a fireball of 7 damage to 5 of them. 35 damage. 3 minions die, remaining 2 minions are bloodied, and the minions collectively have 65 HP.

    Hit a minion for 500 damage. It dies.

    Damage a minion for 7 damage. The minion is bloodied, and the total HP pool drops to 93.

    Now, this probably works better if you have a per-tier minion HP total. Like all Heroic minions have 10 HP, Paragon minions have 20 HP, and Epic minions have 30 HP. This makes the math easier. The downside is that auto-damage that passes such a threshold becomes qualitatively different.

    Doing so in a game where you flatten to-hit and damage would work better.

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    Flattened to-hit and damage

    No half level bonus: You don't add +1/2 level to your d20 rolls anymore.

    Presumed competence: Your to-hit with powers no longer depends on your attribute. Instead, you have a flat +3 bonus in place of your attribute, increasing to +4 at level 10 and +5 at level 20 and +6 at level 30.

    Feat bonuses to-hit are capped at +1.

    Enhancement: Enhancement bonuses to hit and defend are capped at +1. Magical gear gives you a +1, that's it.

    Weapons and Implements: All grant both an item and enhancement bonus to damage rolls. Items that used to grant an item bonus to damage grant an additional +1 per tier.

    Neck slot: Grant an enhancement bonus to saving throws.

    Armor: Grant an enhancement bonus to resist all.

    Masterwork Armor: Throw it out. Maybe replace it with armor that grants free superior armor feats.

    Heavy Armor: You get an innate +1 AC at level 10, +2 at level 20, +3 at level 30 if proficient. (+1 magic, +1 feat)

    Light Armor: Gain half your attribute bonus (round up), +2 AC.

    Non-AC defences: 12+Average of both attribute bonuses, round up. (If you have 30 str/con, you have 22 Fort. If you have 30 str/16 con, you have 19 Fort).

    Monsters:
    ATK vs AC is +5 +level/5.
    vs NAD is +3 +level/5
    AC is 14 +level/5.
    NAD average is 12 +level/5.

    Round down here.

    XP curve:
    Has to be really flattened. Basically, add up monster (level+3) and compare to sum of player (level+3).

    Multipliers of 1/4 for minion, 1x normal, 2x elite and 4x solo remain.

    Avoid using monsters more than 20 levels above or 10 levels under the party.

  22. - Top - End - #22
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    BardGuy

    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Australia

    Default Re: Could use some advice on a high-seas module.

    Quote Originally Posted by ThePurple View Post
    Being able to identify tactics that would be used by such a creature in theory is dramatically different than figuring out a way to make the fight work as a *fun encounter* in practical terms.
    Maybe your group has a different dynamic - we've had fun working out (quickly with the DM tracking our time) what order of actions will stop the wraith getting away until it's attack recharged.
    We enjoy the story of when we spotted the critter which could walk though the walls and floor. The psychic hit the floor with enough damage to chip a piece out of it so the battlemind could use lodestone lure to fish it out.
    We seem to enjoy the sure knowledge that unless we work out how to make it back off and leave us alone it's going to make the next fight harder.

    But if your group doesn't, I can see why lurker solos don't work for you.
    I love playing in a party with a couple of power-gamers, it frees me up to be Elan!


  23. - Top - End - #23
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    ThePurple's Avatar

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    Jul 2011
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    Shameland (4e Forums)

    Default Re: Could use some advice on a high-seas module.

    Quote Originally Posted by Duff View Post
    We enjoy the story of when we spotted the critter which could walk though the walls and floor. The psychic hit the floor with enough damage to chip a piece out of it so the battlemind could use lodestone lure to fish it out.
    That gets kinda fuzzy on the combat legality of what you're discussing. Combat in 4e is *extremely* well designed as to what can happen and what your describing doesn't really jive with the rules as written (especially the whole "chipping a piece of the floor out with a single attack from a psion" since the amount of damage you'd need to do, by RAW, to render a floor or wall incapable of providing total cover to a creature phasing inside of it is absurdly high). If you're having to do that kind of stuff to make the fight even remotely interesting, it stops being a viable combat and starts becoming a Skill Challenge.
    4e Homebrew: Shadow Knight, Scout
    roll20: Kitru

  24. - Top - End - #24
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    SolithKnightGuy

    Join Date
    Sep 2012

    Default Re: Could use some advice on a high-seas module.

    I ran a short campaign set at sea and one of the things that made it short was that I was seriously overthinking the water aspect. I wanted it to be more realistic, with depth, decompression stops, etc. to make it feel less like "land combat but blue". I should have just stuck with the default rules or at most a very simple expansion of them.

    When it comes to ship-to-ship combat, think carefully about how various abilities affect the dynamic. Boarding isn't much of an issue when you can teleport across, for example.

    You can find a huge number of really crappy ship maps that are made for RPGs, but I suggest doing a bit of research to find a real ship plan and using that. It will feel much better for both sides of the screen.
    I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel

    Former DM for "A City Alone" [4E D&D - IC, OOC]

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