In need of DnD Assistance

[Gnonai]

Let me start by saying how lost I was trying to figure out how to Post a thread. I felt so stupid after I figured it out :smallannoyed:. Okay so anyways on to the Point. I have recently taken up DM'in some DnD. The Party Consist of only two PC'S, A Dwarf Fight, and a Half Elf druid. The Non Pc's are A Gnome Thief and a Minotaur Priest (war priest).

Seeing in the fact that it was my first time dming I made that common rookie mistake.To. Much. Loot.. My Economy was also pretty wacky. I have realised the Error of my ways and intend to balance and fix everything out. The group is level 2, but easily take on lvl 6-7 mobs because of the loot I have distributed. Now while this isn't neccasarily a bad thing and allows me a larger variety of monsters, I am to cautious with not killing players. I want to throw more of a challenge at the Players, without killing them. I often make encounters too trivial. I want a way to make them more difficult. I would absolutely love to make it actually difficult not only on a Combat Level, but also on a mental level. I find that hard to do when I worry so much about not killing players >_< :smallfrown:. Help would be vastly appreciated here.
Also, The reason I try not to kill them is because It always pissed me off when I died, and I aim for the maximum amount of enjoyment.

[ericgrau]

Look up the wealth by level tables in your DMG to find your goal. Now throw tougher monsters at the PCs that don't have much loot. Like animals. If they go in town you can send thieves at them, but don't go overboard or they'll hate you. Your players' level goes up faster from the tougher monsters, their treasure doesn't, then bam their wealth is right where it should be for a high level character.

[HunterOfJello]

Well the first thing you need to do is give up on the idea of babying your players so that they never die. Adventuring in D&D is about taking risks, often with the character's own life.

I haven't been DMing for too long, but I've had a problem with babying my players and trying to hard to keep them both safe and in danger.

Instead of trying to not kill the players all the time read about ways in which I could give the player's a way to keep playing even after they've died. One easy way is to give your player's a staff with Ressurection on it.

Another way (which I set up in my current campaign) is to set up a rescue party that will come looking for the group if everyone dies. This method gives all the players an opportunity to try different classes and characters for a little while changing up the pace of things.

The same campaign also has a resurrection service which can be paid for in advance. If a player pays 10k gp in advance and isn't heard for for more than 3 months by their guild, a True Resurrection spell will be cast for them. This also allows an interesting opportunity for players because they can have their characters come back to life after any party death. This also sets up the party to decide whether or not they are going to reattempt the last quest over again to attempt to find all their lost belongings or to start again in the world as lvl 10 or whatever with 150 gp or so in equipment.


Overall, I'd stop worrying about the PCs dieing and give your party a run for their money. Give them opportunities to choose between different levels of risks and rewards that they can choose from. If they seek high risk/high reward situations then they should be ready to die trying.

[Saintheart]

If you're concerned about the amount of metal loot you've been giving them, the solution is simple. Gang of Rust Monsters.

[Gnonai]

Thanks for the suggestions, I will take em into account.

[graeylin]

longer term solutions to instant wealth

taxes.
wealthy people attract causes.. folks who hit them up for money for orphanages, charities, save the hovels, etc.
wealthy people also attract those who prey on wealthy and foolish people.. con men, thieves, people who want to have the item that your party members own, and can hire someone to obtain it.
wherever you got the wealth, someone else lost it... so have a rightful owner claim it, and have a court award it, after some good role play (after all, i can prove that +2 sword is my family sword, it has a mark here, and there, and...)
if the person who used to own the treasure isn't alive, then perhaps their brothers are... or cousins, or friends... who want it back.
gods... the gods need sacrifices for spells, potions, luck on rolls, etc.. bad run of die one night? introduce DEity intervention again, and let them sacrifice some magic for a little re-roll...
(man, deity intervention.. that brings back memories.....)

[Superglucose]

Really just hold back on the loot and ride through the next couple of levels doing lootless adventures. Maybe take a lesson from the show Voyager and have them get lost from home and have to find their way back from the wilderness?

Maybe also take a lesson from the show Voyager and hire a decent writing staff. I mean YEESH :smalltongue:

(<--- doesn't like Voyager)

EDIT: Make sure to give them some loot, but roll for it and do it maybe on a table that's at an EL five or so lower than the encounter they really faced. If they complain tell them to suck it up, that loot like all things come in cycles.

[StoryKeeper]

You're having trouble challenging them because they've got too much good loot, but you're afraid to kill them? :) Players are good at staying alive. Focus on making the fights fun and memorable (cool terrain that can be interacted with, weird monsters, etc.)

Oh, and if they really have a ridiculous amount f loot, that isn't because you accidentally gave them too much; it's been a part of your plot from the beginning! Now watch as the wealth continues to pile on and they realize that one of their most treasured possessions is actually cursed to cause them to accumulate a ton of wealth AND a ton of misfortune or some horrible diseases or something. The only way to free themselves of the curse is to do actions x, y, and z that will involve giving up all that loot (the only way to free themselves from their cursed fortune is to give up every coin they've gained since they got the cursed coin to charity.)

Or something similar.