Saintheart
2010-03-25, 07:46 PM
Hi all--
The short version: I'm putting together and intending to run the Age of Worms adventure path over in the OOTS forums. I'm running as D&D 3.5 in the Forgotten Realms with a few houserules, if that's any help. Initially I said I was only going to take a maximum of 6 people, but the interest has been so great and the submissions so superior (in my view) that I'm very seriously considering raising the party size from 6 maximum to 8 instead.
I'm aware, from running a RHOD campaign with 8 people, that this gives the PCs a fairly significant advantage in the action economy, usually manifesting in the PCs' strategy shifting from carefully laid takedown plans to "Everyone just charge in against one or two opponents" because they can bring to bear reasonably overwhelming firepower against an encounter.
Basically, what I'm looking for is some suggestions about how to best upgrade encounters and opponents so they still present a challenge even for a party that's eight strong. A lot of the Age of Worms encounters as written are usually a couple of ECLs above that of the party -- hence the adventure's reputed lethal nature, I think -- but I still think some beefing up is going to be required. There's a fair number of undead encounters, but also more mundane opponents and reasonably potent single magic users as well.
General suggestions would be most appreciated, of course, but anyone who's actually been running an Age of Worms campaign and still managed to challenge a small platoon of PCs in a game in combat encounters?
Thanks in advance, guys... :smallsmile:
The short version: I'm putting together and intending to run the Age of Worms adventure path over in the OOTS forums. I'm running as D&D 3.5 in the Forgotten Realms with a few houserules, if that's any help. Initially I said I was only going to take a maximum of 6 people, but the interest has been so great and the submissions so superior (in my view) that I'm very seriously considering raising the party size from 6 maximum to 8 instead.
I'm aware, from running a RHOD campaign with 8 people, that this gives the PCs a fairly significant advantage in the action economy, usually manifesting in the PCs' strategy shifting from carefully laid takedown plans to "Everyone just charge in against one or two opponents" because they can bring to bear reasonably overwhelming firepower against an encounter.
Basically, what I'm looking for is some suggestions about how to best upgrade encounters and opponents so they still present a challenge even for a party that's eight strong. A lot of the Age of Worms encounters as written are usually a couple of ECLs above that of the party -- hence the adventure's reputed lethal nature, I think -- but I still think some beefing up is going to be required. There's a fair number of undead encounters, but also more mundane opponents and reasonably potent single magic users as well.
General suggestions would be most appreciated, of course, but anyone who's actually been running an Age of Worms campaign and still managed to challenge a small platoon of PCs in a game in combat encounters?
Thanks in advance, guys... :smallsmile: