PDA

View Full Version : Mixed level adventures



Dross
2011-05-04, 07:40 AM
So, for various long running campaign reasons, I find myself DMing for a large group of PCs with a wide range of levels. Highest level PC is 14th, lowest level is 6th!

Anyone have any experience with this kind of party? I am anticipating having some trouble with keeping the low level guys alive while challenging the higher level guys.

Overall the group make-up is this:
2 sixth level fighters
1 eighth level psion
1 eighth level fighter
1 ninth level ninja
1 ninth level fighter
1 twelfth level fighter/rogue
and 1 fourteenth level psychic warrior

They are essentially an elite mercenary company.

Any advice on how to structure encounters?

Thanks in advance.

Mastikator
2011-05-04, 08:01 AM
Make non-combat encounters, something that level does not account for- something that they'll have to put their wise heads together to overcome; environment based puzzles that are literally impossible for a single character to pass. If you can think of a way past it, change it so you can't. Force them to think outside the box or die.

balistafreak
2011-05-04, 09:57 AM
Make non-combat encounters, something that level does not account for- something that they'll have to put their wise heads together to overcome; environment based puzzles that are literally impossible for a single character to pass. If you can think of a way past it, change it so you can't. Force them to think outside the box or die.

This is excellent.

Also, if you are going to do combats, divy them up, and physically. For example: lower levels on the castle walls, repelling ladder-climbers, while the higher levels stand in the breach, a harder task. Since only two of them have any form of casting (the Psion and the Psionic Warrior) travelling between the two is going to have so much difficulty that it will be Totally Not Worth It, and prevent the 6th level fighter from jumping into the breach and dying to Overpowering Ogre of Doom.

This is only one scenario, though. Throwing all these characters into a single mass combat is a recipe for disaster.

nedz
2011-05-05, 02:19 PM
I'm guessing you're running 3.5 ?
Of that is the case then any party with more than 4 levels difference is going to be unbalanced. They do all seem fairly low tier though so its not like you have a 14th level wizard and two 6th level fighters.

If you were running 1E or 2E then this would be less of an issue, but given the level discrepancy that would be only marginal.

Over time the low level chars will catch up, so you have to create opportunities for that to happen. Very large combats, but with lots of low level mooks, would keep everyone busy; you could add some tougher opponents for the high level PCs to take care of. Better still have the tougher monsters do things which gimp the high level PCs when this happens: things like negative levels, curses, etc. So long as they choose to take on these opponents this won't be deux est machina.

Another idea is to split the party. Now I suspect that if you let the players choose who goes in which group then this won't help. Ideally you want the low level characters in one group, and the high level characters in the other. You can then run balanced encounters for each group. For this to work really well you'd want the two groups working on related, but still independant, tasks.

Jay R
2011-05-05, 03:11 PM
Just don't fill the corridor with fireballs. Than it's the low-level players' job to keep their characters out of the line of fire, and the high-level players' job to keep their characters in front as the meat shields.

(A sixth level fighter is *not* a meat shield.)

Ideally, there is a big bad trying to keep them away from a major plot point, which is also guarded by low-level guards. Then the 14th and 12th levels say, "We'll take on the red dragon. As soon as we distract her, go down the corridor to the altar and start the ritual." Then put a mixed level set of brigands in the corridor.

Your job isn't to make all encounters even. Your job is to provide a mix of challenges. The players' job is to give each character a level-reasonable task.

Every member contributes in different ways. Gandalf fights the Balrog, Gimli gets the Warg-riding orc, Legolas takes on a Mumak, Aragorn leads the ghost-army, Frodo and Sam fight Gollum, while Merry and Pippin need to convince the ent to attack.