Karoht
2013-05-08, 01:49 PM
I've been asking this question in a few other threads but with little to no responses, and I am starting to think I am going about asking this question incorrectly, hence the thread title. If the question is unclear or needs rephrasing, by all means ask.
So I'm planning an upcoming campaign where each player of the 6 person group will be responsible for two characters. Players will alternate between two parties at set story intervals. The plan is to start both parties at level 3. The parties have no knowledge of one another (initially), but will eventually meet up and begin working together at a much later point in the story, some time past level 15.
The catch?
One party will be casters. I'm actually encouraging 4 of the 6 players to be Wizards for thematic reasons.
One party will be mostly non-casters. I'm hoping to squeeze in a 4/9 and 6/9 caster or two, but that is all.
So I'm wondering, how widely different will balancing encounters for these two parties be? In terms of CR where possible.
Perhaps some examples of what might constitute challenging encounters for both parties would be a good idea, hopefully contrasting the major differences.
At Level 5?
At Level 10?
At Level 15?
One thing missing from our groups normal games is the idea of multiple encounters per day. Typically there is just one, it tends to be our CR minus 2, and that is just how it goes. I want to ensure we do adventuring a bit more realistically, where resources are going to be taxed as opposed to not.
So I'm aiming for 4 encounters per day on average.
Also, while this is a Pathfinder campaign, I will likely be introducing some ToB content, with the party gaining access to those features/manouvers/stances/etc via items (IE-A Hammer that grants Mountain Hammer x/day) rather than by taking levels in a ToB class. This party is very wary of ToB and other 3.5 content due to some poor experiences in the past which aren't really relevant to the discussion.
So I'm planning an upcoming campaign where each player of the 6 person group will be responsible for two characters. Players will alternate between two parties at set story intervals. The plan is to start both parties at level 3. The parties have no knowledge of one another (initially), but will eventually meet up and begin working together at a much later point in the story, some time past level 15.
The catch?
One party will be casters. I'm actually encouraging 4 of the 6 players to be Wizards for thematic reasons.
One party will be mostly non-casters. I'm hoping to squeeze in a 4/9 and 6/9 caster or two, but that is all.
So I'm wondering, how widely different will balancing encounters for these two parties be? In terms of CR where possible.
Perhaps some examples of what might constitute challenging encounters for both parties would be a good idea, hopefully contrasting the major differences.
At Level 5?
At Level 10?
At Level 15?
One thing missing from our groups normal games is the idea of multiple encounters per day. Typically there is just one, it tends to be our CR minus 2, and that is just how it goes. I want to ensure we do adventuring a bit more realistically, where resources are going to be taxed as opposed to not.
So I'm aiming for 4 encounters per day on average.
Also, while this is a Pathfinder campaign, I will likely be introducing some ToB content, with the party gaining access to those features/manouvers/stances/etc via items (IE-A Hammer that grants Mountain Hammer x/day) rather than by taking levels in a ToB class. This party is very wary of ToB and other 3.5 content due to some poor experiences in the past which aren't really relevant to the discussion.