Low Fantasy, High Adventure? And introducing BBEG's naturally.

[EternalHobbyist]

I want to run a homebrew campaign in a world without monsters. Or where monsters are only a recent addition, and still very rare and/or confined to only a portion of the continent.

In addition, magic is nearly nonexistent, due to a cataclysmic event. So for large parts of the campaign, I'd like to limit my "threats" to mundane, or mortal races, and slowly introduce monsters and more magical elements.

Right now my threats are pretty much limited to wild animals, cultists, and I think a couple of humanoids from the Mines of Phandelver adventure book. I don't want to bore my players, so I'm wondering what are some good ways to stretch my content here. I suppose I could run groups of cultists and ruffians, just in different costumes, but I'm worried it might get old pretty quick, even allowing for a few pets.

Another concern is whether or not I should have a BBEG show up early and beat up my players rather dismissively and leave, or allow the team to find clues and have to hunt him down? I don't want to discourage my players too much (our team has fared horribly in Hoard of the Dragon Queen!) but I don't want to be super-cliche' either.....

[Steel Mirror]

I think you have plenty of material for many sessions of entirely mundane challenges! For stretching the humanoid enemies, context and battlefield conditions are the key to maintaining variety. Fighting a bunch of Bandits who are led by a Knight on horseback in an open field would feel very different from fighting a group of bandits who engage in hit-and-run tactics against the PCs in their own heavily trapped and poorly lit lair. And that would feel quite different from a group of city guards who set their trained mastiffs on the PCs and chase them through the busy city streets.

Plus, if you really want to get creative with the wild animals, you have quite a bit to choose from there. A tiger attacking from ambush in this edition is a serious challenge, a swarm of ravens adds that gothic feel to any quest to stop an evil group of cultists, a few poisonous snakes smuggled into an inn room makes for a memorably disconcerting assassination attempt, and if they end up anywhere near the water, a giant octopus or shark will ruin everyone's day!

And that is just a small sampling of what is available in the downloadable DM resource on the WotC site. I think one of the biggest moments of growth for me as a DM was when I started giving as much attention to the environment of a fight as to the enemies that are in it, and hopefully that will let you run your game until the point when you feel it is time to start introducing some more exotic threats.

As to the BBEG, I tend to stay away from the old "he saunters in, twirls his mustache, kicks your ass, then mysteriously leaves while leaving clues about his next move". As you note, it is cliche, but that isn't even the worst part of it. It makes your PCs feel powerless, and likely requires cheating on the GM's part to work. Either cheating to stop the PCs from getting lucky and killing your Big Bad before you are ready, or cheating to ensure that your powered up enemy doesn't accidentally kill one of your PCs on a lucky roll of his own.

Maybe try, instead of threatening the PCs directly, threaten something they care about instead. Have the BBEG usurp them by claiming credit for an adventurous deed they just accomplished. Have other NPCs praise him for being smarter or better than the PCs. Have him snatch away the reward for their accomplishments just before they achieve it, and get away with it. In my experience, nothing inspires enmity in players more than some NPC getting the better of them, and stealing the spotlight that is rightfully theirs! :smallbiggrin: