Campaign with a rogue and ranger

[Nammen]

I am starting a campaign with two new players soon, and they really wanted to play a rogue and a ranger. I am not a very experienced Dungeons & Dragons player (I have never even played with a ranger in my party before, and have always played with a standard kind of Caster/Tank/DPS/Healer setup) and this is my first time DMing. That's why I thought I'd ask for some advice on how to make good encounters for this party.

So far I figured I would try and design the encounters in such a way that the party gets benefits by paying attention to details. For example sneaking around the main chamber to attack the archers standing one level higher before getting in a fight with the main group, or making it possible for them to poison the guard's food supplies through stealth and good roleplaying. The problem for me is that a party like this seems to be better off in an urban environment, but they really wanted the adventure to be mostly in the wilderness and I'm not sure what to do. I'm also not sure about different ways I could set up encounters for them in a dungeon.

Another thing I thought might be a problem is healing. I thought about maybe making health potions cheaper? And if things are really bad I suppose I could make an NPC cleric that I could control to join their party.
And lastly I'm not sure if the rogue can be very effective, because he needs to flank in order to use his sneak attacks, and the ranger is planning on becoming an archer.

Any tips and suggestions would be very much appreciated!

[blacklight101]

For effectiveness of the rogue in backstabbing/ sneak attacks, make him have to do some "unsavory" things to get there for said sneak attack, like crawling Shawshank Redemption Style through the crap-filled sewer to get to the privy at the back of the mansion of their intended target (a bad guy, of course). The ranger can always sit and snipe a couple guards or even lanterns to cause a distraction and draw off the guards, giving the rogue ample time for ambushes. Poisoning, as you said, is a great idea.

Maybe break up a ring of smugglers and find a chest full of wands of CLW/CMW, that would solve the healing problem, that or let the ranger change out his spells for healing on-the-fly like a cleric can, it might make up a little of the deficit there.

[daremetoidareyo]

Caravan raid for big important thing or person. All tactics.

Assassination of an evil fey visier.

Blocking supply lines of an army.

Kidnap someone from a mansion.

Re-Steal a spell book from a druid who hates the hiring mage.

Stop a rust monster stampede driven by mischevious favored enemies.

Liberate githyanki/zerei from drow slavers on the way to the illithid layer on the down low.

[LibraryOgre]

So far I figured I would try and design the encounters in such a way that the party gets benefits by paying attention to details. For example sneaking around the main chamber to attack the archers standing one level higher before getting in a fight with the main group, or making it possible for them to poison the guard's food supplies through stealth and good roleplaying. The problem for me is that a party like this seems to be better off in an urban environment, but they really wanted the adventure to be mostly in the wilderness and I'm not sure what to do. I'm also not sure about different ways I could set up encounters for them in a dungeon.

Set up scenarios, let them figure out how to deal with them. If they're looking for wilderness adventures, then certainly give them to them... I'm a big fan of "bandits attacking caravans", since it's a good low-level problem with scalability. But be open to their variant suggestions. They might come up with poisoning food, or they might decided "Hey, let's see how many throats we can cut in a night!"



Another thing I thought might be a problem is healing. I thought about maybe making health potions cheaper? And if things are really bad I suppose I could make an NPC cleric that I could control to join their party.
And lastly I'm not sure if the rogue can be very effective, because he needs to flank in order to use his sneak attacks, and the ranger is planning on becoming an archer.


I'm guessing this is 3.x or Pathfinder based, then? There's a few things you can do, because the rogue doesn't need to flank in order to sneak attack... he need to deny the person their Dex bonus. If he's within 30', he can snipe them (I suggest a crossbow, since you can be prone with it). He can get them when they're not paying attention. When the ranger gets his animal companion, he can have it flank with the rogue, or the rogue can develop some talents that let him summon a flanker.

As for healing, the ranger will be able to use Wands of Cure Light Wounds from the outset; he might want to talk to the rogue about taking some UMD to allow him to get healed, as well. But if the party can't instant-heal and has to stagger back to town, injured, in order to heal, let them do it.

[backwaterj]

I'm guessing this is 3.x or Pathfinder based, then? There's a few things you can do, because the rogue doesn't need to flank in order to sneak attack... he need to deny the person their Dex bonus. If he's within 30', he can snipe them (I suggest a crossbow, since you can be prone with it). He can get them when they're not paying attention. When the ranger gets his animal companion, he can have it flank with the rogue, or the rogue can develop some talents that let him summon a flanker.

Let's not forget feint (Improved Feint lets you do it as a move action, with 6 levels of Beguiler you can do it as a swift action), Ring of Blinking (or Invisibility), or for ranged rogue Deadeye Shot (PHBII). There's always options for meeting SA prerequisites.

It seems like wilderness-themed encounters would be advantageous at least for the ranger (let that free Track and Endurance shine!) and even the rogue if you allow the UA Wilderness Rogue variant. Of course the same could be said for urban encounters if you allow Urban Ranger. Ultimately, if an encounter allows for a sneaky approach it should fit both characters just fine.

[Nammen]

Thank you for all the suggestions, they've helped me a lot!