New kind of dungeon crawl - the dungeon brawl

[JamesIntrocaso]

So I've been having fun running my players through big battles, actually 3 - 5 encounters lumped together in waves, and I'm wondering what people think. Let me know! I'm sure people have done similar stuff sometimes.

http://worldbuilderblog.me/2015/03/26/dungeon-brawls/

[mephnick]

I love waves in general. They're a great way to keep the 'battles per day' mechanic relevant when players are abusing rest or just finding time to rest naturally too much. I like doing waves at the end of the day, when spell slots are scarce. It lets the mundanes shine and makes the casters really tactical with their abilities. It can make protective characters really feel important as well, especially if you have waves coming from various directions. 18 hobgoblins at once can be a boring, grindy encounter. 3 separate battles of 6 hobgoblins can be repetitive. 3 waves of 6 hobgoblins attacking strategically from different directions can be an amazing encounter.

[JamesIntrocaso]

I love waves in general. They're a great way to keep the 'battles per day' mechanic relevant when players are abusing rest or just finding time to rest naturally too much. I like doing waves at the end of the day, when spell slots are scarce. It lets the mundanes shine and makes the casters really tactical with their abilities. It can make protective characters really feel important as well, especially if you have waves coming from various directions. 18 hobgoblins at once can be a boring, grindy encounter. 3 separate battles of 6 hobgoblins can be repetitive. 3 waves of 6 hobgoblins attacking strategically from different directions can be an amazing encounter.

I could not agree with this more. Keep it varied and interesting and make it tough at the end of the day for the PCs!

[RagingBluMunky]

So, I like the idea of waves, but I'm not the most experienced DM. When would the best time to introduce the next wave be?

A set number of turns after the first appears, When there are a few enemies left (with the new wave appearing out of engagement range), or the round after the last enemy of the previous wave is defeated?

[Townopolis]

If in doubt, wait until there are a few enemies left or when the party has clearly entered "mop-up" mode.

[JamesIntrocaso]

So, I like the idea of waves, but I'm not the most experienced DM. When would the best time to introduce the next wave be?

A set number of turns after the first appears, When there are a few enemies left (with the new wave appearing out of engagement range), or the round after the last enemy of the previous wave is defeated?

My reccomendation in the post is whenever you have less monsters then there are PCs, but that's very swingy. If you want a more specific rule, I'd say if the PCs all the foes the PCs are facing have a CR less than the party's level and the PCs outnumber them, add another wave. If the monsters has the SAME CR ad the party's level and there are MORE than twice as many PCs as there are monsters, add another wave. If the monsters have a higher CR than the PCs, wait until the PCs have only one monster of such a type remaining before adding another wave.

You gotta feel it out too. How are the resources of the party? If they have no spells and no HP left, maybe the other monsters didn't hear the brawl or are hanging back to protect the goods.

[Stan]

Nice article.

I think the aspect of monsters in other areas entering the fray after some delay was more common in older dungeons. There were usually notes to the effect that the guards would trigger an alarm or call out if they had the chance. WOTC has tended to have linear dungeons with one room at a time.

I've tended to have reinforcements on a set schedule, such as 3 rounds after X happens instead of the how the fight is going. Either way is good, it just depends on how realistic vs cinematic you want to be.

I think time pressure in some form is always good. Otherwise, the optimal strategy is a long rest between every encounter. The point of wandering monsters was partially to punish people who rested too much. The brawl is setting a shorter clock to amp up the pressure. You could motivate players by letting them know their actions have triggered the start of a sacrifice, which will take only a couple of minutes to set up. Or maybe they are fleeing a nigh unstoppable foe behind them and must keep moving.

[JamesIntrocaso]

Nice article.

I think the aspect of monsters in other areas entering the fray after some delay was more common in older dungeons. There were usually notes to the effect that the guards would trigger an alarm or call out if they had the chance. WOTC has tended to have linear dungeons with one room at a time.

I've tended to have reinforcements on a set schedule, such as 3 rounds after X happens instead of the how the fight is going. Either way is good, it just depends on how realistic vs cinematic you want to be.

I think time pressure in some form is always good. Otherwise, the optimal strategy is a long rest between every encounter. The point of wandering monsters was partially to punish people who rested too much. The brawl is setting a shorter clock to amp up the pressure. You could motivate players by letting them know their actions have triggered the start of a sacrifice, which will take only a couple of minutes to set up. Or maybe they are fleeing a nigh unstoppable foe behind them and must keep moving.

Totally agree! The clock is a great way to up the stakes and keep things moving. Older modules were great for encouraging smart playing for survival like that!