Forge of Fury for higher levels

[NotADragonYet]

So I recently got my hands on Tales from the Yawning Portal, and I find Forge of Fury to be a good adventure. However, my party is at 7th level, high enough to trivialise basically all the encounters in the adventure. Any advice to make it a little more challenging?

[Smitty Wesson]

This sounds like a fun enough prospect (and one that I would like to do) that I've started an Excel spreadsheet of the enemies in the adventure so that I can play around with different possibilities. But here's a big ramble of possibilities!

In terms of tactics, the adventure lays things out in such a way that the enemies don't have to behave too differently against higher-level opponents. The orcs (or their replacements) at the rope bridge are the only ones that I think will need to act differently - they will need more defense against area of effect (and ranged magic in general - 7th level characters aren't hurting for spell slots the same way 3rd level characters would be). They will also need to have a plan for how to handle fliers, since flight is fairly obtainable at this level.

The advantage with converting this adventure is that there are some areas with very large numbers of the same enemy - 18 to 26 orcs, 15 troglodytes, 5 duergar - and other areas with only one major enemy - the roper, the giant subterranean lizard, the ghost, the young black dragon. That gives a lot of places where cutting and pasting different creatures can do a lot of the work, and since I think this is entirely too fun, I'm going to go into a long list of possibilities.

For the orcs: if you want to keep them as orcs, you could mix in some more orc variants like orogs, war chiefs, and Blades of Ilneval. An Assassin with orc traits is another possibility. An oni would be a perfect replacement for the ogre leading them. Look at that band of 26 orcs and shore up each smaller group with one or more upgraded orcs.

Outside of orc-related options, githyanki would be a very flavorful replacement for the orcs, but that might require reducing their numbers since they are a significant power upgrade. Or, the whole bunch could be replaced with a varied regiment of hobgoblins and bugbears - especially working in a few Iron Shadows and Devastators from Volo's.

The troglodytes...eh, I dunno. Some of the stronger kobold variants (like Scale Sorcerers and Dragonshields), perhaps? Since the troglodytes are sorta-kinda tied to the black dragon (there's something about them worshiping it, right?), whatever lives in the Glitterhame should similarly relate - something that could be the minions of the final boss.

Or even just replace the orcs and troglodytes together with allied groups that are in service to the final boss - tie the adventure together a bit more strongly than the odd four-in-one dungeon it is as written. Perhaps the whole mountain has been infested with demons and mortal henchmen who serve them.

I think the ghost and the animated objects might be best kept as is. Maybe a Helmed Horror in place of the Animated Armor. They're all very flavorful, so there isn't that much reason to change them - maybe a stronger construct for the table, but there's something to be said for atmosphere over challenge in this case.

The easiest conversion I can think of for the duergar would be githzerai - trade out the regular duergar for githzerai monks, trade out the beefed-up duergar for zerths. Githzerai can easily have the same sense of mystery and moral ambiguity that the duergar have in this adventure - going by the standard lore, their presence is unusual, and they are likely open to negotiating with the PCs.

The roper? Maybe two ropers, but also keep in mind that the roper is in an environment that gives it some really nasty options. As this review (https://www.fiddleback.me/blog/2017/5/4/fiddleback-vs-the-forge-of-fury-part-2) points out, the roper can get really mean with the way it controls the area, including trying to drown the party - just playing it ruthlessly may be enough.

I'm not sure if all of the ideas above are necessarily good ones, but I'm going to give this some thought because I think there is potential for a very fun game here.

[Scathain]

This sounds like a fun enough prospect (and one that I would like to do) that I've started an Excel spreadsheet of the enemies in the adventure so that I can play around with different possibilities. But here's a big ramble of possibilities!

In terms of tactics, the adventure lays things out in such a way that the enemies don't have to behave too differently against higher-level opponents. The orcs (or their replacements) at the rope bridge are the only ones that I think will need to act differently - they will need more defense against area of effect (and ranged magic in general - 7th level characters aren't hurting for spell slots the same way 3rd level characters would be). They will also need to have a plan for how to handle fliers, since flight is fairly obtainable at this level.

The advantage with converting this adventure is that there are some areas with very large numbers of the same enemy - 18 to 26 orcs, 15 troglodytes, 5 duergar - and other areas with only one major enemy - the roper, the giant subterranean lizard, the ghost, the young black dragon. That gives a lot of places where cutting and pasting different creatures can do a lot of the work, and since I think this is entirely too fun, I'm going to go into a long list of possibilities.

For the orcs: if you want to keep them as orcs, you could mix in some more orc variants like orogs, war chiefs, and Blades of Ilneval. An Assassin with orc traits is another possibility. An oni would be a perfect replacement for the ogre leading them. Look at that band of 26 orcs and shore up each smaller group with one or more upgraded orcs.

Outside of orc-related options, githyanki would be a very flavorful replacement for the orcs, but that might require reducing their numbers since they are a significant power upgrade. Or, the whole bunch could be replaced with a varied regiment of hobgoblins and bugbears - especially working in a few Iron Shadows and Devastators from Volo's.

The troglodytes...eh, I dunno. Some of the stronger kobold variants (like Scale Sorcerers and Dragonshields), perhaps? Since the troglodytes are sorta-kinda tied to the black dragon (there's something about them worshiping it, right?), whatever lives in the Glitterhame should similarly relate - something that could be the minions of the final boss.

Or even just replace the orcs and troglodytes together with allied groups that are in service to the final boss - tie the adventure together a bit more strongly than the odd four-in-one dungeon it is as written. Perhaps the whole mountain has been infested with demons and mortal henchmen who serve them.

I think the ghost and the animated objects might be best kept as is. Maybe a Helmed Horror in place of the Animated Armor. They're all very flavorful, so there isn't that much reason to change them - maybe a stronger construct for the table, but there's something to be said for atmosphere over challenge in this case.

The easiest conversion I can think of for the duergar would be githzerai - trade out the regular duergar for githzerai monks, trade out the beefed-up duergar for zerths. Githzerai can easily have the same sense of mystery and moral ambiguity that the duergar have in this adventure - going by the standard lore, their presence is unusual, and they are likely open to negotiating with the PCs.

The roper? Maybe two ropers, but also keep in mind that the roper is in an environment that gives it some really nasty options. As this review (https://www.fiddleback.me/blog/2017/5/4/fiddleback-vs-the-forge-of-fury-part-2) points out, the roper can get really mean with the way it controls the area, including trying to drown the party - just playing it ruthlessly may be enough.

I'm not sure if all of the ideas above are necessarily good ones, but I'm going to give this some thought because I think there is potential for a very fun game here.

I definitely think upgrading to Volo's kobolds is a good choice for fluffing up the CR. Also, a lot can be said about pack tactics if you play the kobolds smartly. Have them swarm the PC's, only to duck back behind trapped corridors.

They make a good fit for replacing the trogs, but don't stop there. Put a priest(ess) of Kurtalmak/Tiamat in there, perhaps use one of the wizard NPC blocks also from Volo's, just add Kobold and stir.

Obviously upgrade Nightscale to an older dragon.

Sorry I sound like a broken record, but the orcs in Volo's are amazing. Claws of Luthic tossing Warding Bond on the bat mounts of a Fang of Shargass; you can take something as simple as orcs, get your players nice and comfortable, then completely change the tactics on them. They'll never look at kobolds or orcs the same way.

[JellyPooga]

I definitely think upgrading to Volo's kobolds is a good choice for fluffing up the CR. Also, a lot can be said about pack tactics if you play the kobolds smartly. Have them swarm the PC's, only to duck back behind trapped corridors.

They make a good fit for replacing the trogs, but don't stop there. Put a priest(ess) of Kurtalmak/Tiamat in there, perhaps use one of the wizard NPC blocks also from Volo's, just add Kobold and stir.

If you do this (which you should; it's a great idea), you may want to shuffle the map a little to move the kobold lair closer to Nightscales'. Nightscale being "overlord" or even quasi-deity to some kobolds is both cool and iconic.