GM Question: Stone Giants and Hellwasps

[CluFa]

I'm planning on throwing Stone Giants infested with Hellwasps. My hope is that this will be two CR 12 encounters back to back. If I understand the math correctly, four CR 8 stone giants are a CR 12 encounter, as are 4 swarms of Hellwasps. But I have a nagging feeling that this will end up being one long encounter that's actually a CR 14. Is my latter instinct correct?

Thank you for your time,

CluFa :smallsmile:

[Psyren]

That depends primarily on you. Do you expect the swarm to "pop out" instantly if the host is killed? If so, yes, it's one encounter. If the players get a breather in between, with a chance to even leave the area before the bugs emerge, it's two.

Remember also that the players get a fairly easy chance to realize there's a swarm inside the giants, which should in turn allow them to roll their knowledge checks to identify the swam's strengths and weaknesses, which in turn should allow them the chance to prioritize attacks that will damage both giant and swarm simultaneously (e.g. non-fire area of effect attacks.) In other words, there is a chance that "phase 2" of this fight is short or even doesn't happen if the players were observant and well-prepared enough.

As for what the CR would be, I find such calculations to be a bit on the tedious side, but a good starting point is to add up the XP for all the monsters you plan on throwing at the party and comparing that to the CR table. Just don't forget to factor in stuff like the environment and the party's APL before coming to a final conclusion on whether it's a fair fight or not.

[CluFa]

That depends primarily on you. Do you expect the swarm to "pop out" instantly if the host is killed? If so, yes, it's one encounter. If the players get a breather in between, with a chance to even leave the area before the bugs emerge, it's two.

Remember also that the players get a fairly easy chance to realize there's a swarm inside the giants, which should in turn allow them to roll their knowledge checks to identify the swam's strengths and weaknesses, which in turn should allow them the chance to prioritize attacks that will damage both giant and swarm simultaneously (e.g. non-fire area of effect attacks.) In other words, there is a chance that "phase 2" of this fight is short or even doesn't happen if the players were observant and well-prepared enough.

As for what the CR would be, I find such calculations to be a bit on the tedious side, but a good starting point is to add up the XP for all the monsters you plan on throwing at the party and comparing that to the CR table. Just don't forget to factor in stuff like the environment and the party's APL before coming to a final conclusion on whether it's a fair fight or not.

Thanks for responding. The wasps were evicted by the party's cleric, then they had to deal with that. So, it turned into the muddle I had hoped it wouldn't, and the party almost got killed. But afterwards they made allies out of the stone giants they'd freed from the wasps. It all worked out, and I awarded them the xp for the higher CR encounter because of the diplomacy they employed.

Thanks again,

CluFa