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View Full Version : 5e homebrew campaign help.



GrinningDemon
2022-02-07, 12:28 PM
I've been running this homebrew campaign for a group of 4 for about 2 months. We've had a few sessions where they fought undead, a necromancer, some goblins, gnolls, things of that nature.They have been pretty walking through the encounters, even though i keep increasing the difficultly, because they are level 9s with magic items and the artificer in the group is pretty midmaxed. Last night's session they ran around a new city and then went to a mad artificer's tower which is where the problems start.
They get to the island and our attacked by a warforge guard with an AC of 20, they roll poorly and it turns into a harder fight then expected. From then on the group seems discouraged and a couple seem checked out. In the tower its multi level and with different puzzles and monsters. The mood in the game has changed so I lower the difficulty for a few monsters to see if they will re-engage and I get nothing.
This morning I asked one and apperently they were upset about the difficulty of the monster and think I should tone it down, should I swap out all the bosses and stuff for just simple easy to deal with monsters so they can feel impowered again? I will say, they rolled poorly and the bard/ranger never does anything besides shoot arrow so im sure that doesn't help. Idk i spent 3 days writing that tower up and now I feel like its pointless to run aside from just there are goblins on this floor, smash them here is loot. Any advice?
The group is
Barbarian half orc 9th level
Barbarian/druid warforge 9th level
Ranger/bard half elf 9th level
Artificer/cleric Valdekin 9th.

Also sorry if this ramble doesn't make sense in some parts im writing it on my phone and pretty upset about it all still.

GrinningDemon
2022-02-07, 12:29 PM
Also just remembered 2 of the players in the group have over 20ac.

Kurt Kurageous
2022-02-10, 02:12 PM
Without knowing the players, I can't really advise. The cardinal rule has always been "Know your audience."

You've over-prepped for this bunch, so chalk it up to DM XP. I've done it, and I bet every DM that reads this can say they have done it, too. Welcome to the club.

Session zero, did the players know the story was going to be combat heavy? What was their take on character death? Is it a possibility, a likelihood, or a deal-breaker for them? 5e makes actual death unlikely after tier 1 given average dice, but stuff happens. Especially if you design it that way with gaping fissures erupting in a cave that split the party up so no one can bounce a player. Unless you gave them some reason to expect deus ex machina, they may not be able to save themselves. Many players like a glorious death, or at least a memorable one. But you have to ask them first.

KorvinStarmast
2022-02-11, 11:30 AM
This morning I asked one and apperently they were upset about the difficulty of the monster and think I should tone it down, should I swap out all the bosses and stuff for just simple easy to deal with monsters so they can feel impowered again? My advice is Nope, don't make it easier.
Ask them to raise their game.
Ninth Level PCs are kinda powerful. They need to start engaging their brains and work better as a team. AC 20 isn't a big deal if you use debuffs or buffs to create advantage for the hard hitters' attacks.

Barbarian half orc 9th level
Barbarian/druid warforge 9th level
Ranger/bard half elf 9th level
Artificer/cleric Valdekin 9th. Let them know that just because earlier fights were easy doesn't mean that more dangerous monsters worthy of the name/position are going to be easy.
This mad artificer's tower is supposed to be a challenge: rise to it.
Introduce them to scouting and approaches other than 'kick in the door and kill it' as a means of overcoming the increased difficulty.

That's my advice.
Without the risk of failure, there is no success.