Pregen Help

[Reprimand]

Hello I'm going to be running a adventure for a first time group of of 3.5 players. These are some relatively seasoned TTRPG players but it will only be my second time GMing ever. Looking for some advice for creating some pregen characters for a oneshot that won't be overly boring. Bit of background: I've been playing AD&D with this group for about a year and a half and our current GM pulled the plug on their world (much to everyone else's dismay!) So I'm looking to fill the void for at least this week and possibly more.

For the first session I just planned on using pregens and getting everyone familiar with the mechanics the length of a single session's worth of dungeon. About 6 "encounters" I figure. With maybe 1 being avoidable, one being a trap, and one being some sort of obstacle that can cause damage (such as climbing). How generous do you recommend being with stuff like potions in a first level dungeon with no way to back out? And do you have any advice for a first time DM? What's the strongest fight I can probably get away with on a first level party? Is something like an Ettercap too crazy for a boss?

[Paragon]

The Challenge Rating gives you an idea of a standard encounter for a group of 4 PCs of the same level. (CR 3 means 4 level 3 PCs for instance).

The Ettercap has 2 powerful abilities that can spell doom on your party : Web and Poison.
Their being seasoned veteran maybe means they can avoid it (even though 3.5 is different from AD&D) and it all depends on their level of optimisation.

But then, first level is also known as the "roll well or die" level. A barbarian (d12 hps) with 16 Con (+3) and can eat 2 bites of the Ettercap while a Wizard with 18 Con might die with just one.

I would respect the CR if I were you. Better still, I would stick to pre-made adventures (https://web.archive.org/web/20090203080646/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/oa/20030530b&page=1) for the level you're looking at.

[Biggus]

The Challenge Rating gives you an idea of a standard encounter for a group of 4 PCs of the same level. (CR 3 means 4 level 3 PCs for instance).

The Ettercap has 2 powerful abilities that can spell doom on your party : Web and Poison.
Their being seasoned veteran maybe means they can avoid it (even though 3.5 is different from AD&D) and it all depends on their level of optimisation.

But then, first level is also known as the "roll well or die" level. A barbarian (d12 hps) with 16 Con (+3) and can eat 2 bites of the Ettercap while a Wizard with 18 Con might die with just one.

I would respect the CR if I were you. Better still, I would stick to pre-made adventures (https://web.archive.org/web/20090203080646/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/oa/20030530b&page=1) for the level you're looking at.

I was going to say the opposite: that an ettercap might be a bit underwhelming for a boss monster, unless you set it up so it's got a good chance of getting the drop on them. It's only got 27HPs, if the PCs roll reasonably well they might kill it in the first round (@OP: how many PCs are there? What I'm saying assumes there are at least four, if there are less than that an ettercap would indeed be a tough boss).

The guidelines in the DMG (p.49) suggest 15% of encounters should be in the "very difficult" category, which is between 1 and 4 CRs above the party's level. Personally I don't generally go above party level+3 unless it's a well-set-up group who I'm pretty sure can handle it, because at level+4 the enemy is (theoretically) of equal strength to the party and so a TPK becomes a very real possibility.

IMO a boss fight should include a real risk that at least one PC might die, or it's not much of a boss fight (if you balance it well it doesn't often actually happen, but they need to feel that it's a definite possibility).

So personally I think party level +2 is spot on for the boss monster, if you're worried about putting them off by killing someone too quickly maybe go down to CR2, but I wouldn't go any lower than that.

[pabelfly]

My suggestion would be to have the melee players be something like Barbarian or Fighter and magical characters take on simple casters like Dragonfire Adept or Warlock. The mages get to blast all day without having to worry about spells and spell slots and Barb and Fighter are simple mechanically but can deal good damage and contribute to combat. When the players have the basics down, they can move on to more complex classes

[Reprimand]

The Challenge Rating gives you an idea of a standard encounter for a group of 4 PCs of the same level. (CR 3 means 4 level 3 PCs for instance).

The Ettercap has 2 powerful abilities that can spell doom on your party : Web and Poison.
Their being seasoned veteran maybe means they can avoid it (even though 3.5 is different from AD&D) and it all depends on their level of optimisation.

But then, first level is also known as the "roll well or die" level. A barbarian (d12 hps) with 16 Con (+3) and can eat 2 bites of the Ettercap while a Wizard with 18 Con might die with just one.

I would respect the CR if I were you. Better still, I would stick to pre-made adventures (https://web.archive.org/web/20090203080646/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/oa/20030530b&page=1) for the level you're looking at.

I'd like to put out that burning plague one of the first level adventures in the collection you suggested has a 5th level cleric as a final boss which is 1CR higher than the ettercap I suggested. That cleric mind you a strength of 15 and a wisdom of 16 has access to 3rd level spells.

I suppose that does answer my question about the toughest thing they can take. There's some wiggle room as long as I don't choose optimal spells against the party unless they have some kind of advanced warning.

[Biggus]

I'd like to put out that burning plague one of the first level adventures in the collection you suggested has a 5th level cleric as a final boss which is 1CR higher than the ettercap I suggested. That cleric mind you a strength of 15 and a wisdom of 16 has access to 3rd level spells.


Isn't a 5th-level Cleric CR5?

[Saintheart]

I'd like to put out that burning plague one of the first level adventures in the collection you suggested has a 5th level cleric as a final boss which is 1CR higher than the ettercap I suggested. That cleric mind you a strength of 15 and a wisdom of 16 has access to 3rd level spells.

It's actually 2 higher! Ettercaps come in at CR 3, Jakk Tornclaw is CR 5 (and that has been reduced by eyeballing. Normally he'd be CR 6 but they cut him to CR 5 because his CON has been smashed down and he doesn't come with a full complement of memorised spells. So he winds up with the hitpoints of an ettercap but still with a small raft of spells. And even without all spells memorised, he can still pull out invisibility, summon monster II, and dispel magic.

On the other hand, he's instructed on the text to just cover the field with darkness, and then close to melee. Possibly that encounter is overbalanced because Jakk is on his own and therefore suffers a serious mismatch on the action economy.

[Biggus]

It's actually 2 higher! Ettercaps come in at CR 3, Jakk Tornclaw is CR 5 (and that has been reduced by eyeballing. Normally he'd be CR 6 but they cut him to CR 5 because his CON has been smashed down and he doesn't come with a full complement of memorised spells. So he winds up with the hitpoints of an ettercap but still with a small raft of spells. And even without all spells memorised, he can still pull out invisibility, summon monster II, and dispel magic.

Why would a 5th-level Cleric normally by CR 6?

[Saintheart]

Why would a 5th-level Cleric normally by CR 6?

Good question. The cleric's an orc, but that still wouldn't mean it should be CR 6 normally. It should start at CR 5. Maybe a misprint or just a screwup.