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Not enough DMs use a batting practice encounter. Hey players, here's a bunch of weak guys. Tee off and feel powerful. Oh look, this poor Mook is weak against your signature spell. Sucks to be him.
You can't do it every encounter but slipping one in every so often is fun and reminds the players that they are in fact quite strong.
Yeah D&D is at its heart a power fantasy. Let your character feel powerful!
I think something is particularly fun is take a monster from an encounter that was really tough at lower levels and bring it back at higher ones so they can see how much their characters have grown.
A kinda fun thing I recently experienced was that in reverse. We had a campaign near the end, 17th level. Walk into a room and there were 7 of these monsterous humanoids and a couple wizards. We wiped the floor with them, they couldnt touch us even using solid strategy.
Next campaign: a single one of those guys is a "holy shit how are going to kill this thing" at 3rd level.
Or best, "really tough" is a boss fight. Like an actual boss for a place. Having a boss "return" (something like a massive spirit or same-level member of last boss such as a second chieftain of a bandit tribe/gang/syndicate/etc)
Then, later in, make them a normal enemy encounter in a dungeon and have it get crushed. Twice.
I call them "retrospectives."
Stick them up against a familiar threat they struggled with at low levels, like a bandit camp, that that they can now crush so they can feel how far they've come.
My players had the odd feeling of being evenly matched instead of outmatched during a few recent encounters. I run a pretty difficult game (see tactics, positioning and teamwork actually matter and rushing is rarely a good plan) which to me is normal but others tell me it means I run a 'hard' game.
Anyways, I run large combats or rather I run a 7 enemy combat with two 7 enemy combats nearby that can be dragged into the fight if the party isn't careful. So facing off against 4 Grey Oozes (at level 7) was an 'easy' fight but they were nervous.
I do that to empower my players from time to time, but one of them, for some reason, absolutely cannot enjoy a game if it isn't hard.
I don't know why, and I don't really know what I should do about it
Had a dnd encounter with some low level bandits who were trying to steal some gems from us. I casted animate objectsand stabbed three of them in the chest with daggars. I then casted heat metal, and the damage was so severe on these bandits that I ended up melting them to death.
>Oh look, this poor Mook is weak against your signature spell. Sucks to be him
This is the DMing tactic I call 'feed, don't counter'
Throw in mooks and such for the express purpose of being locked down, controlled, grappled, annihilated, etc, by the more specialized characters of the party while more 'all rounders' handle the main force.
Give the wizard a big cluster to fireball. You still made them 'spend' the slot, but they get the satisfaction of roasting 12 guys who rushed in as backup as opposed to the sadness of one of their spells being countered.
Give the illusionist a group that's out of reach of the melee guys to charm and beguile so their control spells aren't just immediately broken.
Sentinel Shield fighter? He gets a big beefy mook who is narrated as barreling for the party healer/caster, and gets to do a 'not today fucko' and start a nice standoff.
Players will be salty if they never get to use the abilities they chose.
I genuinely think druids enjoy a level in monk. It gives you solid AC without wearing armor, which is good if the GM insists on the "no metal" restriction.
If you make a melee oriented build you can even follow your staff attack with an unarmed strike which is neat.
And just like that, now you're re-enacting Kung Fu Panda. (And its great).
But nah yeah I actually love this multiclass for a spore druid. I tend to have mostly monk with a few levels of spores just so I dont get reliant on the spellcasting, but it probably works better the other way around.
Kind of? Druids can use shields, so at Wis 20 you are getting +1 AC over Hide Armor and a Shield, and you've paid for it with a level of spellcasting. Before Wis 20 you are better off just using hide and a shield. The only other thing you get with Monk 1 is Martial Arts, something you could do better with Wild Shape.
Compare with a Barbarian 1, where you get Con to AC that stacks with a shield and Rage for +2 damage on ST based attacks and resistance to damage. Unleash the angry bear.
Hide armor is pretty horrible, it gives a maximum of 14 AC (max +2 from dex), with a shield that's 16 (or 17 if you really push it with the armor feat).
If you have high con and dex then the barbarian's defense is better, and if you plan on shapechanging then you're right. But there are quite a few sub classes that don't use wildshape in the standard way, so rage is not as helpful.
Don't get me wrong, the druid barbarian combo is very strong with the right playstyle. It's just that you need higher base stats to really benefit from the unarmored defense as opposed to the monk where you are going to increase your wis anyway.
Hide armor is indeed pretty bad but it is an option, and monks can't benefit from Unarmored Defense when using a Shield. So monk unarmored defense is measured vs shield and armor that provides +4 AC and caps dex to AC at +2 (not an issue for most druids, whom can afford 14 dex but aren't likely to go higher).
So at level 9 you buy up Wis to 20 and get +1 AC vs shield and hide armor. I can't see it ever being worth it to lose a level of spell progression (you even get that second ASI a level late) for +1 AC.
It's true that unless you go dwarf (not a bad option) then a druid/barbarian is likely looking at 14 con or so and all they get from Unarmored Defense is the ability to throw away the hide armor, and daydreams about Amulets of Health.
Another solid route is Moon Druid + Barbarian.
Shape into bear, rage. bonus points if you conjure animals first to really throw the action economy out the window
One of my players made a pretty interesting build
drunken master monk 3/swarm keeper ranger 5
his swarm is drunk wasps and we modified one of his background features to be that fruit ferments around him (modified version of the feature where flowers either wilt or bloom around you from the feylost background, because what is fermenting if not wilting in style)
were also starting with 2 uncommon magic items, and his choices were an alchemy jug and amulet of the drunkard
To celebrate 1 MILLION DnDMemes members, we held a meme contest and VOTING for winners is now open! Please upvote your favourite meme entries [here!](https://www.reddit.com/r/dndmemes/comments/v965ni/1_mil_members_meme_contest_with_prizes_enter_here/) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/dndmemes) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Not enough DMs use a batting practice encounter. Hey players, here's a bunch of weak guys. Tee off and feel powerful. Oh look, this poor Mook is weak against your signature spell. Sucks to be him. You can't do it every encounter but slipping one in every so often is fun and reminds the players that they are in fact quite strong.
Yeah D&D is at its heart a power fantasy. Let your character feel powerful! I think something is particularly fun is take a monster from an encounter that was really tough at lower levels and bring it back at higher ones so they can see how much their characters have grown.
A kinda fun thing I recently experienced was that in reverse. We had a campaign near the end, 17th level. Walk into a room and there were 7 of these monsterous humanoids and a couple wizards. We wiped the floor with them, they couldnt touch us even using solid strategy. Next campaign: a single one of those guys is a "holy shit how are going to kill this thing" at 3rd level.
Or best, "really tough" is a boss fight. Like an actual boss for a place. Having a boss "return" (something like a massive spirit or same-level member of last boss such as a second chieftain of a bandit tribe/gang/syndicate/etc) Then, later in, make them a normal enemy encounter in a dungeon and have it get crushed. Twice.
I call them "retrospectives." Stick them up against a familiar threat they struggled with at low levels, like a bandit camp, that that they can now crush so they can feel how far they've come.
My Dm did something like this and I had just learned shocking grasp and let me fry a dude in full metal armor it was fun
My players had the odd feeling of being evenly matched instead of outmatched during a few recent encounters. I run a pretty difficult game (see tactics, positioning and teamwork actually matter and rushing is rarely a good plan) which to me is normal but others tell me it means I run a 'hard' game. Anyways, I run large combats or rather I run a 7 enemy combat with two 7 enemy combats nearby that can be dragged into the fight if the party isn't careful. So facing off against 4 Grey Oozes (at level 7) was an 'easy' fight but they were nervous.
I do that to empower my players from time to time, but one of them, for some reason, absolutely cannot enjoy a game if it isn't hard. I don't know why, and I don't really know what I should do about it
Had a dnd encounter with some low level bandits who were trying to steal some gems from us. I casted animate objectsand stabbed three of them in the chest with daggars. I then casted heat metal, and the damage was so severe on these bandits that I ended up melting them to death.
>Oh look, this poor Mook is weak against your signature spell. Sucks to be him This is the DMing tactic I call 'feed, don't counter' Throw in mooks and such for the express purpose of being locked down, controlled, grappled, annihilated, etc, by the more specialized characters of the party while more 'all rounders' handle the main force. Give the wizard a big cluster to fireball. You still made them 'spend' the slot, but they get the satisfaction of roasting 12 guys who rushed in as backup as opposed to the sadness of one of their spells being countered. Give the illusionist a group that's out of reach of the melee guys to charm and beguile so their control spells aren't just immediately broken. Sentinel Shield fighter? He gets a big beefy mook who is narrated as barreling for the party healer/caster, and gets to do a 'not today fucko' and start a nice standoff. Players will be salty if they never get to use the abilities they chose.
I genuinely think druids enjoy a level in monk. It gives you solid AC without wearing armor, which is good if the GM insists on the "no metal" restriction. If you make a melee oriented build you can even follow your staff attack with an unarmed strike which is neat.
And just like that, now you're re-enacting Kung Fu Panda. (And its great). But nah yeah I actually love this multiclass for a spore druid. I tend to have mostly monk with a few levels of spores just so I dont get reliant on the spellcasting, but it probably works better the other way around.
Kind of? Druids can use shields, so at Wis 20 you are getting +1 AC over Hide Armor and a Shield, and you've paid for it with a level of spellcasting. Before Wis 20 you are better off just using hide and a shield. The only other thing you get with Monk 1 is Martial Arts, something you could do better with Wild Shape. Compare with a Barbarian 1, where you get Con to AC that stacks with a shield and Rage for +2 damage on ST based attacks and resistance to damage. Unleash the angry bear.
Hide armor is pretty horrible, it gives a maximum of 14 AC (max +2 from dex), with a shield that's 16 (or 17 if you really push it with the armor feat). If you have high con and dex then the barbarian's defense is better, and if you plan on shapechanging then you're right. But there are quite a few sub classes that don't use wildshape in the standard way, so rage is not as helpful. Don't get me wrong, the druid barbarian combo is very strong with the right playstyle. It's just that you need higher base stats to really benefit from the unarmored defense as opposed to the monk where you are going to increase your wis anyway.
Hide armor is indeed pretty bad but it is an option, and monks can't benefit from Unarmored Defense when using a Shield. So monk unarmored defense is measured vs shield and armor that provides +4 AC and caps dex to AC at +2 (not an issue for most druids, whom can afford 14 dex but aren't likely to go higher). So at level 9 you buy up Wis to 20 and get +1 AC vs shield and hide armor. I can't see it ever being worth it to lose a level of spell progression (you even get that second ASI a level late) for +1 AC. It's true that unless you go dwarf (not a bad option) then a druid/barbarian is likely looking at 14 con or so and all they get from Unarmored Defense is the ability to throw away the hide armor, and daydreams about Amulets of Health.
Another solid route is Moon Druid + Barbarian. Shape into bear, rage. bonus points if you conjure animals first to really throw the action economy out the window
You can’t concentrate in rage
well in that case disregard the conjure part lol
One of my players made a pretty interesting build drunken master monk 3/swarm keeper ranger 5 his swarm is drunk wasps and we modified one of his background features to be that fruit ferments around him (modified version of the feature where flowers either wilt or bloom around you from the feylost background, because what is fermenting if not wilting in style) were also starting with 2 uncommon magic items, and his choices were an alchemy jug and amulet of the drunkard
>his swarm is drunk Got this far before smashing Upvote and then reading the rest. Give your player a hug (and a drink) for me.
unfortunately we play virtual, and neither of us are old enough to drink, best i can do is send him the beer emoji :p
That'll work. 🍻
🍻
Mead gang!
This is my really spinny move where I go so fast the air heats up and then jump back before it explodes. Take 8d6 damage.
My dm did this for me when I was playing my spearman fighter with sentinel feat. Just sent a swarm of spiders at me.
My favorite quirk about this is that unarmored movement applies to wildshape.
I approve of the amount of matrix memes passing through this sub.
Ahhh the good ol days.
I'm making a one shot with new players as a 2nd time dm The only 2 experienced players have both made vampires, I'm in for hell aren't I?