Running Demons

How do you liven up gameplay when the characters are near max level?

Here’s a question posted in the #demonplague channel in the RPT Discord:

…the party finally came to the entrance of Xancrown’s Dungeon.

I perused the 4th adventure shortly, have to read it in detail, but aren’t the enemies too weak for this high level a party?

For comparison, I put them when they had to fight Fel’dryzonna against 4 Barlgura’s, a Hezrou, a Glabrezu, a Marilith, a Balor (joined round 3), 2 Chasmes, 2 Vrocks and Feldryzonna (joined round 4) and they walked away without a casualty.

To put in perspective, that’s enough xp to bring them from lvl 14 halfway to 15. They were full hp, but the only reason they took a big hit was the meteor swarm and the delayed blast fireball, but after those one trick ponies the juice was basically dry.

So just wanting to see how people approached the dungeon. I’m going with the enter once, never leave option. What did you do to make it feel a challenge worthy of lvl 15-20 characters?

Great question!

Every party will operate at their own level of effectiveness. Some groups are strong as a team, others have (under/over)optimized their characters, others might be more into roleplay and are poor tacticians.

Alas, it’s been a few years since I GM’d D&D 5E. I’m not sure if any new rules came out in later books, or how the 2024 edition specifically differs.

But below are three ideas. If any 5E pros out there have tips, I’d love to hear them!

1. GM Strategy & Tactics

A few ideas on some tactics you could employ to make existing foes fight harder.

  1. Create a 3 Round Combat Plan. At the least, it helps you think through each creature’s stats and abilities, which is great prep.
  2. Divide & Conquer. Split the party. At this high level, you’re battling for a max d3 rounds gap. And with luck, characters can’t all muster at once, buying you further precious seconds of non-optimal party composition and formation against a prepared enemy as per the bullet above.
  3. Change the Terrain. Assess the winning tactics of the party so far and conjure terrain that still allow these options but at a cost. Deploy spies and other methods for the demons to learn of these tactics and prepare. The best terrain will likely involve structurally weakening the party, such as via divide and conquer.

2. Aim For Atmosphere

While it does not directly whittle party resources and increase target difficulty level, it creates a memorable event.

For atmosphere, look 3 encounters ahead as best as one can.

Create a clue for each encounter that you can drop in at opportune moments to build the drama.

For example, signs of battle, gruesome remnants of recent meals, teeth back-handed off a minion’s face, deep gouges in hard stone walls from claw sharpening.

I always run demons as perpetual 5-year old bullies constantly stepping on bugs, splashing people with puddles, drawing on the walls with forks, and occasionally breathing fire from an inner forge of malice.

Atmosphere gives hints of dangers to come. It also puts players on edge. And sometimes, maybe, you can get the party overcompensating in a easy encounter and blowing more resources than was required.

3. Add Gear

Give foes items that buff, mitigate terrain hazards, and otherwise give advantage.

Further, you’ll need asynchronous advantage, such as by having the agency to shape the battlefield before the foe arrives.

If you increase health and attacks, you’re just competing against character strengths, and still unlikely to be superior to the party due to the action economy. Even with hacks to Lair and Legendary Actions.

Walk the character sheets and note every mechanic each PCs is susceptible to. Conditions, for example. Each Condition you can layer on a character causes encumbrance to their capabilities. Stack the Conditions high.

The best gear is consumables. Use and toss the container away. Because demons litter like that. Jerks. That way, each encounter doesn’t end up adding power to the party for the next.

I know these tips are not 5E specific. Hopefully they help. And hopefully an RPT GM has some mechanical advice for us.

Cheers,
Johnn
roleplayingtips.com
https://discord.gg/6MxTRAqQ76
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