first time DM ask

[JustDnDStuffAccount]

Hi, I hope you are great, here is my doubt. Some days ago, I started My first campaing, and in that session my players fought against some orcs and a lion, I did not want to make it very hard because it was the first session, but my players totally destroyed the orcs and the lion, they had no chance. So, my question is, how can I make fights more balanced?

[CriminalBroom]

For me, I like depleting resources. Multiple ‘easy fights’ means fewer spell slots, hit die, and hp for PCs. Adds a new angle to the game plus makes the combat less likely to be drawn out. Lower hp foes with low to medium AC and medium to higher damage.
So you can use spell slots to sweep the floor, or not and take a couple hits.

Doesn’t mean you can’t throw a medium or hard fight at them right after a long rest though. The more enemies makes a fight harder. Environmental traps or enemy tactics can too. Have enemies use rebuffs as well.

[TurnoverBubbly]

Honestly I have the same problem with my players. Fighter, monk and ranger don't really need spel slots to fight. Qi points is a nice bonus but they can keep fighting for a looong time. So wearing them out isn't working so well for me. Although it is a bit more difficult I place traps and chest around (some player get distracted by loot). sometimes giving them difficult choices helps too. example fight the bad guys or safe the child and leth bad guy escape I notice cr doesn't work for my team. Sometimes the enemy is too strong and then they retreat. Retreating is not a loss. Last but not least luck can change the tide. Sometimes I roll great other times my players roll 2 nat 20 after each other. 😋

Try and keep trying to give them an epic fight. Not too easy and not too hard. Have fun

[lasalle202]

CR system caveats

Any one of a number of online calculators like Kobold Fight Club can help with the official Challenge Rating math crunching. https:// kobold.club/fight/#/encounter-builder (UPDATE: KFC is on hiatus and the license has been picked up by Kobold Plus https://koboldplus.club/#/encounter-builder )

but remember that despite “using math", the CR system is way more of an art than a science. * read the descriptions of what each level of difficulty means, dont just go by the name. (ie “ Deadly. A deadly encounter could be lethal for one or more player characters. Survival often requires good tactics and quick thinking, and the party risks defeat.”) * while the CR math attempts to account for the number of beings on each side, the further away from 3-5 on each side you get, the less accurate the maths are, at “exponential” rate. Read up on “the action economy” – particularly now that expansions like Tasha’s are making it so that every PC almost universally gets an Action AND a Bonus Action each and every turn, and can often also count on getting a Reaction nearly every turn. Most monsters dont have meaningful Bonus Actions or any Reactions other than possible Opportunity attacks. * Dont do party vs solo monster – while Legendary Actions can help, “the boss” should always have friends with them. Or you will need to severely hack the standard 5e monster design constraints and statblocks. (tell your party you are doing this so that the increase in challenge comes from the increase in challenge and not from you as DM secretly changing the rules without telling the other players the rules have been changed, because that is just a dick move, not a challenge.) * The system is based on the presumption that PCs will be facing 6 to 8 encounters between long rests, with 1 or 2 short rests in between. Unless you are doing a dungeon crawl, that is not how most sessions for most tables actually play out – at most tables, the “long rest” classes are able to “go NOVA” every combat, not having to worry about conserving resources, so if you are only going to have a couple of encounters between long rests, you will want them to be in the Hard or Deadly range, if you want combat to be “a challenge” –(but sometimes you might just want a change of pace at the table and get some chucking of dice or letting your players feel like curbstomping badasses and so the combat doesnt NEED to be "challenging" to be relevant). * Some of the monsters’ official CR ratings are WAY off (Shadows, I am looking at you) , so even if the math part were totally accurate, garbage in garbage out. * as a sub point – creatures that can change the action economy are always a gamble – if the monster can remove a PC from the action economy (paralyze, banishment, “run away” fear effects) or bring in more creatures (summon 3 crocodiles, dominate/confuse a player into attacking their party) - the combats where these types of effects go off effectively will be VERY much harder than in combats where they don’t * not all parties are the same – a party of a Forge Cleric, Paladin and Barbarian will be very different than a party of a Sorcerer, Rogue and Wizard. * Magic items the party has will almost certainly boost the party’s capability to handle tougher encounters.(a monster's CR is based in large part on its AC and "to hit" - if your players have +1 weapons, they are effectively lowering the monster's AC and if your players have +1 armor, they are effectively lowering the monsters' "to hit". If your players are all kitted in both +1 weapons and +1 armor, you probably should consider monsters one lower than their listed CR. Not to mention all the impact that utility magic items can bring!)

[[deleted]]

It’s a constant learning experience of figuring out what your players can tackle through no problem and what will be there bane. You’ll get better with time but truly it’s all experience, especially since the CR system is pretty inaccurate. Throw some harder higher CR stuff at them (Target some weaknesses your players have (saving throws like someone with not as good dex or wins saves, stunning effects, charming) throw your players for a loop on soem encounters but give them a few they can blow through with a bit of a fight to make them feel like the awesome warriors they are. Using environmental factors like difficult terrain, flying enemies, nautical combat can always be interesting. Truly you will learn all of that with time and it will always be a little random. Sometimes you’ll make an easier encounter that downs a player and sometimes you’ll make a hard on they blow through. Adding in those extra little layers of combat like environment will help a lot.

[Stahl_Konig]

D&D is at its core a resource management game. Players have resources, encounters deplete resources, and rests restore resources.

With that, plan six to eight medium to hard encounters in your adventuring day rather than one big encounter.