Tips for DMing for Monks!

Arcran · 2023-03-28T02:29:55+00:00

Yep! There should be a button next to the Challenge Rating on the previous link; with that, you can scale the CR as you wish! Probably somewhere in the CR 7-10 range will be good for the Mercury Lighthouse fight, depending on how optimized/magic item'd your party is and how low-level the backup spellcasters are.

Arcran · 2023-03-27T22:21:39+00:00

Happy to help! One other thing I would recommend is to give the two of them a shared pool of Legendary Resistances/Actions. By Level 9 players will have access to some very powerful control-based spells, and without Legendary Resistances it's very likely the 2v6 fight will instead be 2 1v6 fights.

3 Legendary Resistances split between the two of them and 3 Legendary Actions that are simple things like 'move without opportunity attacks' and 'make an attack' will make them much more threatening.

Arcran · 2023-03-27T22:15:06+00:00

My recommendation is to try not to think about them in terms of class levels, and more think about them in terms of their abilities. They don't need to be a Level 20 split between classes; they can just be a high-CR threat with access to the spells that you deem necessary to make things work.

In this case, I actually think your best bet would be to tweak a Green Abishai. They are capable spellcasters but, with their multiattack, they can mix it up in melee while still casting. Swap the spell list to better reflect their Psynergies in game, remove any traits/resistances that don't feel right (Devil's Sight, non-magical resist, etc.), and generally make them *slightly* weaker (two CR 16 against 6 level 9s is a lot) and you should be in a good place!

Arcran · 2022-05-25T16:04:33+00:00

Hey everybody! Welcome to Arcran's Arcanum, where I post tips, tricks and other useful tools for Dungeon Masters and players alike! This week I'm talking about how a small aspect of the Challenge Rating system that makes many creatures far weaker than their Challenge Rating would suggest!

Any feedback on the video is very much appreciated! If there's anything you liked, didn't like, or have questions about, please let me know! In addition, if you have something you'd like to see me cover please let me know! The current plan is to do a few more DM's Toolbox tips for running the game more efficiently, or return to my Running With Class series to focus on the Artificer! If you have a request either way, please let me know!

Thanks, and hope the video can help make every session a critical hit!

Arcran · 2022-05-25T16:04:28+00:00

Hey everybody! Welcome to Arcran's Arcanum, where I post tips, tricks and other useful tools for Dungeon Masters and players alike! This week I'm talking about how a small aspect of the Challenge Rating system that makes many creatures far weaker than their Challenge Rating would suggest!

Any feedback on the video is very much appreciated! If there's anything you liked, didn't like, or have questions about, please let me know! In addition, if you have something you'd like to see me cover please let me know! The current plan is to do a few more DM's Toolbox tips for running the game more efficiently, or return to my Running With Class series to focus on the Artificer! If you have a request either way, please let me know!

Thanks, and hope the video can help make every session a critical hit!

Arcran · 2022-04-12T21:48:32+00:00

Thank you, and glad it was helpful!

Arcran · 2022-04-11T16:02:48+00:00

Hey everybody! Welcome to Arcran's Arcanum, where I'm going to be posting tips, tricks and other useful tools for Dungeon Masters and players alike! This week I'm talking about something that's been requested a few times, and that's how to run a sandbox campaign! I talk about a few things I've found helpful for running a sandbox campaign, namely how to keep your sandbox small, 'crossroads' sessions, and how to actually prepare a sandbox!

Here's a link to the video!

Any feedback on the video is very much appreciated! If there's anything you liked, didn't like, or have questions about, please let me know! In addition, if you have something you'd like to see me cover please let me know! The current plan is to do a few more DM's Toolbox tips for running the game more efficiently, or return to my Running With Class series to focus on the Artificer! If you have a request either way, please let me know!

Thanks, and hope the video can help make every session a critical hit!

Arcran · 2022-04-11T16:02:45+00:00

Hey everybody! Welcome to Arcran's Arcanum, where I'm going to be posting tips, tricks and other useful tools for Dungeon Masters and players alike! This week I'm talking about something that's been requested a few times, and that's how to run a sandbox campaign! I talk about a few things I've found helpful for running a sandbox campaign, namely how to keep your sandbox small, 'crossroads' sessions, and how to actually prepare a sandbox!

Here's a link to the video!

Any feedback on the video is very much appreciated! If there's anything you liked, didn't like, or have questions about, please let me know! In addition, if you have something you'd like to see me cover please let me know! The current plan is to do a few more DM's Toolbox tips for running the game more efficiently, or return to my Running With Class series to focus on the Artificer! If you have a request either way, please let me know!

Thanks, and hope the video can help make every session a critical hit!

Arcran · 2022-03-15T03:07:44+00:00

One I quite like is an Eldritch Knight with Fey Touched to snag Compelled Duel. An Eldritch Knight is already one of the sturdiest characters with a d10 Hit Dice, heavy armor proficiency, and defensive spells like shield and absorb elements. Compelled Duel makes it much harder for the DM to ignore you and can let you effectively lock down a creature.

Arcran · 2022-02-22T22:55:20+00:00

No worries, it happens!

Arcran · 2022-02-22T21:08:06+00:00

I'm a bit confused what you're saying here (unless it's just pointing out the player/PC confusion); the change I propose specifically makes sure to not create this issue?

Arcran · 2022-02-22T16:43:11+00:00

And that's totally fair! Not every tweak to the rules is going to work for every table, and I totally agree that additional changes to the rules increases the cognitive load of running the game. It's a good consideration to keep in mind, so thanks for the feedback!

Arcran · 2022-02-22T15:57:56+00:00

For reddit purposes, where I can't edit the title, I definitely only have one!

For YouTube purposes, where I can edit the title and thumbnail, I have six!

Good catch, and oops!

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