All Questions
Tagged with balance gm-techniques
34
questions
16
votes
4
answers
2k
views
How do I manage the Deck of Many Things?
I'm considering adding a Deck of Many Things to my campaign.
How would I balance this? Is there a way to stop it from upending my entire campaign? How do I keep the story on track?
How do I manage the ...
- 271
4
votes
3
answers
366
views
How do I adjust an already easy adventure for a party made of healers and tanks?
I am planning for a campaign I'll start soon, the advice sought here is not system specific but the system is Starfinder and the adventure is the Adeventure Path Drift Crashers.
My party is made out ...
- 736
-1
votes
3
answers
619
views
How prepared is "too prepared" for an endgame-like NPC?
I'm currently running a guild heavy campaign with the two major guilds being the Bandit's Guild and the Adventurer's Guild. The bandits guild runs in territories where noble rank and lord rank bandits ...
- 33
8
votes
2
answers
2k
views
As a GM, how can I balance weapon proficiencies that I grant to players for good roleplay?
I like a bit of roleplay in my games and I'm quite supportive of any players that play in dumb but in-character ways. I often give some advantages here and there but I am a bit worried about balance. ...
- 1,411
33
votes
4
answers
8k
views
How do I handle the wizard's familiar invalidating exploration, outshining the rogue, at low to no cost?
I am having some issues trying to find a balance in what seems to me to be an overpowered spell (Find Familiar) considering its low level. I will state first that I have always considered the familiar ...
8
votes
4
answers
2k
views
What should I do when every PC has really low charisma (and it bothers me)?
I am currently working on a PnP which is a mixture of Traveller, DnD and some of my own game mechanics.
The attributes of PCs are pretty much the same as in DnD, and I also decided to have players ...
- 83
19
votes
7
answers
6k
views
As a DM, how do you adjust the difficulty to create challenging encounters when your party is well constructed (aka Power Players)
I am a newbie DM and started DMing because our current DM was not bringing a nice and engaging story.
I am doing really good on the role playing and storytelling, but my encounters had been nothing ...
- 301
2
votes
2
answers
369
views
Are there issues with allowing parties to succeed at encounters in a published adventure with specified checks/DCs using creative roleplay instead?
During Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, there are a number of faction missions, one of which is:
With a suggested solution:
Given that a suggested solution involves the party spending money and checks of a ...
- 10.2k
14
votes
2
answers
4k
views
How do I balance a campaign consisting of four kobold PCs?
I am currently planning a campaign consisting of four kobold PCs, using Volo's Guide to Monsters (p. 119) as my starting point for the race.
However, I am worried about Pack Tactics and Sunlight ...
- 151
3
votes
3
answers
209
views
How can I limit firearms and futuristic technology in a multiverse setting?
I'm going to start a series of Infinite Worlds campaigns and I want to prevent things like using firearms/laser/etc... on worlds where the technology is low.
Because, you know, what is preventing PCs ...
- 443
1
vote
0
answers
626
views
How can I shape long-term plot challenges around character power/capabilities? [closed]
When planning a session or adventure, obviously one should take into account the approximate power level and capabilities of the players. For creatures and similar formal challenges, CR helps scale ...
- 968
24
votes
7
answers
10k
views
How can I prevent casters from stealing the spotlight from non-casters?
I have been running a game of D&D and the group is split with two non magic users (Fighter, Barbarian), one quarter-caster (Paladin), one half-caster (Bard), and two full casters (Cleric, Wizard). ...
- 21.5k
10
votes
1
answer
794
views
Is the Pathfinder Core Rulebook a good standard to use for what is balanced within its system?
I'm asking about the practice of using the book as a measuring rod to decide if other official content in the system is balanced in comparison.
- 3,197
25
votes
9
answers
9k
views
How can I help my players not to feel useless in situations their characters are not optimally designed for?
For the sake of being answerable, I will state a specific scenario that happened to me some months ago while I was DMing. I would like to note that broader answers, that give general advice that ...
- 37.1k
21
votes
9
answers
11k
views
How can I balance encounters with a party consisting of a sorcerer, monk, rogue, and fighter?
Made a rookie mistake of letting my players (who have never played DnD) choose what class to play without discussing with me or each other, and we ended up with no healer. We've already played quite a ...
- 311