Adventure creation suggestions for level 1-3

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Kelthrax
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Adventure creation suggestions for level 1-3

Post by Kelthrax »

I’m looking for recommended encounter requirements for beginning level characters. Such as; HD of monsters, number of monsters, ratio of treasure, treasure types, number of characters to monsters encountered, etc.
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chiisu81
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Re: Adventure creation suggestions for level 1-3

Post by chiisu81 »

Well if you're wanting to create an adventure for beginning characters of 1st level or so, then you'll want to match them with 1st-dungeon-level creatures, so that's 1-2 HD per monster. As for how many monsters per encounter, well it depends if they're 1 or 2 HD, and the number of attacks they have, special abilities, etc. It really depends on the monster(s). Of course you also need to factor in what your dungeon/map is gonna look like. How many rooms are there total? How many of those rooms do you want to have fixed monster encounters, and is that in addition to any random encounters that could happen?

If you want to bump up the player levels to 2-3, then you'd scale up to 2-3 HD monsters as well. Be sure to check out our existing adventures, whether on the Downloads page or in Workshop, to start seeing what's been done so far and to get an "average" sense of encounters, treasure, etc. Also be sure to start testing out the items on our Tools page; that's where I tend to start before or after getting a map/layout in mind. Note the encounters generated there just factor in monsters from the Core Rules; be sure to also check out both Field Guides if you'd like to throw in something a little more different/unique. And finally, check my signature for both the adventure template and style guide.

Best thing to do? Once you start getting going, make a post on Workshop. Share your work so far, what your ideas and thinking is headed, etc. We're more than happy to help you along the way!
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Solomoriah
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Re: Adventure creation suggestions for level 1-3

Post by Solomoriah »

For pure beginners, I'd start with "less than 1 hit die" monsters like kobolds and goblins, with maybe a small nest of stirges to teach them some fear...
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Kelthrax
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Re: Adventure creation suggestions for level 1-3

Post by Kelthrax »

How do you decide on what or how much treasure should be given out for an adventure? I guess I'm confused on the treasure types A thru O and P thru V, outside of what each monster is assigned in the bestiaries.

And for just a quick estimate on encounters to player ratio, in a dungeon with roughly 20 to 30 rooms, occupied by various 1 HD to 2 HD vermin and miscellaneous monsters, are there any basic guidelines on what percentage of the rooms should be occupied by monsters and traps for 3 to 6 player characters of level 1 to 3? Nothing concrete, but just a rough guide on how I should focus.

Thanks!
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Solomoriah
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Re: Adventure creation suggestions for level 1-3

Post by Solomoriah »

Generally, give treasure relevant to the monsters encountered, and you should be fine. Remember that lair treasures (A-O) should only be given when monsters are encountered in a lair. An "average" sized lair treasure belongs to an "average" sized lair, so if you have more or fewer monsters than average, you may wish to scale the quantities accordingly.

As to the ratio of what appears where, you can get that from looking at the random dungeon stocking table; of course, even there you may wish to vary. I've run huge tunnel systems that were nearly abandoned, such that half to three-quarters of the rooms were "empty," and I've run trap-laden dungeons, and so on. But the random dungeon stocking table is a good general guideline.
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chiisu81
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Re: Adventure creation suggestions for level 1-3

Post by chiisu81 »

Kelthrax wrote:And for just a quick estimate on encounters to player ratio, in a dungeon with roughly 20 to 30 rooms, occupied by various 1 HD to 2 HD vermin and miscellaneous monsters, are there any basic guidelines on what percentage of the rooms should be occupied by monsters and traps for 3 to 6 player characters of level 1 to 3? Nothing concrete, but just a rough guide on how I should focus.
Page 158 of the Core Rules has a table for stocking a dungeon. Of course, feel free to adjust if you feel there's too many/few of each thing.
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Solomoriah
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Re: Adventure creation suggestions for level 1-3

Post by Solomoriah »

Didn't I just say that?

:D
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