Building Encounters

How Many Monsters Is One Encounter?

A typical adventuring day has 1 social, roleplay, or exploration encounter, and 2 combat encounters. Players can expect a short rest which lasts 1 round between each encounter and a long rest at the end of the day.

A good DM will target the monsters appropriately and utilize positioning in prefight to gain advantages in combat. Don't be afraid to have a monster attempt to make a deception check on a creature to disengage and head towards another player. However, you as the DM have all the meta knowledge of your campaign, intentionally targeting backline carries for the sake of killing them is considered bad manners. Try to keep your games fun, engaging, and light hearted.

There are 3 modes you have when building an encounter. This will change based on the type of encounter your party is entering assuming you have a standard 4 person party. For each additional player at your table consider adding 1-2 extra bruisers.

Each tier adds a new mechanic to the game as player characters get stronger the more they can handle in a fight and attacks alone aren't going to do the job.

Tier 2 Mechanics - Lairs

Lairs represent dynamic and dangerous environments that challenge players as they navigate through a variety of hostile or hazardous spaces. In these lairs, environmental hazards, traps, and monster attacks constantly threaten the party, adding an additional layer of complexity to combat encounters. The lair operates independently of the creatures or opponents within, making the environment itself an adversary.

Lair Actions (Initiative 20)

• Initiative Timing: Lair actions occur on Initiative Count 20 of each combat round, before any other actions taken by creatures or players. Lair actions cannot be interrupted and do not require a creature to take them; they are automatic effects triggered by the environment.
• Frequency: Each round, a new lair challenge is presented to the players. These challenges can include environmental hazards, traps, or additional monster attacks.

Lair Challenge Types

Environmental Hazards:

Environmental hazards are natural or magical occurrences within the lair that pose a threat to the players. These could include things like falling rocks, burst geysers, magical surges, or collapsing terrain.

Damage: Environmental hazards deal (Tier)d8 + player level damage.

Examples:

• Rockfall: Large boulders crash from the ceiling, forcing players in specific areas to make a Reflex saving throw or take (Tier)d8 + level bludgeoning damage.
• Arcane Surge: A magical pulse surges through the room. Players within a 30-foot radius must make a Fortitude saving throw or take (Tier)d8 + level force damage.
• Lava Burst: Lava spews from cracks in the ground, targeting players in certain areas. Reflex saving throws prevent the damage, but failure results in (Tier)d8 + level fire damage.

Traps:

Traps are mechanical or magical devices designed to ensnare or harm players. These traps could be pressure plates, hidden runes, or mechanical devices that trigger when players step on or activate certain parts of the lair.

• Damage: Traps deal (Tier)d8 + player level damage. Traps can also impose conditions such as restrained, poisoned, or stunned if players fail to avoid them.

Examples:

• Spiked Floor Trap: The ground beneath a player's feet shifts, revealing spikes. A Reflex saving throw is required to avoid taking (Tier)d8 + level piercing damage.
• Poisoned Darts: A series of darts shoot from hidden holes in the walls. Players must make a Reflex saving throw or take (Tier)d8 + level poison damage and suffer the poisoned condition for 1 minute.
• Bladed Pendulum: A swinging blade descends from the ceiling, targeting players in a straight line. A Reflex saving throw avoids taking (Tier)d8 + level slashing damage.

Monster Attacks:

Lair actions can summon, bolster, or trigger attacks from creatures already present in the environment. These might be additional minions, summoned creatures, or empowered attacks from the lair’s current inhabitants.

Examples:

• Summon Minions: The lair conjures 1d8 shadowy minions that enter combat with the players. These minions have the minion basic attacks of that level but no special abilities, and disappear after the attack.
• Empowered Monster Strike: The lair channels energy into the existing monster, allowing them to make an additional attack.
• Animated Objects: Objects within the lair (such as statues or debris) animate and attack the players. These animated objects deal damage equal to (Tier)d8 + level using either a saving throw or an attack roll.

Saving Throws & Difficulty Class (DC)

• Saving Throw DC: The lair's saving throw DC is 8 + player level.
• Some lairs, especially those in higher tiers, may have more difficult saves or additional effects that make these hazards harder to avoid.
• Trap & Hazard Detection: Players make active skill checks (such as Awareness, Nature, Science, or Investigation) to detect traps and hazards before they are triggered. Players may consider using a spell point parlay to disable traps as well, however, their roleplay spell must be specific enough that they would gain the information. Example, a player cannot parlay detect traps and see all the traps in a room, they can cast detect traps to detect traps within 15 feet.

Dynamic Environment:

The environment may shift between rounds or adapt based on the players’ actions. For instance, if the players destroy a part of the lair or trigger certain events, the lair’s hazards may intensify, change location, or become more aggressive.

Environmental Damage Scaling: As players increase in level, the lair’s hazards scale to match the players' capabilities. Environmental hazards and traps will deal (Tier)d8 + player level in damage, ensuring that the threats remain significant as the campaign progresses.

Strategic Considerations:

Players must adapt to both their enemies and the shifting dangers of the lair. Smart positioning, quick reactions, and resource management become vital in environments with lair mechanics.

Certain classes, feats, or spells that mitigate environmental damage, traps, or mobility-restricting effects become essential tools in surviving lair encounters.

Example Scenario:

Lair: Volcanic Cavern

• On Initiative 20, lava bursts from cracks in the floor, forcing players in an affected area to make a Reflex saving throw. Those who fail take (Tier)d8 + Level fire damage. On the next round, a tremor shakes the cavern, causing stalactites to fall from the ceiling. Players must make another Reflex saving throw or take (Tier)d8 + Level bludgeoning damage. The area can be the entire map or just a small section.
• Damage dealt in small sections are increased to (Tier)d20 + Level.

Each round, the lair presents a new threat, making the environment as challenging as the enemies within.

This system ensures that players face additional strategic decisions during combat, keeping the gameplay dynamic and unpredictable as the environment itself becomes a key player in every encounter.

Cognitive Saving Throw Trap Examples:

Cognitive saving throw traps are harder to come up with for many DM's but are important as frontliners are typically pretty good at Reflex or Fortitude saves. Here are a couple of examples of such traps:

1. The Hall of Forgotten Dreams

• Trap Description: As players enter a grand, abandoned hall, the air shimmers, and they each begin to see visions of their deepest desires or most cherished memories. The illusion is powerful, luring them into the dreamlike state where time passes unnoticed, and they are unable to act in the real world.
• Cognitive Saving Throw: Players must succeed on a Cognitive Saving Throw to recognize the illusion and snap out of it. On a failed save, they are entranced by the vision, losing their action for the round and remaining unaware of the real dangers around them. If they fail three saves in a row, they become incapacitated until another player can shake them out of the dream.

2. The Echoing Whispers

• Trap Description: As the party walks through a narrow passageway, they begin to hear distant whispers, growing louder and more personal. The voices speak of their fears, regrets, and self-doubt, eroding their confidence and judgment. The whispers are designed to manipulate the players into making poor decisions or turning against each other.
• Cognitive Saving Throw: Players must make a Cognitive Saving Throw each round to resist the whispers. A failed save results in the player becoming paranoid or confused, and they may misinterpret harmless actions as threats or act irrationally. For example, they may attack an ally or take a detrimental action. The effect lasts until the player makes a successful Sanity skill check, and the DC increases by 1 with each failed save each failed save after 3 grants them 1 level of exhaustion. An ally can use spells or features to remove the de-buff from them as well.

3. The Mirthful Maze

• Trap Description: The players enter what seems like a simple maze, but the air is thick with enchantment. As they move, the walls shift, and a wave of uncontrollable laughter begins to swell within them. It becomes harder and harder to focus on the task at hand, and the urge to laugh drowns out any rational thought.
• Cognitive Saving Throw: Each player must make a Cognitive Saving Throw or fall into a fit of uncontrollable laughter for the round giving them the incapacitated condition. Each round, they can make a new saving throw or Sanity skill check at the end of their turn to end the effect early.

4. The Room of Deceitful Truths

• Trap Description: The room contains a large, mysterious puzzle that appears to offer clues in the form of runes. However, these runes shift constantly, embedding false conclusions in the mind of anyone attempting to decipher them. The runes compel the player to believe they’ve found the right solution, even if it leads to a dangerous outcome.
• Cognitive Saving Throw: Any player interacting with the puzzle must make a Cognitive Saving Throw or fall victim to the false information. On a failed save, the player is convinced they have deciphered the runes correctly and may lead the group into further traps or pitfalls. A successful save allows them to recognize the deception, and they can attempt to guide the party toward the real solution.

In each of these examples, a Cognitive Saving Throw represents a player's mental fortitude, resistance to illusions or manipulation, and ability to maintain clarity of thought in challenging situations. The DC can scale depending on the player's level and the intensity of the challenge, and consequences can vary from mild confusion to serious incapacitation.