Making nwn playable on low levels

[Legacy_Valgav]

               

I'm thinking about module for really low level characters where level 7 is first huge milestone but have no idea what to do with spawns.

 

Even simple fillers like group of goblins or kobolds currently can kill player at level 1-4 in seconds. Simple way is to decrease attack bonus for something like 5. It would lower the chance of hit and improve chance of survive for players.

 

Have you ever though about something like that? Any other useful tips?

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Pstemarie]

               

Some questions...

 

1. What difficulty mode are you playing on?

 

2. What class is the PC? What class is the module designed for?

 

3. Does the PC have henchman options?

 

4. Does the PC have equitable access to equipment as the monsters he is pitted against? In other words, if the monsters are laden with magic items, does the PC have a comparable amount (or at least a chance to obtain such).

 

Any Warrior at 1st level is a match for a Kobold or Goblin. If you are using encounter spawns, the triggers should spawn an appropriate amount of creatures - assuming the default settings haven't been overridden by the Builder.

 

I have a module I am building right now for my son and have been testing it using Daeris the 1st level Dwarf Fighter. He is armed with the basic equipment provided by the class package - studded leather armor, 3 potions of cure light wounds, a short sword, and a torch. When I tested out the hardest encounter area with him, I boosted his armor by leaving a chain shirt near the entrance to the area. The area uses 4 staggered custom single-shot spawn triggers that spawn 1-2 skeletons or zombies (or a mix thereof). Despite the triggers being somewhat spread out across the area, It is possible in the course of melee for the PC to cross the next trigger, increasing the number of opponents. At the height of the encounter Daeris was fighting 2 skeleton archers, a skeleton swordsman, and a zombie. Even against those odds Daeris survived, having half his HP remaining and one cure potion left. Of course, having designed the encounter, I had a distinct advantage over a player. However, once engaged in melee, the fight was all dependent upon the tactics I used and the luck of the dice.

 

I guess the point is that when designing encounters, especially for low-level characters, it is best practice, IMO, to use custom encounter triggers to spawn in exactly what you want and not leave the determination of enemies to the game engine. Someone once told me that a good NWN module is designed with the same principles as a pnp adventure. Everything is staged and the only thing that should be left to random chance is the roll of the dice. In pnp, the DM always has the option of just ignoring a randomly generated encounter that is too powerful for the PCs. In NWN, once they cross that trigger, the game engine is remorseless.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Valgav]

               

It's some sort of PW for small sessions with friends.

 

Mostly combat classes, magic classes nerfed in nwn logic but powered up in other things. Magic equipment is unique, overriding bonus stack limits. In fact everything that you could possible imagine that makes players life nightmare. But still i want to keep them alive '>

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_rogueknight333]

               

It is indeed an issue with D&D mechanics that low level PCs can often die as the result of a single unlucky hit. Providing good armor & other gear can reduce the probability of this but not normally to zero, e.g. if a monster rolls a natural 20 for an automatic hit and then crits...

 

Some things you can do to ease this problem:

 

1) Design monsters with a strength less than 10 (i.e., low enough so they get a penalty to damage done on hit). Alternatively, you can provide them with custom weapons that have a penalty to damage. Monsters who can only do 1 damage per hit will obviously be much easier for a Lvl 1 PC to handle.

 

2) Provide gear that gives properties like damage reduction, critical immunity, or Constitution bonuses to boost HP. This runs the danger of unbalancing things in the opposite direction once PCs are no longer very low level, and it might also seem illogical and crate immersion issues for such low level PCs to have such powerful equipment. Thus an alternative might be to provide potions or other consumable items that provide bonuses like the above, or temporary hit points.

 

3) Give PCs access to henchmen or summons that can tank for them.

 

4) Provide a robust system for respawing on death/being resurrected by allies, so that temporarily "dying" can become a normal and manageable part of combat mechanics.

 

5) Encourage creative tactics. For example, PCs with access to missile weapons or traps can normally take out a monster who lacks ranged attacks without ever exposing themselves to danger.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Proleric]

               

...

 

4) Provide a robust system for respawing on death/being resurrected by allies, so that temporarily "dying" can become a normal and manageable part of combat mechanics...

 

For example, OnDeath can be scripted so that the player doesn't actually die at low levels, but is merely beaten unconcious, waking up in jail, infirmary, deserted lair or battlefield.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Valgav]

               

I was thinking about death more like fainting with easy way to heal by team members or after some time automatic move to safe area like druid hut or traveling merchants camp and punishing players with temporary decreases of stats to reflect injuries, not with xp penalties.

 

True death should apply only on very dangerous places.

 

 

Idea with low strenght seems right for low level monsters. Using traps and range advantage also sounds fun. Also i'm thinking of simple tracking system that would give advantage.

 

You're following opponents so you know about them something so you get some small boost against them. Also it makes rangers and characters dedicated to wildlands more useful in gameplay.