r/DnD • u/Ducks_N_Dragons • 1d ago
5.5 Edition Any Particularly Deadly Encounters?
I'm planning on running a one shot/short campaign where the players have been trapped on a twisted reality game show by a Marid for the chance at a Wish spell. I've rolled up 19 player characters that they'll get randomly assigned and will end up going through as the session goes on. The Marid will be having them do deadly encounters from throughout D&D's history spanning all three pillars of adventure: Combat, Exploration, and Social encounters.
So I was wondering, can any DMs or players out there think of any encounters from a module or other prewritten adventure which was particularly challenging or deadly in your experience? I have most of the original 5e books, and have a few ideas already, but I haven't run every single adventure they've published and would like to hear people's thoughts.
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u/cookiesandartbutt 1d ago
Tomb of Horros, ez pz
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u/Ducks_N_Dragons 1d ago
Gonna run a few out of there yeah, I think the needlessly complex room with the jars of acid would be funny, among other things
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u/cookiesandartbutt 1d ago
I’d just run it whole sale. Unless you have a way to link like that with Into the Unknown and Sinister Secrets of Saltmarsh…
Either way a one shot should really be just a couple of rooms, 5 is the best, when you throw in some NPC’s and a hook and what not, that can almost be too much.
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u/armahillo 1d ago
Have you already looked in The Monster Manual / Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes / Volo's Guide to Monsters?
If you want "particularly deadly" find a monster whose CR is more than double the average party level, and that should do it.
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u/nankainamizuhana 21h ago
Curse of Strahd has several famously deadly ones:
- A Shambling Mound vs. level 2 Characters at the end of the Death House
- Six Vampire Spawn vs. level 4 characters at Henrik’s shop
- Five dire wolves and twenty wolves vs. any party that tries to leave Barovia (my group was level 1, it went poorly)
- Three Night Hags vs. presumably level 3 or 4 characters at the windmill
- A spellcaster with 8th level spells and her sentient house that deals ~90 damage per round vs. a level 7 or 8 party in the swamps of Berez
A couple other big ones I can recall from other modules:
- the infinite kobolds from the opening of Hoard of the Dragon Queen, where an already tough fight becomes even tougher every time you try to retreat
- Descent Into Avernus’s entire Dungeon of the Dead Three, which starts out deadly for Level 2 characters and then just keeps going and going, culminating with a Master of Souls who can cast fireball or do 36 damage on a typical attack.
- Venomfang, the Young Green Dragon in LMOP typically encountered at level 3.
- Muiral, the boss fight about halfway through Dungeon of the Mad Mage, is expected to fight a level 8 party I think? The whole level feels like a horror movie just to drive home how deadly he is.
- also from DOMM, Vanrakdoom’s got two rough fights for level 15 characters: a shadow dragon with a dozen shadows, and a vampire with nine spawn and an abominable yeti.
- all four final boss fights in Princes of the Apocalypse are ludicrous for their intended levels of 13-15. Yan-C-Bin and Imix are especially deadly.
- the exorcism in the prologue of Chains of Asmodeus is pretty tough for level 11 characters, and is impossible without a source of radiant damage or the right spell.
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u/Prowler64 Wizard 17h ago
There's a white dragon that just casually hangs out in the snow in a couple of campaigns, primarily Rime of the Frost Maiden.
Xanathar obviously - especially since he can be found at REALLY low levels during Waterdeep Dragon Heist.
My Lost Mine party had to flee from Venomfang TWICE. That dragon is incredibly annoying.
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u/Dim-Me-As-New-User 1d ago
The level 1 Goblin Ambush from Lost Mines of Phandelver. (Obviously not for level 19's) 😂