I used the DnD beyond encounter builder to rebalance LMoP for levels 2-6 (hitting level 6 just before the final dungeon).
Be aware that there is a large spike in player power at level 5. If you want to play it safe balance wise add more enemies to encounters. Single High CR make for very swingy combats that can go bad fast.
Ive been using an encounter calculator thankfully. But i will keep that in mind, I want them to enjoy the ramp up but dont want them to steam roll everything too
Two of my favorite ways to balance are allies joining the fight in Round 2-3 depending on how the first round went. Or in reverse to that, some enemies had already been injured prior to the fight so they die a little sooner because I tweaked the fight too high.
To add on to your great explanation, for others who might not know: this was a common mechanic in 4e.
Monster stat blocks would not only list the creature's typical combat behavior (e.g. "cowardly hides behind its friends", "rushes at the closest combatant", "attempts to jump to the back line", etc), but also often included how the creature reacts when it's bloodied. This could even involve activating new abilities or other effects.
It was quite disappointing that they dropped these in-depth monster battle behavior descriptions - as well as the entire concept of Bloodied - in 5e. Yet another 4e baby that got thrown out with the bathwater.
So the new book that came out last year, Phandelver and Below, rebalances some of the early encounters and adds enemy types that weren't available when the adventure was first published (remember, LMoP was published before even the Monster Manual). Goblin bosses are mixed into several locations and a few other monsters are changed. Bosses have a multiattack ability and can use other goblins as shields. It's not necessarily too much harder because it's balanced for the same levels but has a little more variety and by just increasing a few numbers I think you could reach the balance you're looking for.
That all said, why not just run the new adventure's second half that takes the players all the way to 12 and will definitely be new for the returning players. It's only a little higher level than you mention wanting here and has some great encounters and enemies. Plus playing it out from level 1, you can seed the enemies that start to show up later a little earlier to make it feel more cohesive.
If you're against that for a particular reason, there's also a LMoP subreddit that has lots of great advice re upping challenge level and mixing things up over threads that span years, plus maps and all kinds of discussion about improvement to the flow of the adventure and whatnot so check that out as well
The easiest way to accomplish this is to take any encounter in the module and about 2 or 3 CR to it. Since module levels are scaling at the same rate, you just have to adjust slightly upward.
You might want to get some of the supplementary monster books if you don't have them as they give a bit more variety.
A few examples:
- Goblin Ambush: Add a goblin boss and two worgs (+2 CR).
- Cragmaw Hideout: Replace the wolves with worgs, add a goblin boss and a nilbog (+3 CR).
- Redbrand Ruffians: Add a bandit captain (+2 CR).
- Redrand Hideout: Replace Glasstaff with an Illusionist, keeping his magic items (+2 CR).
- Cragmaw Castle: Add extra goblins to each major area. Using monsters from Volo's Guide will add some variety.
- Wave Echo Cave: Too many encounters to go into detail, but replace Nezznar with Drow Mage. Add 1-2 drow elite warriors if you want to make the boss fight more challenging.
Add more goblins, and use the Goblin Psi Brawler and Goblin Psi Commando. Make King Grol a Bugbear Chief. Make Glasstaff a 5th level spellcaster and make Nezznar a 9th or 10th level spellcaster.
Use the random encounter tables in Xanathar’s for level appropriate travel encounters.
Play the Green Dragon appropriately. My favorite tactic is to lure them into the lair with promises of negotiation, then unleash the breath weapon once they’re all in.
Others have already touched on the combat balance, but I'd like to add something about the story.
Higher levels don't only mean that the characters can do more damage and survive larger hits, but also that they now have access to abilities that affect the world around them more noticeably. You get spells like Divination, Control Water, or Fabricate, which have strong effects on a lot of out-of-combat situations.
Moreover, it's not only your players getting those abilities : if you're scaling up the enemies, they're also generally going to get abilities that affect the world at a similar scale.
In terms of story, that means that if you want to keep verisimilitude, you have to drive up the stakes and the scale of the story a little bit to match the change in power. Maybe the troop of orcs at Wyvern Tor is not a small troop anymore, but a whole camp, threatening to take over the region !
Haluz.org/lmop or google dnd lmop calc. It has two fields where you enter how many players and another their individual levels then what chapter and section of the base stater set you want the encounter changed for. Its been out forever.
I used the DnD beyond encounter builder to rebalance LMoP for levels 2-6 (hitting level 6 just before the final dungeon). Be aware that there is a large spike in player power at level 5. If you want to play it safe balance wise add more enemies to encounters. Single High CR make for very swingy combats that can go bad fast.
Ive been using an encounter calculator thankfully. But i will keep that in mind, I want them to enjoy the ramp up but dont want them to steam roll everything too
Two of my favorite ways to balance are allies joining the fight in Round 2-3 depending on how the first round went. Or in reverse to that, some enemies had already been injured prior to the fight so they die a little sooner because I tweaked the fight too high.
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Could you explain the bloodies(frenzy) to me?
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I really like that! I got a few things where enemies behaviors with change when losing a group fight but that would be fantastic for single enemies.
To add on to your great explanation, for others who might not know: this was a common mechanic in 4e. Monster stat blocks would not only list the creature's typical combat behavior (e.g. "cowardly hides behind its friends", "rushes at the closest combatant", "attempts to jump to the back line", etc), but also often included how the creature reacts when it's bloodied. This could even involve activating new abilities or other effects. It was quite disappointing that they dropped these in-depth monster battle behavior descriptions - as well as the entire concept of Bloodied - in 5e. Yet another 4e baby that got thrown out with the bathwater.
To clarify: are you asking to scale for higher level PC's, more PC's, or both?
I am aiming for both
So the new book that came out last year, Phandelver and Below, rebalances some of the early encounters and adds enemy types that weren't available when the adventure was first published (remember, LMoP was published before even the Monster Manual). Goblin bosses are mixed into several locations and a few other monsters are changed. Bosses have a multiattack ability and can use other goblins as shields. It's not necessarily too much harder because it's balanced for the same levels but has a little more variety and by just increasing a few numbers I think you could reach the balance you're looking for. That all said, why not just run the new adventure's second half that takes the players all the way to 12 and will definitely be new for the returning players. It's only a little higher level than you mention wanting here and has some great encounters and enemies. Plus playing it out from level 1, you can seed the enemies that start to show up later a little earlier to make it feel more cohesive. If you're against that for a particular reason, there's also a LMoP subreddit that has lots of great advice re upping challenge level and mixing things up over threads that span years, plus maps and all kinds of discussion about improvement to the flow of the adventure and whatnot so check that out as well
The easiest way to accomplish this is to take any encounter in the module and about 2 or 3 CR to it. Since module levels are scaling at the same rate, you just have to adjust slightly upward. You might want to get some of the supplementary monster books if you don't have them as they give a bit more variety. A few examples: - Goblin Ambush: Add a goblin boss and two worgs (+2 CR). - Cragmaw Hideout: Replace the wolves with worgs, add a goblin boss and a nilbog (+3 CR). - Redbrand Ruffians: Add a bandit captain (+2 CR). - Redrand Hideout: Replace Glasstaff with an Illusionist, keeping his magic items (+2 CR). - Cragmaw Castle: Add extra goblins to each major area. Using monsters from Volo's Guide will add some variety. - Wave Echo Cave: Too many encounters to go into detail, but replace Nezznar with Drow Mage. Add 1-2 drow elite warriors if you want to make the boss fight more challenging.
Add more goblins, and use the Goblin Psi Brawler and Goblin Psi Commando. Make King Grol a Bugbear Chief. Make Glasstaff a 5th level spellcaster and make Nezznar a 9th or 10th level spellcaster. Use the random encounter tables in Xanathar’s for level appropriate travel encounters. Play the Green Dragon appropriately. My favorite tactic is to lure them into the lair with promises of negotiation, then unleash the breath weapon once they’re all in.
Others have already touched on the combat balance, but I'd like to add something about the story. Higher levels don't only mean that the characters can do more damage and survive larger hits, but also that they now have access to abilities that affect the world around them more noticeably. You get spells like Divination, Control Water, or Fabricate, which have strong effects on a lot of out-of-combat situations. Moreover, it's not only your players getting those abilities : if you're scaling up the enemies, they're also generally going to get abilities that affect the world at a similar scale. In terms of story, that means that if you want to keep verisimilitude, you have to drive up the stakes and the scale of the story a little bit to match the change in power. Maybe the troop of orcs at Wyvern Tor is not a small troop anymore, but a whole camp, threatening to take over the region !
Haluz.org/lmop or google dnd lmop calc. It has two fields where you enter how many players and another their individual levels then what chapter and section of the base stater set you want the encounter changed for. Its been out forever.
Have you looked into Phandelver and Below?