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Balanced Encounters: Ranged / Reach Gauntlet


Sometimes the melee fighterss become too much of a certainty and the rogue just starts losing his cautiousness.  The solution I use for balancing things and giving the party a challenge is a ranged / reach gauntlet.  The setup is pretty straightforward -- give the party someplace they really need to go.  They could be escaping a dungeon, saving a princess, running from a dragon -- it doesn't matter.

They come to a hallway / section of tunnel / section of castle walkway that has an area they can't get to on each side.  I prefer using iron bars, but a steep change in elevation or other terrain, physical, or magical barrier will work.  To make it through the obstacle they have to run past the area that they can't get to it.  In this "safe" area is a group of enemies with ranged weapons or reach weapons.  The enemies can hit them, but they can't hit the enemies unless they have a ranged attack (or reach weapon).  The longer the area they have to run past, the more enemies, and thus, the more damage they will have to endure.

Often this seems like the big moment for rangers and casters, but if you put enough enemies, you can make it so they can't kill them fast enough.  A sure-fire RAW way to do this is to use a bunch of low-level CR enemies with bows.  Orcs stand out as a good option.



The obvious choice once you get enough enemies stacking up against them is to make a run for it.  If the territory is hostile, the trapfinding rogue should be the man out front or right behind the man out front.  The problem is he can't find traps very effectively on a run.  At the end of the enemies just entering the safe zone on the other side, put a trap or two or three.  It doesn't matter if they are easily detected.  Make them very dangerous but easy to see.  If the rogue finds them, he'll hold up the whole party while getting shot trying to disarm the traps.  If someone else finds the first trap, they will learn about traps the hard way.

Now I don't recommend whipping this encounter out just anytime.  This has a great potential for TPK if used improperly.  However, when put in at the right time, it can be a load of fun (for the GM) and can really retune the party back to real dangers and the real mix of skills they need to rely on.
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