Don’t Kill—Scare

Grinding down a high-level character is difficult, and the task is often monotonous for the DM and frustrating for the player. It is much better to look for ways to undermine player confidence and to keep them from feeling cocky.

The best way to take players down a notch is to get personal by attacking specific player character strengths. The lowly 2nd-level priest spell silence 15’ radius is a great way to remind high-level spellcasters that they don’t run the world. Antimagic shells, scrolls of protection from magic, and the occasional magic dead zone are more potent ways to keep spellcasters in line. In a similar vein, thieves can find magic mouth spells very annoying and fighters often have difficulty acting heroic when their weapons and armor have been subjected to heat metal spells and rust monster attacks.

Players can be their own worst enemies when it comes to inflicting mental anguish on themselves. The simple ploy of presenting a party with a foe they cannot detect often has players assuming the worst. For example, a few bow specialists who have used dust of disappearance on themselves and consumed potions of speed can send a hail of missiles at a party, leading the players to assume they are surrounded and outnumbered when, in fact, they’re simply the targets of harassment.

Trying to design lethal adventures can be harmful to the campaign in other ways. As Chapter One pointed out, increasingly lethal adventures tend to make players want to retire their characters before their luck runs out. Also, remember that outrageously powerful magical items used against the PCs in one adventure are going to be used on the monsters who oppose them all too soon.

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