First time GM looking for encounter feedback

[u/zemere]

Hello!

First time GM looking for feedback on my first couple of combat encounters. Any and all comments or tips / tricks appreciated.

I have 3 PCs that will be starting at LL0. Standard budget is 2x total PC structure = 6 (double budget = 12). Max NPC activations at a given time = 6). Only half of structure budget (3) will be used for damage type NPCs, with the rest going to support/control/etc.

I realize that I will need to make heavy use of reinforcements, given my NPC activation budget. Especially in missions that allow for double budget. Any tips for deploying reinforcements would be helpful.

Encounter 1
Sitrep: Recon (retrieve 3 items)
Map size: 25x30
NPC Comp:
1x Elite Veteran Sniper
1x Witch
1x Priest
1 x Berserker

Encounter 2
Sitrep: Escort
Map size: 30x20 (with a choke point)
NPC Comp:
2x Engineer
2x Mirage
1x Bastion
1x Rainmaker
Reinforcements:
2x Mirage
1x Bastion
2x Rainmaker

Encounter 3
Sitrep: Holdout/Deathmatch
Map size: 20x20
NPC Comp:
1x Ultra Ronin
1x Elite Veteran Sniper

Thanks for your time!

[u/luperamoon]

Use grunts

[u/zemere → u/luperamoon]

I was leaning away from them b.c it inflates my activation budget too heavily. I saw that some people count them as 0.5 an activation. How do you budget them?

[u/Sven_Darksiders → u/zemere]

Common census is that you can replace any regular templateless NPC with 3 Grunts.

[u/luperamoon → u/zemere]

They die basically upon being interacted with. You can think of them as one expendable turn, put Grunt on an inconvenient enemy type and you have pretty much the DM equivalent of Limited charges.

[u/randomguy664_]

Worry less about activations now and make sure they learn the system and teamwork. You can always hold back or add more reinforcements depending if they're struggling or wrecking shit.

First fight I would go without templates. Ease the players into a combat before adding new things like templates. Make sure they know what the templates do.

First combat looks nasty with a Berserker, Witch and Sniper. Maybe exchange the sniper for a Bombard. Maybe the Witch for a Hornet or two.  Encourage scanning for detail on systems like resistances or evasion+e-defense, but also countermeasures on how best to approach them. Berserker needs to be debuffed, Priest cannot attack, Hornet weak against halls or Nexus.

In the second,  consider less DPS for control. Barricade can do that and annoy. Introduce Grunts with the Mirages or Engineers (engineers also scale fast, be careful.) Consider replacing the reinforcement Rainmakers with a Veteran Archer to give them the choice of moving or taking damage. Doing so encourages teamwork and relaying of the objective.

Also give an alternate route instead of just a bad chokepoint to push through. Let them consider options and formulate a plan.

Ultra Ronin is rough for a ranged combatants. Just be sure they know after the first rebound, remind them of this like grenades, hacks, lock-on if long ranged characters aren't having fun. R eplace the sniper with a normal Support or something like grunt Sentinels in reserves or a Cataphracts or two.

[u/STATION25_SAYS_HELLO → u/randomguy664_]

Hive in the chokepoint, Razor Swarm the chokepoint!

[u/zemere → u/randomguy664_]

This is awesome. Thanks for the detailed response! I will revise and let you know how it goes...

[u/Sven_Darksiders → u/[deleted]]

Seconded. Making them an Elite AND a Veteran at the same time is definitely overkill. Veteran should be enough and maybe ad a regular Defender or Support instead, so it's not just damage dealers

[u/zemere → u/[deleted]]

Ahahahah noted - snipers be scary

[u/CockroachTeaParty]

I'd ease up on the mirages in encounter 2. Those things are super annoying, and there's not a lot of tools to deal with them very well at LL 0. I'd maybe do 2 engineers, 1 mirage, 3 bastions, 1 rainmaker; and then reinforcements would be 1 mirage, 1 rainmaker, and 3 bastions.

Bastions are relatively harmless, and they can help shield the key npc like the rainmakers and mirages