@chickman107I love watching critical role but I’m having difficulty with my players being stronger than their challenge rating. Advice? Adjust monsters to have a slightly higher Hp, AC, damage, or ability DC. Mix and match the above to test out a balance
— Matthew Mercer (@matthewmercer) September 18, 2016
you can also as add more bad guys. if you do your rolls behind a dm screen you can add some hit point and a.c. exct…. and if it to much just fudge a little.
Some of the suggestions like ac, hp, and numbers are good ideas. Thordak had 3-4 x the hit points of an Ancient red Dragon. Another possibility is instead double their attack damage so they hit harder, a few lower hit point mobs that really clobber a pc, can wake them up, especially if they are smart enough to have a strategy. I had 3 trolls really mess up a party of level 4’s, just because they wouldn’t run out and get killed.
Also have some encounters have really low hp targets, but have lethal difficulty damage, the players feel good they are dropping the mobs like wheat, but still feel bruised at the end of combat.