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[Raven Crowking]

Originally Posted by crash_beedo

I think the 4E equivalent is to plan for the 8-10 encounters + another 10 "empty" rooms, and then increase the size a factor beyond that so the characters never quite feel like they cleared everything when they move on. Maybe my model will be a 40-room level?

Perhaps. You are correct in thinking that the combat pace in 4e, as in 3e before it, is the most serious problem you face in trying to avoid making the game a "grind".

OTOH, not every encounter should lead to combat. You should give some serious thought to including some areas upfront where the PCs are seriously outclassed and need to negotiate with the monsters. Or where the monsters want to negotiate with the PCs to their mutual benefit. These don't need to be "screw the PCs" encounters.....the PCs and the monsters should both get something out of it. It helps the environment seem real.

In addition, 4E "advice" is not to penalize dead/missing characters via the experience mechanic. Real life already punishes you when a miss a day of work, gaming should be fun... I think as I get older my personal views have softened on these points too. My group of 40-year olders have been appreciating the change in mind-set.

Penalize death, and (1) it will become meaningful, and (2) it will increase the total XP needed to gain levels. Even just a serious XP cost (back to the begining of current level) will do the trick here.

The only thing I'm still mulling is taking a creative approach to wandering monsters... some will be set pieces (part of the expected 8-10 encounters) and some might be handled in alternate manners as skill challenges. Either way, the investment in time required by combat in 4E, and the fact that attrition isn't usually the same kind of an issue for 4E characters, means you can't throw wandering monsters at the party willy-nilly in the 4E world.

You are right that not everything that seems like a wandering encounter should be. Moreover, some wandering encounters can be more signifcant than others.

If you want a lot of little quick-n-dirty skirmishes, you can use minion wanderers, but the party will have little reason to flee from anything unless some of the wanderers are tougher. That way, every encounter can have some level of tension.

Also, I recommend rolling a wandering monster check at the end of each fight, and considering the result, if any, as part of the same encounter. This will change the "encounter resource" dynamic of 4e to something more in line with an OS Megadungeaon.

Okay - so this does raise a question about attrition which some of the posters have brought up...

What role should resource management and attrition play in a 4E megadungeon?

This is tough, because 4e excised much of the "resource management" game. I would suggest that you track food and ammo, at the very least. You may also want to introduce a houserule that every encounter power has a % chance of being expended for that day when used. You might also allow a % chance that the dailies are not expended to balance this.

Check only after the encounter, as part of mop-up.



RC