Do You Think Encounters Should be Difficult?

H

hismaimai8888

First Post

• Nov 18, 2018

• #1

When my players moan and complain that an encounter is too difficult I always wonder what is there to a game if there is no penalty for losing. If there is no challenge to overcome why play?
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Last edited: Dec 3, 2018

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Jacob Lewis

Ye Olde GM

• Nov 18, 2018

• #2

Just start having the monsters surrender or go down in one hit, handing out magic items and gain five levels in one session. That will either stop their complaining or end the campaign quickly. It's a win-win.

 

R

Ratskinner

Adventurer

• Nov 18, 2018

• #3

It really depends on why you're playing, IMO.

That is to say, if you're playing for the sake of a challenge, then yeah most of the encounters should be tough.

If you're playing for the sake of a an interesting story or mystery, then probably not as much. Especially for mysteries, the challenge is/should be putting the clues together, not so much getting the clues in the first place.

Then again, straight up D&D, without the DM being informed by other systems like GUMSHOE or Fate, is not very good for such play. Not to say it can't be done, but the system isn't really fine-tuned for such things.

 

ccs

41st lv DM

• Nov 18, 2018

• #4

I think encounters should fit the story.
So sometimes they'll be easy. Sometimes difficult. Many times somewhere in-between & occasionally even just flat out impossible (depending on how the players choose to proceed).

 

Hjorimir

Adventurer

• Nov 18, 2018

• #5

I think adventures should be challenging to promote a sense of, well, adventure. This can be done in many different ways. A tough encounter is an obvious one, but I'd encourage you to run a wide spectrum of difficulties as it keeps the players guessing. Besides, even "easy" encounters drain resources from the PCs and that creates pressure within the adventure as well.

 

P

pemerton

Legend

• Nov 18, 2018

• #6

RPGing is generally an ongoing activity. So what's going to happen if the players lose?

Until you know the answer to that, it's probbaly premature to talk about toughness of encounters.

(I assume it's combat encounters that are being talked about here, but the same thinking applies to other sorts of challenges/situations that a game might involve.)

 

Umbran

Mod Squad

Staff member

Supporter

• Nov 18, 2018

• #7

I note that "the encounter is hard" and "there is penalty for losing" are NOT the same thing.

 

Blue

Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal

• Nov 18, 2018

• #8

Can you give us a little more detail on your player complaints, or better yet get some of them to post directly
? If half the party is unconscious several times per day, it probably is too hard. If every combat takes 3 hours it might be that they want it over sooner, and it's not about the challenge. If a few characters don't contribute much and those are the player who don't like it, it may be players accidentally shooting themselves in the foot about character design (vs. intentionally playing a character who has weaknesses, a valid approach) and feeling like the encounters are too hard because they don't feel like they are contributing. Are you doing just a few, difficult encounters per day and they are really hard for weapon wielders? Are you doing 8+ encounters a day and your casters are the ones complaining?

A big part of DMing is focusing in on what the players are interested in. And that's not just plots and NPCs, it's style. They are complaining, so there's something they don't like. But that doesn't mean they are zeroed in on the actual root cause, especially if there's a pattern like one of those above to who isn't having fun.

 

J

Jhaelen

First Post

• Nov 19, 2018

• #9

Well, I believe, _some_ encounters should be difficult - very difficult, even. However, if every encounter is very difficult, the game quickly stops being fun. Imho, you should strive for a balance. I still think, the D&D 3e guidelines were perfect: You should have very few easy or "impossible" encounters, many hard encounters (some of which can become easier if the party makes good tactical choices), and some "average" encounters.

 

delericho

Legend

• Nov 19, 2018

• #10

ccs said:

I think encounters should fit the story.
So sometimes they'll be easy. Sometimes difficult. Many times somewhere in-between & occasionally even just flat out impossible (depending on how the players choose to proceed).

Click to expand...

This.