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Having trouble scaling encounters to make them challenging
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<blockquote data-quote="Spatula" data-source="post: 5740639" data-attributes="member: 2198"><p>You have three gnomes in the party! No wonder the group is so powerful! <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p>I've only seen a little bit of the summoner in action, and from what I've seen I'm not surprised the fighter feels a little overshadowed by the eidolon. Not sure what you can do about that, really.</p><p></p><p>As for the rest, I have a few suggestions.</p><p></p><p>1) Give important NPCs maximum HPs. You spent a lot of time creating them, right? The only way to see them get more actions is to make sure they are alive to take them. You could possibly replace "max HP" with "insane defenses".</p><p></p><p>2) Spend less time making NPCs. Making up numbers is fast, but can be tough in 3e/PF, since you don't know what numbers a monster "should" have for its CR. Without making stuff up, you can still stick to basic feats and spells to speed up NPC creation.</p><p></p><p>3) Throw in more combatants that are a threat in order to draw PC fire. This will probably slow down combat, which I assume is already pretty slow thanks to all the summons/pets.</p><p></p><p>4) Most importantly, throw out the CR rules for monsters with class levels. I would treat PC class levels as dragon HD, perhaps, depending on the class (while restricting access to high-level abilities - maybe it would just be easier to give double HP for class levels). The fact is, PC class levels don't do all that much for survivability, unless we're talking lots of wiz/sorc levels (but that has its own drawbacks, like lack of HP and BAB). PCs are generally glass cannons, capable of dishing out far more than they could ever take. And when you set a single NPC glass cannon in front of a party of 4-5 PC opponents, it's not going to last long. Monsters need to have more HD than the PCs do in order to stay in the fight.</p><p></p><p>You could also experiment with 4e-style "boss" monsters that have extra health and extra actions.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Spatula, post: 5740639, member: 2198"] You have three gnomes in the party! No wonder the group is so powerful! :) I've only seen a little bit of the summoner in action, and from what I've seen I'm not surprised the fighter feels a little overshadowed by the eidolon. Not sure what you can do about that, really. As for the rest, I have a few suggestions. 1) Give important NPCs maximum HPs. You spent a lot of time creating them, right? The only way to see them get more actions is to make sure they are alive to take them. You could possibly replace "max HP" with "insane defenses". 2) Spend less time making NPCs. Making up numbers is fast, but can be tough in 3e/PF, since you don't know what numbers a monster "should" have for its CR. Without making stuff up, you can still stick to basic feats and spells to speed up NPC creation. 3) Throw in more combatants that are a threat in order to draw PC fire. This will probably slow down combat, which I assume is already pretty slow thanks to all the summons/pets. 4) Most importantly, throw out the CR rules for monsters with class levels. I would treat PC class levels as dragon HD, perhaps, depending on the class (while restricting access to high-level abilities - maybe it would just be easier to give double HP for class levels). The fact is, PC class levels don't do all that much for survivability, unless we're talking lots of wiz/sorc levels (but that has its own drawbacks, like lack of HP and BAB). PCs are generally glass cannons, capable of dishing out far more than they could ever take. And when you set a single NPC glass cannon in front of a party of 4-5 PC opponents, it's not going to last long. Monsters need to have more HD than the PCs do in order to stay in the fight. You could also experiment with 4e-style "boss" monsters that have extra health and extra actions. [/QUOTE]
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Having trouble scaling encounters to make them challenging
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