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Having trouble scaling encounters to make them challenging
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<blockquote data-quote="N'raac" data-source="post: 5741208" data-attributes="member: 6681948"><p>I find a lot of GM's have difficulty moving beyond their own comfort zone, which depends on the types of characters they've played as much as anything else. If I'm a "spelled out Clerioc BBEG", I'm going to have spells to protect me from melee, and probably some Summoned creatures to get between me and the enemy. I'll likely Silence an area to make enemy spellcasting difficult, and possibly Darken an area as well to make their approach difficult. And that's not covering many higher level spells.</p><p></p><p>If a 10th level Cleric is just duking it out with weapon and shield, toe to toe, he's not really living up to his potential.</p><p></p><p>I generally find that, for enemy spellcasters, I have to go over their spell selection, often change it to spells I am more comfortable with, then set up the caster's battle plan. If he has time to prepare, he will use Round 1 to cast this spell, Round 2 for this purpose, etc. to the most time I think he will have (or he's ready to go so he initiates battle). On entering combat, he will take this action in Round 1, then 2, then 3, etc. Maybe I have some options (ie if engaged in melee his tactics change; if one enemy hangs back, perhaps he targets that one with a ranged spell).</p><p></p><p>The PC's work together, and each player runs a character for a lengthy period. They operate effectively. The enemy should have some sense of tactics if they are going to be a credible threat. Especially for opponents with a lot of options, the GM needs to know in advance how they will use those options. Otherwise, they either take forever to determine the opponent's action or, for fear of slowing the game, make choices far less than tactically sound on the fly.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="N'raac, post: 5741208, member: 6681948"] I find a lot of GM's have difficulty moving beyond their own comfort zone, which depends on the types of characters they've played as much as anything else. If I'm a "spelled out Clerioc BBEG", I'm going to have spells to protect me from melee, and probably some Summoned creatures to get between me and the enemy. I'll likely Silence an area to make enemy spellcasting difficult, and possibly Darken an area as well to make their approach difficult. And that's not covering many higher level spells. If a 10th level Cleric is just duking it out with weapon and shield, toe to toe, he's not really living up to his potential. I generally find that, for enemy spellcasters, I have to go over their spell selection, often change it to spells I am more comfortable with, then set up the caster's battle plan. If he has time to prepare, he will use Round 1 to cast this spell, Round 2 for this purpose, etc. to the most time I think he will have (or he's ready to go so he initiates battle). On entering combat, he will take this action in Round 1, then 2, then 3, etc. Maybe I have some options (ie if engaged in melee his tactics change; if one enemy hangs back, perhaps he targets that one with a ranged spell). The PC's work together, and each player runs a character for a lengthy period. They operate effectively. The enemy should have some sense of tactics if they are going to be a credible threat. Especially for opponents with a lot of options, the GM needs to know in advance how they will use those options. Otherwise, they either take forever to determine the opponent's action or, for fear of slowing the game, make choices far less than tactically sound on the fly. [/QUOTE]
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Community
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Having trouble scaling encounters to make them challenging
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