Doug McCrae said:
That takes a lot of effort though. Which DRs do you change, and by how much? Keep DR/cold iron? Surely werewolves must still have DR/silver for flavour reasons? How about adamantite? What about demons and devils? Lots of decisions to be made.
And that's not all. Melee characters need those boosts to their combat stats - AC, especially, also to hit, damage and hit points. Save DCs assume PCs have cloaks of resistance and stat boosters. Mess with that and the whole CR system is thrown out of whack. Casters benefit disproportionately from low magic because they still have it and the fighter doesn't. Spells like Magic Vestment and Greater Magic Weapon become even more powerful than they were. Bull's Strength and the like remain powerful even at higher levels. Clerics and druids will dominate even more than they did before.
Yes this can all be fixed but you're practically having to write a new game to do so. You'd be better off running Iron Heroes or Conan d20 where the work has already been done.
Ah, this is where you and I part company (in a very amiable fashion
). I threw out the CR system the moment I started gaming with 3E. I assigned XP based on how fast I wanted PCs to level, not some mathematical equation developed in the dungeons of Seattle.
The CR guidelines got in the way for me, so they got dropped. The first rule as the DM, for me anyway, is to always cheat
. I have a DM screen for good reason, it allows me to adjust combats on the fly.
Example: I'm throwing werewolves at the party. If the encounter is meant to warn the PCs about how little they know about werewolves, I would really play up the DR side of the encounter. After being thrashed and escaping (oh, the clouds are coming to cover the full moon, maybe the werewolves are worried about being mere humans again), I would expect that the PC would spend some time researching the lore of their opponents. Somewhere not too far away, they are going to find the answers they need to defeat their opponents (oh, that silversmith who was kidnapped earlier was important, lets go rescue him).
This, in my mind, is a great use of the DR system currently in place. Make the DR element have some good built in lore, allow the PCs to be defeated by their lack of knowledge, then provide a good side plot to obtain the items of lore needed to overcome this challenge. Bundled nicely in that DR 15/Silver is a great little story arc of defeating the party, needing to do some research, rescuing the silversmith, and then defeating the werewolves.
The DR didn't change, I just made sure that the DR didn't kill them by designing an out for your monsters in the fight. The DR was used to challenge the PC ; win with their minds, not with their arms. Experience, Learn, Overcome!
End Example
As for the Melee characters need those stat increases, I again say (in the nicest way possible) hog wash. Its the DM's job to make the encounters right for the players. Making the encounters "right" involves two fronts for me; a story telling side (the why) and a combat side (the where).
The Why: The right encounter always advances the story. It could be the form of resolving character backstory, showing that the dungeon / lost Island is dangerous, harassing the PCs into action, or the final showdown with the dragon that has been terrorizing your PCs for the last 10 sessions. As a DM, its my job to make sure that every encounter does something to advance the story of the game I am running.
The Where: The combat element is trickier and always challenges my creativity as a DM. For me, this involves setting the individual elements of the fight. Where is the fight taking place; a burning inn, a sinking ship, a lost island, a moving wagon. The location of the fight should never be a 30 x 40 flat room with 4 walls and 2 doors. This is just not exciting. A fight does not take place in a vacuum, and its my job to create the where of the fight just as much as the why of the fight; are their innocent bystanders standing by, is there a doomsday clock counting down, or is there some neutral third party that wants to eat both sides.
If I, as the DM, can resolve the why and there where of the encounter, I've done my job. The numbers will fall into place. I'll know what the fighter and the rogue have (roughly) for their chance to hit. I'll know (roughly) the damage output of the mage when she goes all out. I'll know how much healing might be needed for the encounter (if any at all).
If I know these things, then the number of +X items, the random bonuses to strength, AC, or saves become meaningless. Spells like greater magical weapon and bull's strength will still matter, great! My wizard will love making sure that the 2nd and 3rd level spells in her list will be put to good use.
