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Tension in combat
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<blockquote data-quote="Chzbro" data-source="post: 5416510" data-attributes="member: 83964"><p>I think I understand the issue a little better now after your explanation. I have seen times in fights where 1-2 stubborn bad guys just refused to die and really had no reasonable expectation to actually hurt the party. In those situations we typically just handwave the end of the fight (it's a foregone conclusion anyway). I can see how that might not be an acceptable solution to everyone.</p><p></p><p>However, the new damage expressions seem to have changed that dynamic (in my experience). Even if only one enemy remains, that enemy can deal 4d6+4 damage in a single blow, so there's still some tension. Maybe there's no chance for a TPK, but Teapot the elf still has a 50/50 shot of being decapitated.</p><p></p><p>I'm not trying to belittle the experiences or difficulties of others. However, it seems an unreasonable expectation to just be able to throw any proper xp budget together and call it a good encounter. Especially for a home campaign, the DM should know the tendencies and capabilities of his players and be able to design good encounters based on that knowledge. A DM should not say, "My players always alpha strike and ruin combat tension; my hands are tied." He should instead say, "My players always alpha strike and ruin combat tension; what steps can I take to add it back in?"</p><p></p><p>Because despite AbdulAlhazred's excellent explanation, I'm just not convinced that this is a phenomenon experienced equally at every table. It's true that saying "Be a better DM" is typically less than useful advice, but it's also true that expecting to get great encounters without a lot of experimentation and trial and error and customization is less than reasonable. Encounter building has always been more of an art than a science; the fact that 4E requires a little less art doesn't mean it doesn't require any.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Chzbro, post: 5416510, member: 83964"] I think I understand the issue a little better now after your explanation. I have seen times in fights where 1-2 stubborn bad guys just refused to die and really had no reasonable expectation to actually hurt the party. In those situations we typically just handwave the end of the fight (it's a foregone conclusion anyway). I can see how that might not be an acceptable solution to everyone. However, the new damage expressions seem to have changed that dynamic (in my experience). Even if only one enemy remains, that enemy can deal 4d6+4 damage in a single blow, so there's still some tension. Maybe there's no chance for a TPK, but Teapot the elf still has a 50/50 shot of being decapitated. I'm not trying to belittle the experiences or difficulties of others. However, it seems an unreasonable expectation to just be able to throw any proper xp budget together and call it a good encounter. Especially for a home campaign, the DM should know the tendencies and capabilities of his players and be able to design good encounters based on that knowledge. A DM should not say, "My players always alpha strike and ruin combat tension; my hands are tied." He should instead say, "My players always alpha strike and ruin combat tension; what steps can I take to add it back in?" Because despite AbdulAlhazred's excellent explanation, I'm just not convinced that this is a phenomenon experienced equally at every table. It's true that saying "Be a better DM" is typically less than useful advice, but it's also true that expecting to get great encounters without a lot of experimentation and trial and error and customization is less than reasonable. Encounter building has always been more of an art than a science; the fact that 4E requires a little less art doesn't mean it doesn't require any. [/QUOTE]
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