Steel_Wind
Legend
After years of rolling behind a screen playing Rolemaster, running 3.xx, Pathfinder and Star Wars: SE all permit me to roll the dice in the open. I far prefer it that way as it increases tension.
If the encounter needs editing either to inrease or decrease the challenge, I would preer to be able to do that by:
-adding reinforcements
-adding one-shot magical resources available to the monsters (potion or scroll) on the fly
- increasing hit points or the to hit + or even damage of some of the monsters / NPCs or decreasing same
These are on the fly edits which are easy to accomplish without leaving the thing feeling entirely cooked up and railroady. I suspect my players never detect these on the fly edits. As Piratecat mentions, I often edit to increase the challenge more than I do to decrease it.
Most combats that you get "wrong" are best left to be played out, as the consequences that go with too hard or too easy a fight are not that big a deal at the end of the day. Climactic boss battles however, are different.
Because of the competence of my players, I typically have them meeting encounters which are at least 4 ELs higher than their own level, and sometimes as many as six EL or even EIGHT ELs higher for a Boss battle if the players are lower to mid-level (the EL to 6 or 9+ is usually increased through the sheer number of foes they face, not massively inbalanced CRs)
My players are excellent tacticians and know the 3.xx/Pathfinder combat rules extremely well. They have survived such encounters routinely - though it's often a long and intense battle, to be sure.
Sometimes, I can overdo it, yes. Most of the time I let it go and play out and the players roll with it. There are LOTS of PCs who drop in to the negs and stabilize during combat, but as long as one person survives by encounter's end, it's all good.
Overall, I prefer that sort of "holy crap" tension in boss battles, actually. It increases the feeling of "accomplishment" which I try to make available for the PCs to earn during a game session.
If the encounter needs editing either to inrease or decrease the challenge, I would preer to be able to do that by:
-adding reinforcements
-adding one-shot magical resources available to the monsters (potion or scroll) on the fly
- increasing hit points or the to hit + or even damage of some of the monsters / NPCs or decreasing same
These are on the fly edits which are easy to accomplish without leaving the thing feeling entirely cooked up and railroady. I suspect my players never detect these on the fly edits. As Piratecat mentions, I often edit to increase the challenge more than I do to decrease it.
Most combats that you get "wrong" are best left to be played out, as the consequences that go with too hard or too easy a fight are not that big a deal at the end of the day. Climactic boss battles however, are different.
Because of the competence of my players, I typically have them meeting encounters which are at least 4 ELs higher than their own level, and sometimes as many as six EL or even EIGHT ELs higher for a Boss battle if the players are lower to mid-level (the EL to 6 or 9+ is usually increased through the sheer number of foes they face, not massively inbalanced CRs)
My players are excellent tacticians and know the 3.xx/Pathfinder combat rules extremely well. They have survived such encounters routinely - though it's often a long and intense battle, to be sure.
Sometimes, I can overdo it, yes. Most of the time I let it go and play out and the players roll with it. There are LOTS of PCs who drop in to the negs and stabilize during combat, but as long as one person survives by encounter's end, it's all good.
Overall, I prefer that sort of "holy crap" tension in boss battles, actually. It increases the feeling of "accomplishment" which I try to make available for the PCs to earn during a game session.
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