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<blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 6051096" data-attributes="member: 1210">4e encounter design is great, but leads to a certain sameness to encounters. Granted, a lot of this has to do with the combination of monster redesign and changing the system so that all monsters are subject to pretty much all attacks.To elaborate, in 1e I could easily design a &quot;NEEDS FIGHTER&quot; encounter by using a monster that, tactically, was more trouble for a fighter-light party: a stone golem, maybe. In 4e, that same encounter no longer screams for a fighter. Likewise, an all-fighter group can take out green slime or a black pudding nearly as easily as an all-wizard group.There are now far fewer- very few, in fact- monsters that present interesting &quot;how do we kill it??&quot; challenges.Where 4e encounter design really shines is in the ability to gauge about how tough an encounter will be. If I have four 10th level pcs and I use four 10th level monsters, I pretty much know that the encounter is winnable for the pcs and won't be super rough. It's also good for building an encounter into a dramatic set-piece battle because of terrain and the like. But it's terrible for building an encounter that will surprise you (the dm).</blockquote>

[QUOTE="the Jester, post: 6051096, member: 1210"] 4e encounter design is great, but leads to a certain sameness to encounters. Granted, a lot of this has to do with the combination of monster redesign and changing the system so that all monsters are subject to pretty much all attacks. To elaborate, in 1e I could easily design a "NEEDS FIGHTER" encounter by using a monster that, tactically, was more trouble for a fighter-light party: a stone golem, maybe. In 4e, that same encounter no longer screams for a fighter. Likewise, an all-fighter group can take out green slime or a black pudding nearly as easily as an all-wizard group. There are now far fewer- very few, in fact- monsters that present interesting "how do we kill it??" challenges. Where 4e encounter design really shines is in the ability to gauge about how tough an encounter will be. If I have four 10th level pcs and I use four 10th level monsters, I [i]pretty much know[/i] that the encounter is winnable for the pcs and won't be super rough. It's also good for building an encounter into a dramatic set-piece battle because of terrain and the like. But it's terrible for building an encounter that will surprise you (the dm). [/QUOTE]

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