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<blockquote data-quote="Primitive Screwhead" data-source="post: 6054215" data-attributes="member: 20805">RE: OP&nbsp; , 4E encounter design and why it works for me....At low levels, 4 or less, encounter design was a challenge due to the swingyness of combat. Had a 3rd level party almost wiped out by a improperly designed 1st level frog..5th through 15th level however, encounter design was pure gold. I literally took templates out of the DMG and played then straight. Ended up with solid, challenging fights.Above 15th you start running into math issues, synergy issues, and long combats. Skill challenges and alternate combat mechanics{like zone combat} trim down the time spent on less important combats while the 4e encounter stands strong as key or boss level epic fights.&nbsp;Above 20th you start running into another problem. Most monsters were not designed as 'epic', but rather as up-leveled paragon or even heroic threats. Bumping the math helps, but drags out the combats and adds to the pinata effect. My solution has been to custom design all my epic threats, leaning on Upper Krust's work and others around this board.I jumped to 4e primarily because of the encounter and monster building rules. I was tired of spending hours building 3x monsters that died in 2 rounds of combat.Things that would have made 4e even better:&nbsp;- strong skill challenge mechanic {I use Stalker0's Obsideon with some mods}&nbsp;- options for handling less important combat&nbsp;- stealth combat {I use a 3pp supplement that is great}&nbsp;- design time spent on the epic tier as it is a completely different game</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Primitive Screwhead, post: 6054215, member: 20805"] RE: OP , 4E encounter design and why it works for me.... At low levels, 4 or less, encounter design was a challenge due to the swingyness of combat. Had a 3rd level party almost wiped out by a improperly designed 1st level frog.. 5th through 15th level however, encounter design was pure gold. I literally took templates out of the DMG and played then straight. Ended up with solid, challenging fights. Above 15th you start running into math issues, synergy issues, and long combats. Skill challenges and alternate combat mechanics{like zone combat} trim down the time spent on less important combats while the 4e encounter stands strong as key or boss level epic fights. Above 20th you start running into another problem. Most monsters were not designed as 'epic', but rather as up-leveled paragon or even heroic threats. Bumping the math helps, but drags out the combats and adds to the pinata effect. My solution has been to custom design all my epic threats, leaning on Upper Krust's work and others around this board. I jumped to 4e primarily because of the encounter and monster building rules. I was tired of spending hours building 3x monsters that died in 2 rounds of combat. Things that would have made 4e even better: - strong skill challenge mechanic {I use Stalker0's Obsideon with some mods} - options for handling less important combat - stealth combat {I use a 3pp supplement that is great} - design time spent on the epic tier as it is a completely different game [/QUOTE]

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