D&D 4E 4e - More monsters per encounter?

[Greg K]

Since Mike Mearls is the lead developer, people SHOULD take a look at Iron Heroes for some "previews", as much as they may do with SWSE.
This game is all about characters managing resources, per encounter class abilites and, regarding this thread, rules for enviromental dangers and challenges, like a crumbling pillar that can be used to attack a monster, how can you use a chair to give a combat edge, and stuff like that.
OPTIONS to make the encounter more intersting, dinamic and fun.

Edit: Just remembered the name. They are called "combat zones".

Yeah, but but the classes, skill system and use of tokens were exactly what I didn't like about Iron Heroes. I was hoping it would be a fluke, because I liked his previous work including the maneuver system from Book of Iron Might. However, everything that I know he has been responsible for following BOIM (e.g., the knight class, the monster redesign articles, TOB:Bo9s) has left me extremely disappointed.

 

[howandwhy99]

3rd edition characters scale up in power exponentially. A 10th level character is not twice as powerful as a 5th level character. He's exponentially more powerful.

That makes the CR system complicated. Perhaps they've found a way to make a 10th level character only twice as powerful as a 5th level character. That will go a long way towards solving the problem right there.

Hallelujah! I would love this. The only problem is: if 4e as hinted has mass villains in combat now, it will either have to keep the current, brittle, level chasm style of play or include quick and easy of use of multiple player-controlled characters (like followers and hirelings).

 

[HeyJoe]

I hope monsters haven't learned how to routinely heal each other. Combats will last forever!

You would have hated having me as a DM. Even my orcs would heal one another if they had for example a shaman amongst their ranks. Monsters need not be stupid...

 

[Shortman McLeod]

I don't get this statement, or the fantastic environment statments either.

What if the players attack just one creature? Shouldn't the number of creatures have something to do with the module or adventure being run? The number of creatures per combat should not be written into the rules.

Also, they've been talking about environment playing a bigger role, but what if the players fight someone on a normal cobblestone path? What if I don't feel like adding a lava pit to the room just to make the upcoming battle more exciting?

I guess I'm trying to say: The story should come first. The number of creatures in the combats and the envoirnment should depend on the story. This does not bode well for role-playing focused DMs.

Very well said. My first thought on the number of monsters per encounter is simply this:

There are as many monsters per encounter AS THE FRIGGIN' DM SAYS THERE ARE.