A little party level question...

[Umbran]

But I you threw a group of adventurers at your party they'd have an ECL right?

Why can't I use the same definition to give the guy an idea of how powerful his party should be relative to what his party should be facing?

Technically, if you used a party of adventurers as a "monster", they'd have a Encounter Level, not an ECL.

By the standard guidelines, a party of eight 1st level characters are an EL 3, yes. But what does that mean? It means that if you put this party against a typical group of four 3rd level characters, the pary of eight will lose, taking only about one quarter of the 3rd level characters' resources in the process! Clearly, the group of 8 is not equivalent to a third level party.

 

[Keops]

Wow. So many replies. Thanks a lot for all the insight. Yes, this is my first time being the Dungeon Master, and I guess I could just take it easy! Thanks once again for the tips here, they've been very useful.

 

[Theovis]

Wow. So many replies. Thanks a lot for all the insight. Yes, this is my first time being the Dungeon Master, and I guess I could just take it easy!

Yeah, going easy is the best idea, Keops. Otherwise you may be forced to either wipe them out or pull your punches halfway through the fight. And players generally notice when you're doing that.

 

[Sir Hawkeye]

Formula-wise, EPL (Effective Party Level, as I shall call it) is party EL - 4. So by that math 8 1st-level characters are EL 7(I think. I'm not sure, but I never go from 1 to 3 on a doubling of number. I've been doing 1,2,4,6,8, etc.) That would be EPL 3rd level (or 2nd level as I've been doing it, with EL 6).

I sense I need to cut back on my use of parentheses (I believe it's probably making things unnecessarily confusing).
( )

Edit: (Return of the Revenge of Bad Internet Grammar (and Spelling (and parentheses)))

 

[Magus_Jerel]

Keops -

When determining the level of the party - you simply average all seven characters.

However, when awarding the XP from the chart - you divide by seven - and not the typical four.

My suggestion is to toss many smaller foes at the party - especially at first level. The usual "CR 1" encounter is a mere four goblins. If you double this to eight goblins, the encounter jumps to CR 3 - yes. However - it can be a very bad thing for a single PC to get surrounded by 8 goblins, and this is a tactical impossibility in a "four on four" encounter. Larger combat groups tend to have to avoid allowing their opponents to team up on them - and team up on their opponents. I would strongly advise you and your players to think in terms of the old stratagem:

"divide and conquer"

kobolds, gobins, orcs, hobgoblins and the occasional gnoll work quite well. Skeletons and zombies are great too - if you are into the undead thing.

I have been running "larger parties" for quite some time, and would love to help you with the exact math involved when it comes to awarding experience - but for legal copyright reasons I want to avoid having to post information from that particular chart on a website. I don't know if you have a time that you could be in the chatroom of this server for me to discuss this in more detail than on the message boards.

- Magus_Jerel

 

[CRGreathouse]

My suggestion is to toss many smaller foes at the party - especially at first level. The usual "CR 1" encounter is a mere four goblins. If you double this to eight goblins, the encounter jumps to CR 3 - yes.

EL, not CR. A single creature has CR, a group has EL.

 

[Keops]

Magus_Jerel:

I would love to get some help and tips when I need them. If you like you could contact me by e-mail. My e-mail address is riel@telcel.net.ve. I would love to hear from your experiences as a Dungeon Master, so I can learn from someone who has already dealt with these issues, and perhaps that way I can become a better DM.

Once again, thanks for the replies!