Lackofname
Explorer
I haven't gotten the chance to play PF, but I really enjoy the quality of Paizo's adventures, from their NPCs to the maps to the general aim (like Kingmaker's hexcrawling and nation building rules). But I notice one design habit that goes across many of the products, and that's why I'm here: i wanted to ask about a certain attitude in that adventure building that I don't understand.p
Why are there fights against monsters that pose no real threat?
Example: In The Last Outpost, the first encounter is 2 aquatic goblins, 5 HP each. The text says they flee if reduced to 1 HP.
The second encounter is with basically an aquatic gremlin, which has 7 hp.
These aren't even a speed bump, they're going to last a round. There's no risk here.
While you might say "oh well they are the first fights in an adventure, they're little more than warming up the dice", the same sort of thing happens later in the adventure and in others. Encounters in dungeons where it's something small, that doesn't do a lot of damage, that isn't going to last.
What's the thinking behind this? What does it accomplish, where's the benefit?
I can't help but feel like these are time wasters. Why go through the process of rolling initiative and all that jazz when it's going to die in a round, why have something pop out that's going to die in a round? It would be like in the movie Aliens if the space marines were jumped by some angry space-raccoons in between xenomorph interruptions.
Why are there fights against monsters that pose no real threat?
Example: In The Last Outpost, the first encounter is 2 aquatic goblins, 5 HP each. The text says they flee if reduced to 1 HP.
The second encounter is with basically an aquatic gremlin, which has 7 hp.
These aren't even a speed bump, they're going to last a round. There's no risk here.
While you might say "oh well they are the first fights in an adventure, they're little more than warming up the dice", the same sort of thing happens later in the adventure and in others. Encounters in dungeons where it's something small, that doesn't do a lot of damage, that isn't going to last.
What's the thinking behind this? What does it accomplish, where's the benefit?
I can't help but feel like these are time wasters. Why go through the process of rolling initiative and all that jazz when it's going to die in a round, why have something pop out that's going to die in a round? It would be like in the movie Aliens if the space marines were jumped by some angry space-raccoons in between xenomorph interruptions.