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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dr_Ruminahui" data-source="post: 5503979" data-attributes="member: 81104">Hmm... a large part of it seems to be poor record keeping on your part - forgetting monster powers, etc.  I would heartily recommend taking steps to better organise your encounters, such as printing out all the monsters on one sheet (including showing what to add/remove for more/less players), highlighting in different colours powers that have conditional triggers, and putting boxes next to recharge powers to keep track of when they recharge (which also helps show that they can recharge.  You might also want to consider simplifying encounters (using less monster types/terrain effects, or simpler ones) and/or giving yourself 1/2 an hour to review your encounters just prior to play time.  You might also want to make a point form list of intended monster tactics. I can fully understand your frustration - encounter organisation is something I too have struggled with, which has resulted in me implimenting all but the last of the above suggestions.  And I still don't always get things right. Now just to work on getting more descriptive elements into my games.... Additionally, you should really design your encounters with the PCs in your party in mind.  For example, if you have a PC with high acrobatics/athletics who likes to do stunts, having things to swing/climb on might be a great thing to put in an encounter - however, if you have a group like mine that lacks such skills and/or inclinations, working such things in is basically wasted time and effort. As well, if you want to have your PCs get excited about interacting with the environment, it is important to have terrain features that are: a) equally/more beneficial to the PCs than to the monsters; b) readily apparent how they will be of benefit of used; and c) must have an opportunity cost that is appropriate to what benefit they do bring.  Getting this ballance right can be very challenging... (and something my DM struggles with) for example, he put pillars that we could knock down, but they were up where my strength dumped sorcercess was, so there was no point in having them as I felt that given my poor stat, the potential of hitting friends, and my good DPR, there was no point in trying.  As a rule of thumb, though, if you want the PCs to disadvantage themselves in using it (which includes wasting a standard) it must be at least as good as an encounter power (in terms of accuracy, damage and effects) of the PC most likely to be in a position to trigger it and the player has to know that its worth the while to try it.  In other words, at the beginning its better to make such things too good in the hands of the PCs rather than too weak... once the PCs are in the habit of trying things out, you can tone things down (though avoid the players feeling like you have nerfed them). Wow... sorry for the walls of text, but I hope its helpful.</blockquote>

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