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<blockquote data-quote="IceFractal" data-source="post: 4522481" data-attributes="member: 27704">Sounds workable, although I wouldn't always set the skill challenge to the same difficulty as the monsters.&nbsp; If the PCs have great stealth skills, and wait for the Ogres to be asleep, they would definitely have an easier time sneaking past than fighting them normally, or engaging in a skill challenge of the same difficulty.&nbsp; Conversely, if they go out of their way to overcomplicate things, it's going to be harder.I believe the concept of &quot;defeating&quot;, as opposed to &quot;fighting&quot; an encounter already exists (certainly it did in 3E, and I don't think 4E changes it).&nbsp; That is, if there are two Ogres and your goal is to get past them, then you get the XP for getting past them, whether you do it by fighting them, sneaking past, convincing them to let you through, bribing them, luring another monster over there to fight them, poisoning their food, etc.&nbsp; Part of the key to strategic play is that not all options are equally difficult.&nbsp; You can do things the hard way, or you can make a good plan and get a significant advantage, or even bypass a normally difficult encounter completely.&nbsp; So it's important not to be afraid of the PCs &quot;trivializing&quot; an encounter - just remember you have an unlimited supply of monsters, and it's not a problem if some of those monsters are defeated more easily than normal.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="IceFractal, post: 4522481, member: 27704"] Sounds workable, although I wouldn't always set the skill challenge to the same difficulty as the monsters. If the PCs have great stealth skills, and wait for the Ogres to be asleep, they would definitely have an easier time sneaking past than fighting them normally, or engaging in a skill challenge of the same difficulty. Conversely, if they go out of their way to overcomplicate things, it's going to be harder. I believe the concept of "defeating", as opposed to "fighting" an encounter already exists (certainly it did in 3E, and I don't think 4E changes it). That is, if there are two Ogres and your goal is to get past them, then you get the XP for getting past them, whether you do it by fighting them, sneaking past, convincing them to let you through, bribing them, luring another monster over there to fight them, poisoning their food, etc. Part of the key to strategic play is that not all options are equally difficult. You can do things the hard way, or you can make a good plan and get a significant advantage, or even bypass a normally difficult encounter completely. So it's important not to be afraid of the PCs "trivializing" an encounter - just remember you have an unlimited supply of monsters, and it's not a problem if some of those monsters are defeated more easily than normal. [/QUOTE]

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