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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(Psi)SeveredHead" data-source="post: 5713001" data-attributes="member: 1165">I find them (as a DM) often too hard.The last two combats I ran pounded the PCs into dust, and neither were more than half a level above the PC level.The first of the two, it was an impromptu battle with no terrain or traps as such. The bad guys used a psionic version of arcane gate to attack the PCs. One was a psion of level +1 (an elite controller), one was a soldier-type (with a marking ability like a weak paladin) and the soldier's mount. Much damage was had by much of the party, and the psion nearly got away too. The PCs used Stinking Cloud to great effect, but this did keep the melee fighters away from the psion for several rounds.The second of the two was a set-piece, with lots of difficult terrain and two traps (they had to destroy a portal, and the portal was a warder trap which pushed PCs past difficult terrain; the other trap was a turret trap, modded to do less damage; one did AoE fire damage, one did very little AoE cold damage but also slowed the targets on a hit; a turret trap gets two turrets as one monster's worth of XP). That left a single 5th-level opponent to face them, but it took the PCs about three rounds to even reach him due to the nastiness of the traps and terrain. Near the end of the fight a 6th-level brute was summoned, which meant the PCs had a pretty good advantage against most of the encounter. The PCs ended up taking control of the turrets and using them on the enemies. The dice were really hot for me, and really bad for the barbarian. Still, 3/4 of the PCs were next to dead, and if I'd focused fired a bit more, it would likely have been a 3/4 TPK. (There were only four players, so I set the XP budget that way.)The second one was a "boss battle" of sorts, but it was only half a level ahead, although in practice a bit harder due to the generous terrain set up to benefit the villains. Quite a few surges were lost (everyone but the wizard lost at least two surges, and the paladin had to use both of his Lay on Hands, so that was another two lost). I'm pretty satisfied with how it went, but it does mean I can't increase the XP budget by more than one more monster for deliberately difficult encounters.I rigorously control what gets into the game, so there's very little in the way of OP combos. I wonder if the MM3 damage boosts were designed to take on cheesy PCs or something. But I suspect the real hurt is because I give most monsters a non-AC attack option (many are custom, and quite a few non-custom ones might have an attack changed to target an NAD, with the -2 to hit penalty because it's no longer targeting AC). In the last encounter, the only thing that could attack AC was the brute, and even then its recharge ability targeted Reflex. One of the PCs had really good NADs and was only getting hit on about half the attacks. It might be time to allow some NAD Expertise feats into my game. (But not Armor Expertise, their AC scores are still quite a bit ahead of the curve.)Party composition:1) Goliath berserker. Fairly well optimized given the limits (can't use stuff beyond PH1 or PH2 except for some charging helm).2) Elf wizard, specializes in control and tries very hard never to get targeted. He was only hit once in the last battle, and it turned out he could have countered that with some ability of his, so should have taken none.3) Dwarf cleric, a heal bot. He doesn't have the Pacifist Healer build/option/feat, I don't even know what book that's from. He's taken everything he can to boost the amount of healing he can get through Second Wind. He just reached 6th-level (after that last fight) and is multiclassing into warlord, mainly for the Inspiring Word. He also has a minor action daily that restores a healing surge, not to mention Healing Strike, Cure Light Wounds, and another daily from the PH1 that does damage and some healing too. Being a dwarf, he can use Second Wind as a minor action, and his magic armor gives him some good healing too. (He used to have that cheesy power that gives DR 5/- for the entire combat unless he's dazed or stunned, but I took that away. Silly splatbooks!) Even with all that healing, he was literally tapped out of healing that fight.4) A paladin. (On Athas? I reflavored the class.) High AC and NADs. He's a Chaladin.</blockquote>

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