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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jack7" data-source="post: 4649474" data-attributes="member: 54707">I'm personally of the opinion that math is hardly the best way to make anything interesting in a role playing game, much less a fantasy role playing game. Math in an RPG makes things easy to understand and control, but very, very rarely truly interesting.But ho about a chart like this if that is the way you want to go:d81 Easy, 2 below party level2 Easy, 1 below party level3 Party level enc. but party outnumbers enemy4 Balanced and even5 Balanced and even6 Party level enc. but enemy outnumbers party7 Hard, 1 above party level8 Hard, 2 above party levelSuch a chart would make it mathematically fair and balanced, distributively, given some of the factors you mentioned earlier, it wouldn't make it very interesting or really random, but it would be easy to track and to arrange encounters in that way.If you wanted to make it interesting though consider these additional options1 Enemy has access to nearby reinforcements, or are cut off and starving2 Enemy has access to nearby fortifications if they need to retreat3 Enemy has easy access to re-supply (especially important in encounters where ranged weapons play a large role)4 Enemy has good communications or bad communications5 Enemy is skilled at ambush, or is easily ambushed6 Enemy moves quietly and efficiently, or clumsily and noisily7 Enemy is very fast or slow8 Enemy is desperate and vicious9 Enemy has historical grudge, or is close minded with traditional leadership10 Enemy open to negotiation, or has innovative leadershipAlso in some encounters the enemy or potential enemy is going to be emplaced, meaning he knows terrain and is already in a  good defensive posture. Others are going to be in movement from one place to another. Others are going to be moving on a  mission and with purpose, others are going to be simply wandering about, maybe looking for a new environment or place to settle. Stuff like that makes encounters very interesting because different adversaries are going to have very different motives and are going to be open to different options. A wandering tribe might want no conflict, or would even consider an alliance for mutual benefit. Soldiers on a mission from one fortification to another or moving from one locale to another in preparation for war or battle will have little patience for strangers, trespass, or "random encounters.""Random encounters" are really only random when looked at from the outside in a disinterested way, to the parties involved, everybody has their own motivation.So I consider factors like movement, supply, motivation, race, objectives and goals, stuff like that. Anywho, good luck.</blockquote>

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