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<blockquote data-quote="NotAYakk" data-source="post: 8144164" data-attributes="member: 72555">In old D&amp;D monster difficulty was measured in HD and stars.&nbsp; 8* would be an 8 HD monster which has extra nasty ability of some kind.&nbsp; IIRC, there was also 8**.Random encounter tables for a dungeon generally had 1 HD on the 1st floor, 2 HD monsters on the 2nd, etc, with some variation.&nbsp; Such monsters would also have a # appearing entry (often for lower-HD monsters on higher level floors).PCs where expected to calibrate their own risk tolerance; the slope of difficulty of the dungeon would give players information about if they are ready to head down to a lower level.&nbsp; If the dungeon proved too challenging, you would get more hirelings or approach it more carefully.Players where expected to learn how cautious they should be (in general) by having PCs die.&nbsp; Making low level PCs quick to generate was part of this.Wilderness encounter tables had a higher variation, with a larger # appearing, but because sight lines in the wilderness tend to be larger, short-range surprise was rare.&nbsp; And PCs able to boot it could survive if they &quot;ran into&quot; a warband of 400 orcs.If a party runs into a warband of 400 orcs, they where expected to deconstruct the problem rather than fight it head on.The XP-for-GP rule meant that the general rule when running into hostile creatures is &quot;do they have treasure we want&quot;, not &quot;are they a worthy foe to fight&quot;.But, the closest thing to CR was usually counting HD.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="NotAYakk, post: 8144164, member: 72555"] In old D&D monster difficulty was measured in HD and stars. 8* would be an 8 HD monster which has extra nasty ability of some kind. IIRC, there was also 8**. Random encounter tables for a dungeon generally had 1 HD on the 1st floor, 2 HD monsters on the 2nd, etc, with some variation. Such monsters would also have a # appearing entry (often for lower-HD monsters on higher level floors). PCs where expected to calibrate their own risk tolerance; the slope of difficulty of the dungeon would give players information about if they are ready to head down to a lower level. If the dungeon proved too challenging, you would get more hirelings or approach it more carefully. Players where expected to learn how cautious they should be (in general) by having PCs die. Making low level PCs quick to generate was part of this. Wilderness encounter tables had a higher variation, with a larger # appearing, but because sight lines in the wilderness tend to be larger, short-range surprise was rare. And PCs able to boot it could survive if they "ran into" a warband of 400 orcs. If a party runs into a warband of 400 orcs, they where expected to deconstruct the problem rather than fight it head on. The XP-for-GP rule meant that the general rule when running into hostile creatures is "do they have treasure we want", not "are they a worthy foe to fight". But, the closest thing to CR was usually counting HD. [/QUOTE]

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