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<blockquote data-quote="abirdcall" data-source="post: 9149451" data-attributes="member: 6748898">There are a ton of factors at play in a combat.The system does fall apart at parties of 6+. 5 is even pushing it.But 4? It is good at 4 which is what it was designed to do.Since the game is so open ended at higher levels it also breaks down a bit 11+ because there are so many options and specialties characters have that they can trivialize more sorts of encounters while still possible being without an answer to others.The biggest factor in combat is how the DM plays the enemy creatures. That is going to differ at every table. Some DMs play every creature as though they were a zombie. The DM also has a lot to do. Each player can devote their entire cognitive load to one character while the DM needs to manage many and also other things.The environment also plays a huge factor. Dragons which are able to dart in for breath attacks and then retreat until recharged are very difficult for many parties to handle.Each party is going to be better or worse at handling different types of challenges. A system that identifies the potential deadliness of a foe is very useful. If an encounter is deadly enough that a PC has a 5% chance to die that PC likely will before long. Does that mean the encounter was easy when no one dies?How difficult is a giant who can do huge damage with each blow? Probably not very in an individual encounter but could make the party weaker for the next one. How about if that giant also had 10 wolves which were ready to pounce on any character who hits 0? Now that is much deadlier.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="abirdcall, post: 9149451, member: 6748898"] There are a ton of factors at play in a combat. The system does fall apart at parties of 6+. 5 is even pushing it. But 4? It is good at 4 which is what it was designed to do. Since the game is so open ended at higher levels it also breaks down a bit 11+ because there are so many options and specialties characters have that they can trivialize more sorts of encounters while still possible being without an answer to others. The biggest factor in combat is how the DM plays the enemy creatures. That is going to differ at every table. Some DMs play every creature as though they were a zombie. The DM also has a lot to do. Each player can devote their entire cognitive load to one character while the DM needs to manage many and also other things. The environment also plays a huge factor. Dragons which are able to dart in for breath attacks and then retreat until recharged are very difficult for many parties to handle. Each party is going to be better or worse at handling different types of challenges. A system that identifies the potential deadliness of a foe is very useful. If an encounter is deadly enough that a PC has a 5% chance to die that PC likely will before long. Does that mean the encounter was easy when no one dies? How difficult is a giant who can do huge damage with each blow? Probably not very in an individual encounter but could make the party weaker for the next one. How about if that giant also had 10 wolves which were ready to pounce on any character who hits 0? Now that is much deadlier. [/QUOTE]

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