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<blockquote data-quote="Bigwilly" data-source="post: 1844234" data-attributes="member: 16730">Start by going up an ELHave the same problem with a party of 5 (used to be 6 which only made it more difficult). Problem is that recommended encounter level for 4 level 5 PCs would be 5, so for 5 PCs your DM probably needs to go up one EL (6). Even then, he needs to throw 4 or 5 of these encounters at the party to drain their resources. So, if you are only getting one or two EL 5 encounters between rests then you won't be challenged. As a very rough rule of thumb what he needs to do is up the EL by 1 for every encounter less than 5 that he thinks you will have before you get a chance to rest (4 encounters at EL 7, 3 @ EL 8, 2 @ EL 9, 1 @ EL10). Yes, that does mean that if you will only have a single encounter between resting, it should be around EL 10 (equal to about 5 CR 5 opponents or a 50 %chance of a TPK). Of course, he can play around with these numbers, perhaps having a few easier (EL5-6) encounters and one tough one, etc. Another option is not to look at the EL, but at the AB and AC of the party and make sure that at least some of your opponents have an AC equal to the best fighter's AB+10 and an AB equal to the highest AC-10.After a few sessions like this you will be glad to have the occasional easy encounter. Oh, and now that I have had a chance to think this through myself, my players are going to suffer. Bigwilly</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Bigwilly, post: 1844234, member: 16730"] [b]Start by going up an EL[/b] Have the same problem with a party of 5 (used to be 6 which only made it more difficult). Problem is that recommended encounter level for 4 level 5 PCs would be 5, so for 5 PCs your DM probably needs to go up one EL (6). Even then, he needs to throw 4 or 5 of these encounters at the party to drain their resources. So, if you are only getting one or two EL 5 encounters between rests then you won't be challenged. As a very rough rule of thumb what he needs to do is up the EL by 1 for every encounter less than 5 that he thinks you will have before you get a chance to rest (4 encounters at EL 7, 3 @ EL 8, 2 @ EL 9, 1 @ EL10). Yes, that does mean that if you will only have a single encounter between resting, it should be around EL 10 (equal to about 5 CR 5 opponents or a 50 %chance of a TPK). Of course, he can play around with these numbers, perhaps having a few easier (EL5-6) encounters and one tough one, etc. Another option is not to look at the EL, but at the AB and AC of the party and make sure that at least some of your opponents have an AC equal to the best fighter's AB+10 and an AB equal to the highest AC-10. After a few sessions like this you will be glad to have the occasional easy encounter. Oh, and now that I have had a chance to think this through myself, my players are going to suffer. Bigwilly [/QUOTE]

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