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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kerrick" data-source="post: 3959044" data-attributes="member: 4722">I've been looking back over this, and I have to wonder: what are you defining as a "tough" encounter? In most people's dictionaries, "tough" and "difficult" mean more or less the same thing, so you differentiating between them makes for a bit of confusion.Wow... I can't believe I said that 1 bulette is equal to 4 PCs - I apparently wasn't paying attention to pssthpok's post, and evidence from the devs - 2 PCs = 1 elite. So two elite bulettes would give a party of 4 PCs "a run for their money". Now, the question is: are they really basing these measurements off a 5-person party like they're saying, or going with a 4-person party? If it's the former, then I think the comparison would be more along the lines of 2.5 PCs = 1 elite. Two elite bulettes would then, like I said, slightly overmatch a 4-person party (by about 1.25 to 1). If it's the latter, well... it certainly makes it easier to calculate things, but it would skew everyone else if they were trying to use the 5-person party to calculate power levels.Where's the quote? I went through all the information on the 4E page, and I didn't find this. And what is a "typical" encounter? You keep saying this, but you haven't actually shown us what you think a standard encounter is. I'm not trying to be adversarial here, I'm actually wondering - like I said, you use "tough" to mean less than "difficult" and I'm not seeing the difference.I did some number-crunching, and I think I know the equivalencies now. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that 1 monster = 0.9 PCs (that is, a monster is 90% as powerful as a PC of equal level - hey, we agree on something!). Now, since power levels are based on a 5-person party, an elite is actually 2.5 times as powerful as a normal monster, and a solo 5 times as powerful. A minion would be roughly equal to 1/5 of a PC. I added in the "henchman" monster, because there seems to be too large a gap between normal and minion. That would mean:1 minion monster = .22 PC (1/5-1/4)1 "henchman" monster = 0.45 PC (1/2)1 normal monster = 0.9 PC (1)1 elite monster = 2.25 PC (2)1 solo monster = 4.5 PCs (4-5)This is very close to what we've been seeing in the previews (and what the devs have been intimating), and dovetails with what James was saying: the PCs "get up in the morning and have a fun encounter: there are multiple monsters that are close to the PCs' level, so the total encounter level is higher than their level." 20 goblins vs. 5 PCs? Higher encounter level (1.3:1). 2 elite bulettes vs. 4 PCs? Higher encounter level (1.25:1). I don't think they're designing encounters to be like 3E - one after another after another. Encounters in 4E will be more exciting, more cinematic, and more "do or die". I think they'll be designed so there will be one or maybe two big battles like this before the PCs can go home or back to camp or whatever and rest up.</blockquote>

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