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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ltheb Silverfrond" data-source="post: 4155459" data-attributes="member: 39867">U_K! I actually have a couple of possibly tricky questions, most of them based on planning encounters.In planning for an upcomming immortal's game ('Prolly will run about the time 4E kicks off) I have hit a couple of snags with creating encounters. I want to include more foes in combats, and have more dynamic combats in general. (I'm in sort of an encounter-rut as a GM) So I was wondering if there are some CR Ratios for mixed and group encounters that work out better then just eye-balling it. Perhaps some examples might explain better...Note: I am not worried in the least about assigning appropriate XP; My concern is challenging the characters without obliterating them in surprise round. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> If they live, THEN I can worry about assigning XP.I'm pretty sure theres no cut and dry answer to some of these, but I would be most appreciative of any advice I can get.1. Say I want to have the all-important end boss with ~2-8 'mooks'. What CR<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":P" title="Stick out tongue    :P"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":P" />arty Level ratios should I be aiming for? (I realize CRs are sometimes imperfect units of measure, but for the sake of argument lets pretend every monster/template/etc is 100% on the money all of the time) From what I can tell, a tough end-battle vs a single foe is ~+25%-+50% stronger in CR then the party's Level. (IE CR 120 for a level 80 group would be pushing it, CR 100 would be about a nasty but winnable fight) If I wanted mooks that are approximately tough enough to matter in the fight and to last more than 1 round without being the main threat, what should I be aiming for?My Guess: Boss (CR=Party Levelx1.25) plus Mooks (CR=Party levelx[.50 - .75 depending on number]?)2. Mixed/Group threats. In your Epic Encounter Levels article, you suggest adding a couple points to EL for groups of multiple foes of the same CR. (So 4 CR 80 monsters are EL ~84) What about a mixed group? Say, 2 CR 82 monsters and 2 CR 78 monsters? Should I rank them separately? My Guess: Either average it, or average and weight towards the high end for safety.3. (Related to 2) - In a mixed encounter about how much of an EL adjustment should there be if there are, say, two foes with radically different or even synergistic roles in combat. Extreme Example of Synergistic Roles: Neutronium Golem and a Nexus Dragon. Both have powers that win any battle of attrition (Miss chances and Inter-dimensional on the dragon, time limit on the fight from the golem) as well as trump-card specialties (damage output from the golem; astro-crazy-breath from the dragon) and rock solid immunities. (can be overcome by with portfolios, but that is never guaranteed) In this example, there is no obvious tactic to win, or a foe to take out first; they both complement each other in such a way that the only answer is to have all the answers AND be more powerful than the two of them. My Guess: I would rate each monster separately against their share of the party, and average the result. So, in my ludicrous example, vs a party of 4, I would rate the Golem vs 2 characters and the Dragon vs 2 characters, and average the EL. Otherwise, I have no clue. I'd like to have more mixed encounters. (Fights with a group of generic [Unelementals/Mercury Golems/Grigori/Etc], even ones with varied class levels, seem sort of bland. Granted, I'll probably run out of logical combinations, but that's my probem. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />)</blockquote>

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