Challenging PCs with One Encounter Per Day...

[ptolemy18]

Hello fellow DMs,

I've been using Encounter Levels to select the monsters my PCs encounter, but it's a little bit tricky because of the way Encounter Levels are supposed to be used. Basically, the rules are a little too dungeon-centric (surprise surprise!).

To paraphrase the DMG, if the PCs are third level, they're supposed to be able to handle approximately 4 ECL 3 encounters before resting. But most of my games consist of wilderness or city encounters, so the PCs only have one or two encounters between rest periods. (I can't have them encounter 4 ECL 3 monsters EVERY DAY if they're on a two-week-long overland trip....!! :/ )

For awhile I was having them encounter only one ECL 3 monster (or equivalent) per day, but it wasn't challenging enough, since the rules assume they're gonna face multiple ECL 3 encounters in a single day.

I realize that this is highly subjective, but... if the PCs only get in one encounter per day, what would you say is a good "ECL" rating for that encounter, so that it's a challenging encounter which consumes most of their resources? 2 or 3 ECL points higher than their actual level?

It requires a fair amount of guesswork, doesn't it?

Jason

 

[arwink]

If you're only doing one or two encounters a day, you can easily get away with going a CR or 2 higher than you would in a dungeon. Just make sure you consider the implications of things like damage reduction, the ability to fly and the maximum damage a creature can do when you're selecting the higher CR creatures - those that the players will be unable to hurt, unable to reach, or can take down a PC with one average strike are probably a bad idea.

 

[Crothian]

Ya, just usea single tough encounter.

 

[Oryan77]

I use 1 or 2 encounters a day also during wilderness or city adventures most of the time. I prefer fewer but longer tough thrilling fights rather than lots of easy mindless fights. One problem with doing that is the amount of xp PC's gain. They gain way to much xp way too fast. Which is frustrating...it makes me feel like I have to run my game like it's a video game (I get that impression a lot with 3e).

Using higher CR's isn't a big deal other than managing how fast they level from the xp.

 

[shilsen]

I generally do a single combat encounter a session (maybe two/three at most, and that too on rare occasions), so it's usually a single tough encounter. For four PCs of level X, that would be something in the EL X+2 category.

On a related note, I've dropped the standard XP calculation system and just give the PCs enough XP to level up at a rate I think is appropriate. With the reduced number of combat encounters, if I used the standard XP system, they'd be levelling very slowly.

 

[heirodule]

You could try having them face 2-3 WEAKER encounters, or "pseudo-encounters" (animals that heppen to be nearby but weren't really threatening) that make them waste resources, before hitting them with the regular tiered encounter for the day.

 

[Keith Robinson]

Remember to spice things up a little. Having a single encounter per day on a long journey can become a little tiresome and repetitve. Every now and then, you need to throw in a small ruin (with a couple of different areas they can explore) or a barrow (single chamber or with several chambers) or an unusual encounter - a strange old crone living in the middle of nowhere, a combat already taking place (orcs versus a giant, a unicorn fighting gnolls, etc). Also throw in the occasional non-encounter - ie with a gold dragon (perhaps taken humanoid form) or treant etc. You can always develop these for short side adventures (perhaps the treants are being butchered by trolls).

It helps keep things interesting and your players on their toes and doesn't involve a lot of prep.

A difficult environment can also turn an average encounter into quite a tough one (get them climbing up the side of a steep cliff and have creatures rain rocks down on them from above or chuck at them something that flies). A well laid ambush by bandits, humanoids etc will always make for a tougher battle.

Otherwise, anywhere up to +3 is fine IMO. Though, as mentioned, just keep in mind the capabilities of the party in comparison to those of the creature.

 

[S'mon]

A single encounter of EL +2 over party level is exciting & usually non-fatal. Single encounter favours spellcasters of course, but not much can be done about that unless you nerf the spellcasting classes. Be wary of single powerful creatures though, especially at lower levels - eg vs a 3rd level party use 2 CR 3 ogres instead of 1 CR 5 troll if you don't want dead PCs.

 

[Victim]

One trick for keeping casters in check a bit is to simply provide the THREAT of multiple encounters in a day. If you throw some "extra" encounters in every once in a while, PCs might hold back some spells every day just in case.

 

[Thanee]

It requires a fair amount of guesswork, doesn't it?

Yes.

I usually - in such a situation - use high EL (i.e. Party Level +2 ~ +4 or something like that (+4 means there are equal odds, pretty much, so might be a bit much)), but not a single opponent, but rather a group of low-level opponents with maybe one leader of a level similar to the PCs (PC level -1 ~ +1).

Bye
Thanee