Imaro
Legend
Rodney is stating:
1 - When the fiction is meant to challenge the PCs, then the fiction should be of requisite level in order to perform as a challenge to the PCs/party; eg. city of Brass doors/locks for epic level characters or Nobleman's doors/locks for heroic level characters.
2 - If number 1 is true then the DCs for challenging fiction will then naturally scale with party level.
But using party level as the basis doesn't accomplish this does it? When using the encounter building guidelines, a 1st level party can have a range of encounters that include higher than level +2... yet when using party level as the basis for the chart for the DC's by challenge level in DMG 1, it confines the DC's for a first level party to those for levels 1-3 and on the other hand confines a 3rd level party to DC's between thise appropriate for level to level -2 challenges... This is the problem that arises when it is based off party level as opposed to encounter level.
This does not state that normal nobelman's doors are going to scale with PC through Epic tier. Just that when you comopose "challenging fiction" it should have "challenging DCs" that "scale with PCs" (logically). It (just as everything with 4e) is outcome-base simulation and top-down game engineering.
The engineering works like this:
- The interest is to create fiction for epic level characters (City of Brass complex lock)
- Consult table for challenging DCs for those epic level characters equals what.
- Marry the two by coherent fiction relevant to become a "threat" to the PCs.
It is not saying that Bob the Nobleman's standard lock on his wood door goes from DC 12 to DC 40 as the PCs evolve in level. It says that that PCs should waltz through Bob the Nobleman's home at epic tier because it is still DC 40...but Bob is no longer a threat so the DC system is premised upon someone creating "of-level" challenges to the PCs. It is telling the DM's that if you want to "threaten" the PCs, here are your scaling DC's to do so. Pick the proper fiction to map it to. If you want to have Bob the Nobleman "threaten" the PCs...ok. But expect them to waltz in and take his stuff at their leisure as his wood door with standard lock is still DC 12. If Bob has taken up with an Efreeti overlord in the City of Brass...ok, now you have an "of-level" challenge; Here are your DCs.
See and even with this example there are issues when using the rules in DMG 1... if the PC's go to explore the City of Brass when they are level 21 then the DC's they encounter will be based on a party level of 21... however if they return at level 27, suddenly anything that hasn't been established in their previous visit... has harder DC's. Yet, basing it on encounter level resolves these issues... All I'm saying that outside of presentation there are flaws in the actual rules as they were presented in DMG 1 for DC's by level.
EDIT: Manbearcat, I think you're example works when you use giant disparities like heroic vs. epic tier DC's but there's wonkiness when you are within the same tier and are exploring similar things and yet DC"s that haven't been pre-set continue to scale with party level... for some people (since I can fully acknowledge it a be a non-starter for some/many/most who play 4e.
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