Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Oofta" data-source="post: 9254289" data-attributes="member: 6801845">Did anyone say it was unrealistic?&nbsp; I said it was a choice by the DM to set up the encounter that greatly favors the party by choosing a monster that had no ranged attacks and relatively low move speed.&nbsp; Then you stated that the troll could never run away and still always be in line of sight at distances of 100 feet or more.&nbsp; The combat could start with the troll half a mile away or 20 feet away.&nbsp; Which one is chosen will change the balance of the encounter and IMHO should be based largely on the terrain involved and is one of many factors outside of CR that determine difficulty.&nbsp; The terrain should also be taken into consideration if the troll decides to do a tactical retreat to heal which I think would be a basic tactic for the monster.What we are arguing against is this idea that a DM should never start an encounter at fairly close distance or that it's impossible for a large animal to be difficult to see while relatively close.&nbsp; You state that I was making misleading statements when I told you my nephew and I were likely close to a bear in the brush that we could not see or that I walked around a bend in a trail and practically walked into a moose*.&nbsp; I've provided pictures both representative of the areas I've seen or pictures I've taken myself and you still are insisting we're somehow trying to be deceptive.&nbsp; You can start your encounter distance as near or far as you want.&nbsp; It can, however, dramatically change the difficulty of the encounter.&nbsp; I'm also going to disagree with you if you state that it's impossible for a creature in a forest to be a 100 feet away and unseen because I can guarantee that it is not only possible, it is likely.*In both cases the distance was likely 20-30 feet.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Oofta, post: 9254289, member: 6801845"] Did anyone say it was unrealistic? I said it was a choice by the DM to set up the encounter that greatly favors the party by choosing a monster that had no ranged attacks and relatively low move speed. Then you stated that the troll could never run away and still always be in line of sight at distances of 100 feet or more. The combat could start with the troll half a mile away or 20 feet away. Which one is chosen will change the balance of the encounter and IMHO should be based largely on the terrain involved and is one of many factors outside of CR that determine difficulty. The terrain should also be taken into consideration if the troll decides to do a tactical retreat to heal which I think would be a basic tactic for the monster. What we are arguing against is this idea that a DM should [I]never [/I]start an encounter at fairly close distance or that it's impossible for a large animal to be difficult to see while relatively close. You state that I was making misleading statements when I told you my nephew and I were likely close to a bear in the brush that we could not see or that I walked around a bend in a trail and practically walked into a moose*. I've provided pictures both representative of the areas I've seen or pictures I've taken myself and you still are insisting we're somehow trying to be deceptive. You can start your encounter distance as near or far as you want. It can, however, dramatically change the difficulty of the encounter. I'm also going to disagree with you if you state that it's [I]impossible [/I]for a creature in a forest to be a 100 feet away and unseen because I can guarantee that it is not only possible, it is likely. [I]*In both cases the distance was likely 20-30 feet.[/I] [/QUOTE]

Verification