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<blockquote data-quote="Oofta" data-source="post: 9254441" data-attributes="member: 6801845">I know you didn't mean to start this, but other posters ran with it.&nbsp; In addition IIRC someone pointed out that the troll in the Yawning Portal scenario started out with fewer than normal HP?&nbsp; I could be wrong on that one.I just think you have to really stack the deck against the troll to have it not kill one or more PCs.&nbsp; Which can be a cool encounter!&nbsp; For that matter the dice are fickle and it's also possible that the troll will fail every save, miss every hit.&nbsp; It's also a possible TPK because the rolls are average and the players are not tactical geniuses or don't have slots or the correct spells prepped.I try to run monsters as I think they would work.&nbsp; Trolls are not smart, but they are still going to lean into their strengths. The environment, encounter distance, tactical options all affect how difficult monsters are.&nbsp; It's the same issue I have with people saying that dragons are easy to kill because they put the dragon into a cave where they barely fit and/or have the dragon land and go toe-to-toe with the PCs.&nbsp; Meanwhile I've had near TPKs with encounters that I thought would not be particularly difficult because of bad decisions by the PCs, luck and terrain.This is really only a topic of conversation on this thread because further upthread someone was trying to prove the supremacy of casters by cherry picking a scenario.&nbsp; It really has nothing to do with what races or classes people chose to play in 2023.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Oofta, post: 9254441, member: 6801845"] I know you didn't mean to start this, but other posters ran with it. In addition IIRC someone pointed out that the troll in the Yawning Portal scenario started out with fewer than normal HP? I could be wrong on that one. I just think you have to really stack the deck against the troll to have it not kill one or more PCs. Which can be a cool encounter! For that matter the dice are fickle and it's also possible that the troll will fail every save, miss every hit. It's also a possible TPK because the rolls are average and the players are not tactical geniuses or don't have slots or the correct spells prepped. I try to run monsters as I think they would work. Trolls are not smart, but they are still going to lean into their strengths. The environment, encounter distance, tactical options all affect how difficult monsters are. It's the same issue I have with people saying that dragons are easy to kill because they put the dragon into a cave where they barely fit and/or have the dragon land and go toe-to-toe with the PCs. Meanwhile I've had near TPKs with encounters that I thought would not be particularly difficult because of bad decisions by the PCs, luck and terrain. This is really only a topic of conversation on this thread because further upthread someone was trying to prove the supremacy of casters by cherry picking a scenario. It really has nothing to do with what races or classes people chose to play in 2023. [/QUOTE]

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