Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="jedavis" data-source="post: 5522648" data-attributes="member: 35933">At one point I wrote a script to generate monsters using random ability scores, rolled on 3d6, to increase variation (as a counter to the Spreadsheet Warriors, so you can't assume that any given goblin has AC15 and 3 HP, and then use it to optimize your power attack bonus).&nbsp; I then decided to extend it to 4d6 drop 1 and 5d6 drop 2;&nbsp; my group was playing with 5d6 drop 2 at the time, so I was curious to see how much of a difference 10s vs. 5d6 drop 2 made for monster ability scores.&nbsp; The players were sufficiently scared of the &quot;turbo owlbears&quot; that we all agreed to use 4d6 drop 1 thereafter.Along a similar vein, I keep meaning to try a &quot;3d6 in-order ability scores&quot; campaign; I imagine it would increase difficulty (and casualties) by a fair bit...On the encounter design end of things, I agree in general that increasing number of weak foes is a better idea than increasing hit dice; if you increase hit dice, you risk making it impossible for PCs to save against a creature's abilities, or being trivially torn to pieces as a result of higher BaB, or being unable to effect the creature with spells because its saves are too high.&nbsp; With more creatures, you can increase the encounter difficulty without creating degenerate odds for any given roll (granted, you'd have to add a lot of HD...&nbsp; but still).Also, adding templates tends to be much easier mathematically than adding HD.&nbsp; I especially like Pathfinder's Simple Advanced template for this purpose.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="jedavis, post: 5522648, member: 35933"] At one point I wrote a script to generate monsters using random ability scores, rolled on 3d6, to increase variation (as a counter to the Spreadsheet Warriors, so you can't assume that any given goblin has AC15 and 3 HP, and then use it to optimize your power attack bonus). I then decided to extend it to 4d6 drop 1 and 5d6 drop 2; my group was playing with 5d6 drop 2 at the time, so I was curious to see how much of a difference 10s vs. 5d6 drop 2 made for monster ability scores. The players were sufficiently scared of the "turbo owlbears" that we all agreed to use 4d6 drop 1 thereafter. Along a similar vein, I keep meaning to try a "3d6 in-order ability scores" campaign; I imagine it would increase difficulty (and casualties) by a fair bit... On the encounter design end of things, I agree in general that increasing number of weak foes is a better idea than increasing hit dice; if you increase hit dice, you risk making it impossible for PCs to save against a creature's abilities, or being trivially torn to pieces as a result of higher BaB, or being unable to effect the creature with spells because its saves are too high. With more creatures, you can increase the encounter difficulty without creating degenerate odds for any given roll (granted, you'd have to add a lot of HD... but still). Also, adding templates tends to be much easier mathematically than adding HD. I especially like Pathfinder's Simple Advanced template for this purpose. [/QUOTE]

Verification