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Message: <blockquote data-quote="stonehead" data-source="post: 9857303" data-attributes="member: 7047885">That seems perfectly compatible with my point. I said "the party has goals", not "the GM gives the players goals" (only being this pedantic because you were pedantic about 'interesting' vs 'surprising' : P). Their goals shouldn't uniformly increase in difficulty level by level.The petty thief, the roadside bandits, and the standing army could all be threats in the same "zone." The party could choose to take down the army at level 1, but they probably know they would all die if they try. They don't accidentally walk into the level 17 dragon forest while looking for something to do.A skilled GM can set up a game world such that this naturally occurs. The party initially investigates a string of murders which are actually committed by an assassins ring, which is actually being controlled by a noble family, who are actually trying to summon an ancient demon. Bog standard fantasy setup. Each time the party chooses to follow another clue, they will naturally encounter more competant foes and security. If they choose to follow other leads, they find similarly shaped threats.This might all depend on how challenges arise in different groups. If a group is entertained by random encounters that are purely mechanical threats, maybe they need to worry about how dangerous "the environment" is. Other groups get bored by combat encounters or skill checks that aren't connected to some bigger threat or narrative. To those groups, worrying about the "ambient level" could seem pointless.</blockquote>

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