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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Teataine" data-source="post: 6261238" data-attributes="member: 6678036">0. I agree that they are playing (or seem to be playing) a hardcore Us vs. the DM kind of game. First clear up that up with them. 99,9% of gaming problems can be solved socially, with an out-of-game solution, setting the right expectations and getting everyone on the same page. If you don't want to run this game, then tell them you're not out to get them. They're not competing against you, because that would be silly, you can just drop a mountain on them and win every fight. You're there to create a shared world of adventures together or whatever.Alternatively, if that's what you're all after, make sure that it's clear that you will try to challenge them as hard as possible, fairly and impartially. Bring your best game, screw the encounter building rules and make encounters that will really make them bite their nails. Don't PLAN fights. Just don't. You can't plan something that hinges on a lot of random dice rolling. Instead just build interesting and dynamic environments (with lots of obstacles, difficult terrain, hazards, moving bits, dangers that require skill checks) and make or pick monsters with cool and interesting abilities, and play them intelligently, especially humanoids. They aren't just static jack-in-the-box monsters waiting for the PCs to show up and then attack. They can trick and outsmart the characters.1. Let me guess, you're running 3E/PF? In that case everything starts to break down after level 7 anyway. How long has been the campaign been going on/how long do you want it to keep going? Maybe consider wrapping things up slowly, push to a climatic ending in the next level or two, then start a new game.2. CRs and encounter building don't work a lot of the time, they're not exact and balanced for "normal" parties, not charop builds by experienced players. Action economy is more important than HP/AC. Battle prep may be more important than actual combat. Use enemies that are intelligent/are able to spy/investigate/counter the PCs and prepare for their fights. If the PCs are kicking everything's ass, don't be afraid to use monsters with +2 CR compared to the party. Have your villains drink potions and cast buffs on them before fights. Use terrain to <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> up the PCs movement and abilities. Just generally fight harder. 3. The XP for combat is a <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />ed up system anyway. Just create three categories of XP rewards (easy, moderate, hard) and award that at the end based on how the fight went, no on what you actually spent on the encounter.</blockquote>

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