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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rechan" data-source="post: 5190834" data-attributes="member: 54846">Personally I think a lot of what a DM should know is in the DM2. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue    :p"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" /> Beyond that...EncountersFirst, there's <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/254630-stalker0s-guide-anti-grind.html" target="_blank">Stalker0's anti-grind</a> thread. And not to forget <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/241614-creative-combat-objectives-other-than-kill-em-all.html" target="_blank">Objective Based Encounters</a>.Prep so that something cool can happen mid-way through the fight. The ceiling caves in, new monsters flush into the battle, suddenly all the monsters are pursuing one target, some other goal is occurring. This way you can whip this out if things are getting boring/grindy, to shake it up. Too much difficult terrain is a real pain in the ass. Difficult terrain  (or really, any kind of terrain) can function as a controller (without  cutting into your xp budget). It's a buffer zone. Not all terrain should benefit the enemies and hurt the PCs. Let it  operate both ways. Enemies that move will force PCs to move. When everyone stands in the  same spot and slugs it out, it gets boring.MonstersActually, the common practice around these parts is "cut half HP, give +5 to damage per tier". Some DMs around ENworld swear by that.As far as Solos/Elites, WotC (with MM2) cut the HP by 20% and reduced the defenses by 2. Make sure elites/solos can do more in the scene (several immediate actions, double attacks, powers that work on a minor action). For solos, anticipate that the players will condition-lock them thus giving them a counter or two, and make the encounter area dynamic with things going on so that the Solo isn't the only thing in the room.  When it comes to monster roles/different monsters, 3 different types is a great middle ground. Fewer than that and it can get boring, as there's no variety. More than that and you will forget all the cool stuff they can do, and it can get confusing keeping track of much.Beware of too many complex monsters together. Tracking which monsters have powers recharging this time or when they reactivate, or too many powers that end At the End of your Next Turn, juggling lots of auras et al, can lead to you missing several things or at least having too many balls in the air. One or two simple monsters and one complex one can make your life easier. Blogs<a href="http://critical-hits.com" target="_blank">Critical Hits</a><a href="http://slyflourish.com/" target="_blank">Sly Flourish</a><a href="http://at-will.omnivangelist.net/" target="_blank">At-Will</a><a href="http://www.gnomestew.com/" target="_blank">Gnome Stew</a><a href="http://squarefireballs.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Square Fireballs</a>Podcasts<a href="http://critical-hits.com/" target="_blank">The Dungeon Master Guys</a><a href="http://cityofdoors.info" target="_blank">City of Doors</a><a href="http://thetome.podbean.com/" target="_blank">The Tome Show</a></blockquote>

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