Do your PCs ever completely outclass the enemy?

[the Jester]

My pcs tend to face a good number of challenges both above and below their APL.

 

[Whisper72]

Yes, I usually have the world be the world, regardless of the levels of the PC's. For 'real adventures', most encounters are designed to be challenging, as this fits with the fuzzy logic that the PC's look into dungeons, ruins and other challenges they feel they are up to, but when travelling to and fro, encounters 'on the roadside' can be anything, from seeing a massive dragon far ahead while they are still 1st level, and they will need to run, hide and be quiet, to a group of Lvl 1 War / Com bandits who underestimate the Lvl 8 party on the road, thinking them easy meat and becoming roadkill in short notice...

Both these types of encounters (the 'super easy' and the 'impossible') make the world seem more 'real'...

 

[Aeric]

I am currently co-DMing a campaign which the other DM and I have decided to futz around with challenge ratings every once in a while, just to keep the players on their toes. The first encounter was with a palace full of cloud giants (CR 11) when they were only 8th level. They played in smart, took their time, and in the end were about the right level for the giants thanks to the gobs of XP it earned them. The next encounter was with a group of 12 4th level cultists and their three leaders, none of whom was over 7th. The combat was over in two rounds; one for the fireball to wipe out all of the cultists, and one for the second fireball to wipe out the weakened leaders. So the PCs now know that not every encounter will be tailored to their level, and hopefully they will give proper pause and consideration if they are ever faced with a dragon or some other baddie that should be scary, but normally isn't because the players know that they can defeat it.

 

[Stalker0]

I had a dungeon series recently where the party encoutered a series of encounters with the BBEG's mooks. And though they were mookish, they worked so very hard. They created ambushes, fortifications, even used some of the dungeon's monsters to their advantage. Alas, they all died quickly and horribly but it was fun to watch

 

[shilsen]

Every single fight. Otherwise roughly half the time it would be a TPK. The nature of the EL system forbids a fair fight.

Think of it this way -- a 4-member group of level 4 Characters is an EL 8 encounter. Yet the highest recommended ecounter for them is EL 7, and that's for the ultra-bad boss monster. So by definition the PC's are always fighting "down".

Not really. Check the DMG pg. 49, table 3-2. It suggests that 15% of encounters be of an EL 1-4 higher than the party's, and 5% be EL 5+ higher than the party.

 

[Emperor Valerian]

Near the end of the first campaign I ran, the party was well into epic territory... average of 23rd level, I believe. After the last big huge fight against the bad guy, the party had to find its way back home. So as a final encounter, they were attacked by a pack of 4 hungry (but standard) wolves. It was fun to see the look on my player's faces... they were all expecting these to be "fiendish dire uber wolves of doom," only to have the rogue kill one wolf with a single shot of his bow.

The fighter was the one that then suggested merely knocking the remaining wolves unconscious Then the party moved camp. They felt too guilty, and decided to avoid the rest of the wolves rather than kill them.

 

[philreed]

Just do the old "I'm not really right handed" routine and add a few more levels to an opponent in the middle of a fight.

 

[MonsterMash]

Sometimes, but often outclassed opponents will try and get away fast if they realise they're going to end up as kibble. If there are 6 characters are in full armour riding warhorses then they're not so likely to get ambushed by three 1st level bandits.

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

Yup... I like to throw in some weaker encounters from time to time. Normally a 'zerg rush' of many weak opponents. Breaks things up a little and allows the PCs to showboat with their skills...

Will sometimes do what arwink said, throw in guys who used to give them problems...

 

[JoeGKushner]

Yes. It lets the PC's act cool.

It also prevents the GM from having to up everything in the world to accomidate or challenge the PCs.

It also forces the GM to use some stragety with enemies who know that they're not as powerful as the players. This could be simply hiring out some big bruisers, or fighting with more use of the environment, specific weapons, poisons, or other advantages that players may not bother with thanks to their level.