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<blockquote data-quote="Crazy Jerome" data-source="post: 5998116" data-attributes="member: 54877">It is probably mainly that the monsters stats and XP is still way out of whack, but when looking at expected outcomes, I'd note one caveat that was exemplified in our playtest this weekend:&nbsp; For a party, surprise, location, and lighting really makes a big difference.&nbsp;We had 5 2nd level characters, dwarf fighter, hafling rogue, elven archer, elven wizard, and elven cleric.&nbsp; No one had survivor specialty.&nbsp;A. 8 orcs ambushed the party and got complete surprise (bad luck by party combined with badly timed mistakes in plans).&nbsp; Toughest fight of the evening, with everyone down into single digits, and spells almost gone.&nbsp;B. Party escapes back to cleared out kobold lair, holes up securely, but doesn't cover their tracks.&nbsp; 20 orcs investigate, decide to shoot them up when they leave the cave.&nbsp; Ambush is launched on unsuspecting party, but through incredible luck on spot and initiative, all five party members detect it in time to retreat into kobold cave.&nbsp; Upshot, after several rounds of sniping with cover on both sides, the orcs getting the worst of it, half the orcs drop over the cliff face on ropes to attack the cave mouth as their archer friends charge.&nbsp; With timely spells and tricks and a few lucky rolls, two rounds later the party is cleaning house.&nbsp;Congruent with the topic thus far, however, I will note that in the first ambush, the dwarven fighter took on 4 orcs while the rest of the party fought the other 4.&nbsp; Despite some substandard rolls, he had 2 of them down and 1 injured by the time the rest of the party was able to help. Yet, if I'd had two more orcs in that first ambush, it might have been a TPK.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Crazy Jerome, post: 5998116, member: 54877"] It is probably mainly that the monsters stats and XP is still way out of whack, but when looking at expected outcomes, I'd note one caveat that was exemplified in our playtest this weekend: For a party, surprise, location, and lighting really makes a big difference. We had 5 2nd level characters, dwarf fighter, hafling rogue, elven archer, elven wizard, and elven cleric. No one had survivor specialty. A. 8 orcs ambushed the party and got complete surprise (bad luck by party combined with badly timed mistakes in plans). Toughest fight of the evening, with everyone down into single digits, and spells almost gone. B. Party escapes back to cleared out kobold lair, holes up securely, but doesn't cover their tracks. 20 orcs investigate, decide to shoot them up when they leave the cave. Ambush is launched on unsuspecting party, but through incredible luck on spot and initiative, all five party members detect it in time to retreat into kobold cave. Upshot, after several rounds of sniping with cover on both sides, the orcs getting the worst of it, half the orcs drop over the cliff face on ropes to attack the cave mouth as their archer friends charge. With timely spells and tricks and a few lucky rolls, two rounds later the party is cleaning house. Congruent with the topic thus far, however, I will note that in the first ambush, the dwarven fighter took on 4 orcs while the rest of the party fought the other 4. Despite some substandard rolls, he had 2 of them down and 1 injured by the time the rest of the party was able to help. Yet, if I'd had two more orcs in that first ambush, it might have been a TPK. [/QUOTE]

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