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Message: <blockquote data-quote="AbdulAlhazred" data-source="post: 5301334" data-attributes="member: 82106">DMG Page 56 is all you need. The XP rewards chart shows the XP for a monster of each level in the first column ('standard monster'). Multiply this by the number of PCs in the party and you have the XP budget for an equal level encounter. If you want a higher or lower level encounter then use the row of the table for the encounter level you want. So for a 4th level encounter for 3 PCs it is 175 XP x 3 = 525 XP. You can buy any sorts of monsters and traps that total 525 XP and you have a level 4 encounter. Note though that you probably don't want to use monsters less than 2 levels below the party level or more than 3 levels above it even though the budget would allow for it.As for how hard encounters are, that is highly dependent on the situation. An equal level encounter should always be generally somewhere between a speedbump and a modest challenge. A level +5 encounter will be quite difficult for most groups, impossible for some, but at times can be trivial for very well prepared and skilled groups of players at high levels. The MM3 type monster design guideline changes do have a definite impact, especially at higher levels. If you either adjust existing pre-MM3 monsters to MM3 guidelines for damage etc or use actual MM3 monsters then things can be tougher. If you are just starting out my advice is create a couple of fairly weak encounters to begin with. They MAY turn out to be trivial but they will be over quickly and give the group a chance to have a shakedown so they can start learning how to coordinate tactics and whatnot. Even if the players know the rules pretty well that isn't a bad idea. Based on how it goes (say for 3 level 1 PCs toss them a 200 XP encounter first) you'll have a good idea of how much they can handle. You can always add a couple minions to an encounter or a standard monster even at the last minute if you're finding they're just blowing through things, or turn a standard into a couple minions if they are struggling a lot.</blockquote>

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