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Message: <blockquote data-quote="BlightCrawler" data-source="post: 4915664" data-attributes="member: 4931">First a note that a hard encounter is 2-4 levels above. Just 1 level above is considered standard. (Well, actually in the Encounter chapter it says 2-4 levels above, later in the Adventure chapter it says 2-3 levels above)But anyway, for encounters with new creatures coming in, you may push it beyond the n + 4 guided max. I would not go too much higher. But if the additions are staggered, then it's more manageable than a straight n+5 might normally be.  The hardest fight in Shadowfell (in my mind) is the one against Irontooth, which is n + 5, with a bulk of the difficulty coming in after 3 rounds. It starts with an even level fight, which is possible to reduce if not destroy before Irontooth arrives. The only thing I'd do differently is have a second warning at the beginning of the 3rd round as the reinforcements are about to arrive the next round. I didn't see what battle was supposed to be extra-hard in the DMG, the worst is n+3 (assuming 1st level).I would give them some concrete warnings with almost any reinforcements. They hear an alarm, and then later the approaching of footsteps, or something like that.  As it nears, I would tell them how many rounds they have, since that's something they could probably judge. In some cases the additions might be a total surprise. And in those, I would keep the encounter at or under n + 4.I haven't had enemies who run away return as a part of reinforcements in the same encounter. If they do run away for this reason, it basically happens before combat even starts. The only time enemies run away without me designing it that way is if it's near the end of the combat and clear the PCs will win, and it would be boring to just mop up. If I do design it that way, I'd most likely do it because the one who got away is a main villain, so they've come back a little later. Though I have also done combats that are designed to be too hard. A couple of months go I put a level 11 black dragon against a level 4 party. I basically told them that this thing looked way too tough and they needed to run, after a bit of trying to reason with it and assessing the situation. It was a skill challenge in actuality. But I set up the battle map and put down the counter with the dragon on it as if it were going to be a combat. They were sweating it and it was possibly the most fun encounter of the day.Another option would be to give the PCs a quest for running away to survive if things get too hard and there's no reason for them to tough through it.  Then they have a real choice. Stick it out, see if their luck turns around and get the combat XP, or escape and get the quest XP (which is probably less since it would likely be a minor quest).</blockquote>

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