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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Stalker0" data-source="post: 8426676" data-attributes="member: 5889">So I was thinking some more about why I have such a different reaction to 5e's encounter building than I did 4e and 3e. Now at first I thought it might be the bounded accuracy, higher level monsters don't scale that quickly and so low level people can take out higher level threats much more easily then the flavor might allow.That is part of it, but that's not SO new, I mean one good 3x crit in 3e and you can do way more damage than normal and take out a big baddie. So what is it?I think part of my issue is the removal of the "you must be this cool to fight this monster" type mechanics. Lets use the 3.5 spell blasphemy as an example. Blasphemy was a minor issue if you were about equal with the bad guy, but if you were a bit lower level, you were stopped cold (literally, it paralyzed you <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />. A 13th level cleric was a terror to any party 8th level or lower because this one spell could absolutely curbstomp them. Even if on paper, and 8th level party could easily do enough damage to take out a 13th level cleric..... you really had to consider if it was worth the risk.Another example is level drain, say a vampire. Now sure level drain is bad for anyone, but the lower the level you are, the greater the risk that you just die from it straight off. So a vampire was a very scary threat to a lower level party. Even DR is a good example, DR is nastier the less damage you do....higher level parties with more raw damage are less effected by them. In 5e where everything is halved, everyone is hit equally.Now the mechanics of 3e were far from ideal (and 5e cleaned a lot of things up) but I think what this did is give certain classes of monster "riff raff" protection. No matter how physically strong a party of X level is....when dealing with a Y tier monster, they always had to tread carefully. But in 5e it mostly comes down to DPR vs hitpoints.... yes some higher level abilities are scary but generally its more about stronger DCS (and not that much stronger) and more hitpoints/damage. As long as the party can match that needed DPR....they can take on a great deal of high level threats.I'll try to put it in an even simpler way. 5e uses CR as a warning.... if you use a CR higher than your average party level, you are adding in a lot of risk. I think that is only true with a select group of monsters, past 5th level, a party can often take on CRs way above that weight class, and I think its because those monsters have no "riff raff" protection.Here is an example of some more "5e style" mechanic that might offer some form of the "riff raff" protection I am referring to.Aura of Dread: Any creature within 60 feet that has a proficiency bonus of +3 or less gains the frightened condition until they leave the aura.Adamantine Scales: Unless the attacker has a +4 proficiency bonus or higher, they suffer disadvantage on all attack rolls.Weakening Mist: Make a constitution saving throw. On a failure, take exhaustion equal to 6 - your proficiency bonus.Skill Absorption: Make a charisma saving throw. Your proficiency bonus drops by 1, and the creature's increases by 1. When your proficiency bonus drops to 0, you become paralyzed.</blockquote>

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