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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mengu" data-source="post: 5597434" data-attributes="member: 65726">I find a combination of flexible preparation and improvisation works best in these situations.I just ran an encounter, where I didn't really know where the PC's were going to take it, and was prepared for contingencies. They had 3 problems to deal with all at the same time. They could ignore two and deal with one, or split up to deal with two out of 3, or all three. They ended up splitting into two. I had scaling thought out for each encounter depending on how many of them showed up at each encounter. That's where the bit of extra prep time comes in handy. Depending on where multi-target attackers showed up, I adjusted number of minions on the fly, that's where improvisation and knowing your party helps. Then I drew a line down the center of my grid, drew two maps, placed the PC's on their respective maps, and ran the simultaneous combat.Another aspect of prep work is, I usually have encounters prepped for an area in advance. If the PC's decide to take an unexpected route (which is somewhat often), I have a pool of monsters already statted out for other future encounters, to draw from. I will use them. And before next session, I'll go back and modify those future encounters to keep things interesting, if I don't want to reuse the same monsters again.Drawing terrain on the fly can sometimes be dangerous. If I end up giving either side an advantage with elevation or difficult terrain or cover, the apparent balance of the encounter can be thrown off. If the PC's get an easy win, that's usually okay, vs the enemies getting the upper hand, so if I'm drawing ad hoc terrain, I try to err on the side of the PC's.I don't feel 4e is any better or worse than other editions when it comes to on the fly encounter design or changes. One thing I have to say is, minions and tough minions are my friends.</blockquote>

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