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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ObsidianCrane" data-source="post: 4523084" data-attributes="member: 54918">I'm actually curious about something that the OP didn't spell out. Why are you having troubles finding low level encounters?Are you struggling with monster variety by type? That is do you find the basic choices of goblin (all types) /kobold/orc/gnoll/animal to limiting?Or are you struggng with finding mechanical variation? That is are you looking for more variety in mechanical choices than what the low level creatures offer?Or are you looking for more creatures of level 1 or lower? That is are you looking for more Level 1 creatures or even Level 1/2 creatures?If its the first one its all about taking the mechanics you like and giving the creature a new description.If its the second one you will need to do more work yourself, drawing inspiration from the MM and PHB to build your own creatures while you wait for the next MM. Though the Compendium will offer some new choices you do need to be carefull with the RPGA content, some of it is to weak (yet to run into to strong).If its the last its a concept/paradigm thing. If you want to consider the new monster's level as a 3.X CR, the new level divided by 4 is the old CR effectively. So a level 2 goblin is a 3.x CR 1/2 goblin. So what this means is that a first level party should be fighting groups of level 1 and 2 creatures with an occasional level 3 monster thrown in.Now as others have mentioned you can make more monsters by deleveling higher level monsters. However its worth noting that the more levels you take away (or add) the more problems that can occur with balance. It seems that +/- 1 or 2 levels is fine, take more than that and you might need to adjust the damage dice as well.Finally the need for "more" monsters is greatly alleviated by considering the story of your game. If the PCs are tangling with a goblin tribe they should be mostly fighting goblins for the narrative of the adventure to make sense. Having 10 different monster types (by fluff not mechanics) will rarely make sense in context of a story, so mostly I find its a matter of looking for mechanics for variety to make the fights interesting without breaking the context of the story.There are tricks to remember, like the first encounter in my first adventure featured orcs and goblins. The pcs learn the goblins are local, and the orcs are regional. So the orcs likely bullied the goblins. The second encounter was a goblin patrol, which included dire rats, so the pcs learnt the goblins trained rats like dogs. That meant later I had a reason for having a room full of rats, and another with orcs. The only encounter not foreshadowed was the guard constructs, and that was explained by defeating them and discovering what they guarded.</blockquote>

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