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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silveras" data-source="post: 1545044" data-attributes="member: 6271">No problem; I just see so many people confused by the various acronyms that I have to try to set it straight whenever I see them mashed into each other. On another note ...Remember that an encounter "matched" to your party's power isn't meant to be a big obstacle. An encounter of 1 creature whose individual CR is matched to the average level of a 4-person party is only "meant" to use up a few spells and/or charges on magic items (20% of the party's resources). If your present party is approximately as strong as a 4-member Level 18 party, an EL 18 Encounter (4 CR 14 creatures) is still only expected to use up 20% or so of their resources (a few spells, some charges or expendable items, etc.). Also, it sounds like you started the characters at high level; that skews things, too. Feat selections, for example, are always optimal. Since the PC did not have to survive from level 1 to level 11 (or whatever level you started at), s/he never needed to take Toughness to offset a bad hp roll, or never looked at some of those +2/+2 skill feats because s/he had spells or items that gave a bigger bonus anyway. Speaking of items, letting them buy whatever they wanted with their starting wealth also "ups the ante". A character played over the long-term to those levels has some less-than-optimal items as part of his/her wealth. A wand of magic missile that has 4-5 charges left, for example, or a dozen scrolls at low caster level hanging around (some might have sold them, but many would keep them "just in case"). Example: A Sorcerer might have a wand of sleep that s/he gained at 2nd level and has used since. Why bother wasting a precious rare "known spell" slot on something you have in an item ? A character made at high level typically doesn't have "legacy" gear ... just the best stuff s/he could afford, all tweaked and tuned for whatever spells or feats s/he has now. A Sorcerer made at these levels may have started with a powerful staff instead of having 3-4 wands, 5-6 potions, and 12-15 scrolls. The result, though, is that generally characters created at high levels tend to be "tuned and optimized" that way, and, as Thanee mentioned, it makes them more powerful than their levels would indicate.</blockquote>

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