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<blockquote data-quote="Neonchameleon" data-source="post: 5526373" data-attributes="member: 87792">But the fighter isn't very good at being a general.&nbsp; And that's part of the problem.The CR system.&nbsp; That part of the game that provides the DM with his guidance on strength and pacing.&nbsp; The part that is supposed to tell you how strong a monster is and therefore how much you can throw without it being either boring or a TPK.Monsterstherefore are balanced around the four encounter day.&nbsp; Because that is what the CR system means.&nbsp; That's how the game balance involving monsters is set.&nbsp; And it's what the system implicitely tells the DM to throw - which is precisely why the DMG needs to say &quot;Don't do this&quot;.When have I said I play the game that way?&nbsp; I say two things.&nbsp; First the CR system is balanced one way - and second using it to always throw balanced encounters is tedious.&nbsp; The advice not to always use balanced encounters is there for a damn good reason.&nbsp; This is another example of your &quot;My Precious Encounter Model&quot; model.&nbsp; You miss something huge.&nbsp; Balance is Information.&nbsp; A balanced system should provide a lot of information to the DM about the expected result of any given fight.&nbsp; And what a fair fight is.&nbsp; Being balanced round that tells you when you are being fair - and when you are being unfair how unfair you are being.&nbsp; What's being said is &quot;We designed it to provide this information to the DM.&nbsp; This information should not be used in the most simplistic way possible.&quot;What the guidance in the DMG we are arguing about therefore says is &quot;It is all right to be unfair.&nbsp; Making PCs run is fine.&nbsp; Making PCs think their way through what are on paper overwhelming situations* is better.&nbsp; And lots of small encounters play faster than a few big ones and produce a nice effect.&quot;&nbsp; And that advice is needed because the game is balanced round CR = 1/4 of the resources of a party (which means the four encounter adventuring day) of that level and new DMs in particular are often conservative.* As mine have been doing for the last three sessions - a fort with 30 bandits including five elites against five PCs.&nbsp; They spent a week (in game time - two and a half sessions real time) terrorizing the place, and were then charismatic enough to turn one of the elites while the mooks ran.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Neonchameleon, post: 5526373, member: 87792"] But the fighter isn't very good at being a general. And that's part of the problem. The CR system. That part of the game that provides the DM with his guidance on strength and pacing. The part that is supposed to tell you how strong a monster is and therefore how much you can throw without it being either boring or a TPK. [B]Monsters[/B]therefore [I]are[/I] balanced around the four encounter day. Because that is what the CR system [I]means[/I]. That's how the game balance involving monsters is set. And it's what the system implicitely tells the DM to throw - which is precisely why the DMG needs to say "Don't do this". When have I said I play the game that way? I say two things. First the CR system is balanced one way - and second using it to always throw balanced encounters is [I]tedious[/I]. The advice not to always use balanced encounters is there for a damn good reason. This is another example of your "My Precious Encounter Model" model. You miss something huge. [I]Balance is Information[/I]. A balanced system should provide a lot of information to the DM about the expected result of any given fight. And what a fair fight is. Being balanced round that tells you when you are being fair - and when you are being unfair how unfair you are being. What's being said is "We designed it to provide this information to the DM. This information should not be used in the most simplistic way possible." What the guidance in the DMG we are arguing about therefore says is "It is all right to be unfair. Making PCs run is fine. Making PCs think their way through what are on paper overwhelming situations* is better. And lots of small encounters play faster than a few big ones and produce a nice effect." And that advice is [I]needed[/I] because the game is balanced round CR = 1/4 of the resources of a party (which means the four encounter adventuring day) of that level and new DMs in particular are often conservative. * As mine have been doing for the last three sessions - a fort with 30 bandits including five elites against five PCs. They spent a week (in game time - two and a half sessions real time) terrorizing the place, and were then charismatic enough to turn one of the elites while the mooks ran. [/QUOTE]

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