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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ixis" data-source="post: 4665828" data-attributes="member: 82429">In the games I've run and played in combats usually take 1-2 hours on average depending on levels, classes, player experience, etc. But from what I've seen player strategy and cooperation in tactics and planning are what really determine game length.When I first started playing 4e we had an artificer, two paladins, and a warlock or warlord. That game lasted 6 hours and we got through 3 encounters with lots of players falling over and dying a lot (which is to be expected as we were new.) One game we had the artificer, one paladin, one rogue a barbarian and the warlord and we blew through 4-5 encounters in the 6 hour time limit (and we were about level 1-2.) The last game I played in we had a paladin, fighter, cleric and myself as a wizard doing a 1-3 level adventure, got through all the combat encounters (3-4ish) and actually completed the adventure with only one death (myself, the wizard.)Now, when I'm GMing the times where roughly about the same. We're doing the Scepter Tower of Spellgard, with about 4-5 players (a warlock, sometimes a rogue, spellblade, ranger and a cleric.) They all started at levels 2-3 and now they're about 3-4. These guys are all DnD vets and work together and use tactics. The more they work together the faster combat goes. I've had to increase monster HP and become a little harder using more cunning for the monsters, and being less lenient on allowing them short rests but they're really resourceful.I increased the monster levels by 2-3, increased the monster numbers by 1-3 standard monsters and increased their hitpoints by 25% last game and the players still managed to blow through 4 encounters in 3 hours (this right after a three hour combat, which was a bit more like 2.5 where the players where still getting into the groove of things.)<img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/worried.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":-S" title="Uhm    :-S" data-shortname=":-S" />That's my curveball data, but I have a question: I'm afraid my combats are going to become easier and easier as time goes on. What have you found that helps make combat more difficult without making it longer?</blockquote>

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