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If the characters are super optimized should the monsters be boosted too?
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<blockquote data-quote="iserith" data-source="post: 6661990" data-attributes="member: 97077"><p>Ah, okay. I haven't run that one yet though I own it. I'll give it a read.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Did the players agree that things were getting too easy for them? Did they suggest anything <em>they</em> could do to keep the difficulty of challenges at a more satisfying level?</p><p></p><p>With six players, it's probably a good assumption that you need multiple monsters in any given conflict as they have so many actions and options to bring to bear on the opposition. I don't think increasing monster hit points is necessarily a good solution. That just extends the <em>length</em> of the combat - <em>maybe</em> - and doesn't significantly increase difficulty in my experience. There's also something to the idea that if you start increasing attack bonuses and damage, the players will just start to do the same (to the extent they can), creating an arms race. If you're not already doing so, consider looking at encounters as less a race to get the enemy to 0 hit points, but rather a race to see who can complete their particular goal first. That has the effect of making the players' choices for their builds and such important, but their choices and priorities in the moment <em>more</em> important and interesting. They may come away from the scene having lost <em>zero</em> hit points yet having been significantly challenged.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="iserith, post: 6661990, member: 97077"] Ah, okay. I haven't run that one yet though I own it. I'll give it a read. Did the players agree that things were getting too easy for them? Did they suggest anything [I]they[/I] could do to keep the difficulty of challenges at a more satisfying level? With six players, it's probably a good assumption that you need multiple monsters in any given conflict as they have so many actions and options to bring to bear on the opposition. I don't think increasing monster hit points is necessarily a good solution. That just extends the [I]length[/I] of the combat - [I]maybe[/I] - and doesn't significantly increase difficulty in my experience. There's also something to the idea that if you start increasing attack bonuses and damage, the players will just start to do the same (to the extent they can), creating an arms race. If you're not already doing so, consider looking at encounters as less a race to get the enemy to 0 hit points, but rather a race to see who can complete their particular goal first. That has the effect of making the players' choices for their builds and such important, but their choices and priorities in the moment [I]more[/I] important and interesting. They may come away from the scene having lost [I]zero[/I] hit points yet having been significantly challenged. [/QUOTE]
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If the characters are super optimized should the monsters be boosted too?
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