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<blockquote data-quote="Korgoth" data-source="post: 3820788" data-attributes="member: 49613">I agree.@ Lurks, re: the &quot;Letdown Factor&quot;:I don't view my team hosing the BBEG in round 1 a &quot;letdown&quot; to begin with.&nbsp; Why not call it &quot;an amazing victory&quot;?&nbsp; Let's assume we're playing 1E, 2E or 3E, and the BBEG is about the right level, give or take, to challenge our party.&nbsp; We win initiative on round 1 and our spellcaster unloads a save-or-die.&nbsp; The BBEG rolls a 1 and snuffs it.&nbsp; Well, that's a matter for rejoicing.&nbsp; Since the BBEG was of appropriate stature to challenge us, we know that the DM isn't just spoon-feeding us victory: we earned it.&nbsp; We also know that we didn't walk into a trap or an ambush, we didn't use up any valuable resources and most of all nobody got killed!&nbsp; &quot;Now it's mead time.&quot;Now, are big, drawn-out, nail-biting battles fun?&nbsp; Yes.&nbsp; But completely hosing the enemy is also fun.&nbsp; To draw an analogy: not losing my character is fun.&nbsp; But it's fun precisely because I was in real danger of losing him.&nbsp; Likewise, because both a nail-biter and a turkey shoot (of either side A or side B) is possible, the possibility of any of those outcomes fuels the enjoyment of the particular outcome.&nbsp; Whereas, if the particular outcome was an inevitability, well then there's no surprise, is there?It's the fairness of the rules, the complexity of the scenario, the employment of free will as players and the resulting surprise of the outcome that combine to produce what I call &quot;fun&quot;.&nbsp; Take those elements away (i.e. make the rules favor the PCs too heavily, make the scenario too simple, take away the player's ability to act with strategy or make the outcome inevitable) and the &quot;fun&quot; goes away, at least as I see it.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Korgoth, post: 3820788, member: 49613"] I agree. @ Lurks, re: the "Letdown Factor": I don't view my team hosing the BBEG in round 1 a "letdown" to begin with. Why not call it "an amazing victory"? Let's assume we're playing 1E, 2E or 3E, and the BBEG is about the right level, give or take, to challenge our party. We win initiative on round 1 and our spellcaster unloads a save-or-die. The BBEG rolls a 1 and snuffs it. Well, that's a matter for rejoicing. Since the BBEG was of appropriate stature to challenge us, we know that the DM isn't just spoon-feeding us victory: we earned it. We also know that we didn't walk into a trap or an ambush, we didn't use up any valuable resources and most of all nobody got killed! "Now it's mead time." Now, are big, drawn-out, nail-biting battles fun? Yes. But completely hosing the enemy is also fun. To draw an analogy: not losing my character is fun. But it's fun precisely because I was in real danger of losing him. Likewise, because both a nail-biter and a turkey shoot (of either side A or side B) is possible, the possibility of any of those outcomes fuels the enjoyment of the particular outcome. Whereas, if the particular outcome was an inevitability, well then there's no surprise, is there? It's the fairness of the rules, the complexity of the scenario, the employment of free will as players and the resulting surprise of the outcome that combine to produce what I call "fun". Take those elements away (i.e. make the rules favor the PCs too heavily, make the scenario too simple, take away the player's ability to act with strategy or make the outcome inevitable) and the "fun" goes away, at least as I see it. [/QUOTE]

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