Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="D'karr" data-source="post: 6177968" data-attributes="member: 336">I've always run with a large group.&nbsp; My current group is 6-9 players (we've had up to 12).&nbsp; However we play if up to 4 can show up.&nbsp; I've found that my encounters scale much better if I design around a party of 4, with planned scalable &quot;upgrades&quot;.&nbsp; Rather than building for a party of 5-6 and scaling down.&nbsp; Because of this, we've found that encounters can run much faster when needed.One tendency I had at the beginning of 4e was to scale all encounters to be &quot;level appropriate&quot; up to &quot;Level +4&quot;.&nbsp; I disregarded that encounters should also play in the opposite direction down to Level-2.&nbsp; So encounters should be from a range of Level-2 up to Level+4.&nbsp; If you're simply taking out some &quot;insignificant guards&quot;, use a few of them (2-3) at Level-2.&nbsp; This makes that encounter play as planned.&nbsp; It is insignificant guards, not super guards, and it should play as such.&nbsp; When the party is taking on the &quot;King under the mountain&quot; and his troops then you can use a Level+4 encounter.&nbsp; But be warned you will have to &quot;play with this&quot;, and adjust a bit until you arrive at your and your players comfort level.&nbsp; I recommend hardly ever using single monsters of level+x to arrive at the Level+X &quot;budget&quot;.&nbsp; This causes grind because they are usually harder to hit, and at some point can become rather boring.&nbsp; Keep your eye out for that, specially if you will have a small party.&nbsp; IMO, this combat grind more than anything else will be what makes or breaks the game.&nbsp; You don't want your players bored during combat, so make it exciting, but pace it so that it ends at an appropriate point/time.&nbsp; When the foregone conclusion is that the monster is defeated, end the encounter by the monster retreating or dying.&nbsp; Hacking at it for another 3-4 rounds because people are missing, or the creature still has 100hp out of 400Hp is super boring.&nbsp; Avoid at all costs.My most important discovery was that my job as DM was to carefully gauge and maintain pacing during the game.&nbsp; The rules be damned at that point if they are not helping.&nbsp; I want my players excited, not bored.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="D'karr, post: 6177968, member: 336"] I've always run with a large group. My current group is 6-9 players (we've had up to 12). However we play if up to 4 can show up. I've found that my encounters scale much better if I design around a party of 4, with planned scalable "upgrades". Rather than building for a party of 5-6 and scaling down. Because of this, we've found that encounters can run much faster when needed. One tendency I had at the beginning of 4e was to scale all encounters to be "level appropriate" up to "Level +4". I disregarded that encounters should also play in the opposite direction down to Level-2. So encounters should be from a range of Level-2 up to Level+4. If you're simply taking out some "insignificant guards", use a few of them (2-3) at Level-2. This makes that encounter play as planned. It is insignificant guards, not super guards, and it should play as such. When the party is taking on the "King under the mountain" and his troops then you can use a Level+4 encounter. But be warned you will have to "play with this", and adjust a bit until you arrive at your and your players comfort level. I recommend hardly ever using single monsters of level+x to arrive at the Level+X "budget". This causes grind because they are usually harder to hit, and at some point can become rather boring. Keep your eye out for that, specially if you will have a small party. IMO, this combat grind more than anything else will be what makes or breaks the game. You don't want your players bored during combat, so make it exciting, but pace it so that it ends at an appropriate point/time. When the foregone conclusion is that the monster is defeated, end the encounter by the monster retreating or dying. Hacking at it for another 3-4 rounds because people are missing, or the creature still has 100hp out of 400Hp is super boring. Avoid at all costs. My most important discovery was that my job as DM was to carefully gauge and maintain pacing during the game. The rules be damned at that point if they are not helping. I want my players excited, not bored. [/QUOTE]

Verification