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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Janx" data-source="post: 5472564" data-attributes="member: 8835">Hopefully all DMs try to leave warning clues, with regards to high level/outclassed encounters.  Otherwise, a gang of 20th level orcs disguised as a 1st level encounter is pretty dickish.Reaction Rolls:Shaman seems to run what I'm calling a Social Sandbox.  He's got like a zillion NPCs on some magic encounter table he made.  And he alludes to doing some reaction rolls to see what they do.  I haven't see Reaction Rolls made since 2e.  Do people still use those?  What kind of tables does Shaman have?If nothing else, I advocate the methods I use, to redirect GM arbitrariness by constraining most encounters.  Whereas Shaman uses tables to influence reactions, etc.As for Dungeons not being the stereotypical sandbox, there've been plenty of threads where they have been cited as the foundation of sandbox play by die-hard advocates. I wasn't trying to bash them, but show some respect, that at least in a dungeon, there is a control for encounter level built into the standard model.On the modifying stat blocks:Now and then I've made a higher level version of a monster.  On this forum I do see a lot complaining about the process.  I looked at the problem as this.  I bought a MM.  If I keep modiying orcs, the players will never get to fight stuff from the rest of the book.  Not to say there's not been a time and place for leveled monsters.  Just that there's a variety of critters that as a player, I want to kill.Put another way, my GM friend has a habit of running through the same critter for a long time.  I've done the flightless green dragons theme.  The vampires amok theme.  The Orcs March South Theme.  The Rust Monsters theme.  The Beholders Gone Wild Theme.  Frankly, me and my friends would rather see encounter variety than more orcs, level 13.  But that example is a bit extreme where if 1 was good, 5,000 must be better.On Status Quo encounters:I must've skipped that chapter in the 3e DMG, never saw the term (or I forgot it).   Since I don't tend to make up stats for stuff I don't think I'm going to need, I don't have a whole lot of NPCs sitting around waiting to be encountered.  I do have ideas on what kinds of people are around, and I generally would be too lazy to go back and level up NPCs except in rare occasions.When i make up game content, I'm looking at what I'll need for what the PCs will be attempting next.  I'll roll up some random encounters for some opposition ideas, based on environment or level.  Thats where I mostly stick to "level appropriate".  And like Shaman agreed, an Ogre (CR3) may very well be on the menu for the 1st level party as the big challenge.For me, every time I've brought in a high level NPC, it felt like a railroad scenario.  As in, meet the high level NPC villain at the dinner party where you'd best be nice to or he'll kill you in the coat closet with a canope knife. So, I don't advise throwing them in willy-nilly, if at all.  It feels too much like a GMPC to me.Thats not a rule for all GMs to follow, but its not a bad thing for a new GM to consider avoiding until they've got a handle on things.</blockquote>

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