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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Raven Crowking" data-source="post: 4350097" data-attributes="member: 18280">The described problem started during the 3e era (IMHO), because the number inflation made lower-CR monsters laughable in the face of higher level characters.  Where in G1, for example, Gygax had no problem including a wide range of monsters into his adventure, a 3e adventure of the same level could not have used baseline orcs in the same way to the same effect.It didn't help when WotC ran an online article about how that wandering monsters were "unfun".  No form of attrition is important if you can use all your interesting powers, then "recharge" them before you have to use them again.  Wandering monsters were a form of check against "all out/recharge" play.  It wasn't smart to go all out, because you never knew exactly what you'd have to face before recharging.It is also true that slow attrition allows for more action than fast attrition.  In 1e, a 4th level fighter might be within his 35 hp (supplimented by limited party healing) over a large span of encounters, but he would feel the loss of each hit point.  How many healing surges does that same fighter have in 4e?  The fewer, the more likely he is to want to regain them after each use.  The more he can do so, the less likely he is to worry about spending them, and the less attrition experience (and hence tension derived thereby) within the game.Indeed, it was complaints about this tension that led directly to the number inflation of 3e.  WotC listened to what gamers thought they wanted; the designers didn't given enough thought to why things were the way they were in previous editions before tinkering with them.  3e requires a lot of houserules, IMHO, to fix its problems.  4e just requires more, and I've already done the work for 3e.The easiest fixes in 4e are probably:(1)  Use wandering monsters to ensure that your party does not assume that it can rest, and(2)  Include a wandering monster roll at/near the end of each encounter (the noise attracts the monster).  If a new creature is indicated, consider it part of the ongoing encounter (i.e., per-encounter abilities do not recharge).These factors will make it less likely that players use all of their cool abilities first, and will make them have to consider whether or not it is worth using certain abilities in any given encounter.A harder to implement, but far more satisfying, fix would require bringing down number inflation for both PCs and monsters, so that each sword swing is more lethal.(BTW, for 3e folks who like the idea of minion monsters, but don't like the 4e take on them, simply pull out your 1e MM, convert AC and add attack bonus of +1 per full Hit Die, or +0 for monsters of less than 1 HD.  There are a few monster abilities you might have to adjust to use properly; simply use the text from your 3e/3.5e MM instead.  Viola!  Instant minion monsters for 3e.)RC</blockquote>

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