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<blockquote data-quote="Sir Brennen" data-source="post: 5979347" data-attributes="member: 553"><p>Perhaps you should be a little clearer what you expect the result of such opting-out to be, maybe with examples. Are you suggesting a attack from Tiamat should be a viable encounter for first level characters? Sure, you could argue that it would make a great story, but D&D is also a game, with numerical values for protagonists and antagonists, and outside of certain boundaries, the outcome becomes very predictable (PC cake walk or TPK).</p><p></p><p>The CR and XP Budget systems help the DM know what fights fall inside the boundaries, and it's there that you can have more unpredictable, surprising, tactically interesting fights because the sides are more evenly matched. Note 1e and 2e did this as well, though perhaps a bit less refined, by assigning monsters levels.</p><p></p><p>Your way you could be "surprised" by having a minor, narratively insignificant encounter turn into a TPK or an final climatic battle turn into a boring cake walk for the PCs. Is this what you think should be the base assumption of the system, with a ability to avoid this unpredictability <em>optional</em>? I too share everyone's bafflement over this. It sounds to me like you don't want to 1) put in the minimal effort to select creatures appropriate for an encounter and 2) be held accountable by your players for a TPK because you willfully ignored the guidelines for a balanced encounter.</p><p></p><p>That element of surprise due to ignorance you describe applies to an audience, which in a game is the players. A movie's director, and the DM, should have a better idea of what's going on, and the likely outcome if a scene. Again, surprise for the DM will come from (in addition to player actions and choices) more balanced encounters, which will also help meet your criteria of more tactically and narratively compelling battles.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Sir Brennen, post: 5979347, member: 553"] Perhaps you should be a little clearer what you expect the result of such opting-out to be, maybe with examples. Are you suggesting a attack from Tiamat should be a viable encounter for first level characters? Sure, you could argue that it would make a great story, but D&D is also a game, with numerical values for protagonists and antagonists, and outside of certain boundaries, the outcome becomes very predictable (PC cake walk or TPK). The CR and XP Budget systems help the DM know what fights fall inside the boundaries, and it's there that you can have more unpredictable, surprising, tactically interesting fights because the sides are more evenly matched. Note 1e and 2e did this as well, though perhaps a bit less refined, by assigning monsters levels. Your way you could be "surprised" by having a minor, narratively insignificant encounter turn into a TPK or an final climatic battle turn into a boring cake walk for the PCs. Is this what you think should be the base assumption of the system, with a ability to avoid this unpredictability [i]optional[/i]? I too share everyone's bafflement over this. It sounds to me like you don't want to 1) put in the minimal effort to select creatures appropriate for an encounter and 2) be held accountable by your players for a TPK because you willfully ignored the guidelines for a balanced encounter. That element of surprise due to ignorance you describe applies to an audience, which in a game is the players. A movie's director, and the DM, should have a better idea of what's going on, and the likely outcome if a scene. Again, surprise for the DM will come from (in addition to player actions and choices) more balanced encounters, which will also help meet your criteria of more tactically and narratively compelling battles. [/QUOTE]
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