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Message: <blockquote data-quote="CapnZapp" data-source="post: 6906637" data-attributes="member: 12731">All of this is true. All of this is also completely ignoring that we should and can expect reasonably calibrated encounters, or even encounters that are weak but within reason.The drow ambush in OotA is an example of what you describe. And I give it a pass.Too many encounters in the later chapters are instead examples of completely unacceptable encounters; weak to the point of seemingly being made for half the party's level.This is not merely an issue of things like hp and AC. Low level monsters simply do not have the means to challenge a high-level party. Low-level encounters are often simple in layout and composition, while high-level parties need complexity in layout and composition to be properly challenged.So it's not just a matter of switching out Goblins for Ogres. Or Cloakers, for that matter.A properly made high-level encounter features monsters that can fly past difficult terrain; ranged combatants that does not need to close to melee; spellcasters to harass the party and dispel their battlefield-sculpting efforts. And so on and so very much on.That drow encounter gets a pass since it is at least in the right tier, regardless of whether the party is a weak level 8 or a strong level 6. I do not need to redo the encounter from scratch. I can keep the general idea and composition, and just vary the number and intensity of drows and allies.But too many supposedly tier III end-game OotA encounters read and run like a weak tier II encounter, with just a demon or three plonked down with no real thought to what makes the encounter high level. Such an encounter is useless, and needs to be completely scratched, and a new encounter built from the ground up.Those encounters get a big sweaty fail.</blockquote>

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