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Message: <blockquote data-quote="KidSnide" data-source="post: 5314914" data-attributes="member: 54710">I think the real question is: What is the purpose of the encounter?In some games, the purpose of the encounter is purely there is in order to defeat it.  In these games, the fun comes from playing your characters skillfully in combat (or in skill or role-playing situations).  This type of game is often recognizable by a focus on defeating enemies to gain xp and treasure.  It's not so important what you fight, so long as it is fun to fight it.  In a game like this, you want to face a continuous stream of level-appropriate (or, periodically, more challenging) opponents to test the player's abilities.  Too easy or impossible fights are a waste of time.In other games, the purpose of the encounter is to accomplish a task, and the fight mechanism is just a fun way of handling it.  In this type of game, treasure and xp is usually unrelated to how many enemies the PCs defeat.  Instead, PCs gain levels (and, treasure, where appropriate) when they accomplish certain goals in the plot.  In a game like this, it can be a lot of fun to fight through easy combats because sometimes the PC's task is being opposed by weak adversaries so it's a reasonable choice for them to get steamrollered.(One point worth noting is that the players need to know the general level of adversary they are fighting when that level can vary greatly in a game.  It's no fun wasting time optimizing the use of your best daily when you're facing a group of 8 minions.  Similarly, it's no fun picking a hopeless fight without any chance of figuring out that that's what you're doing.)-KS</blockquote>

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