Newbie DM question: How many encounters per day?

[moritheil]

Hmm . . . I would say that the best way to do this is to ask yourself in advance what the area is like. IMC, I have a very clear goblin presence in some very dangerous forests.

Every time the characters wander into the forest, I roll to see if they have an encounter with some nongoblins (just one.) This way, the bulk of the encounters are with goblins (the focus of the campaign at the moment,) but the forests are still a dangerous and forbidding place. Of course, goblins can for their own reasons pursue or hunt the characters in the forest, independent of any other random encounters.

While the presence or absence of an encounter is rolled for, I'm a big fan of personally preparing all the monsters you use in an encounter. I've found that even with preparation, it can be hard to fully use monsters to their potential.

S'mon is right that a normal party of four should fight an equal EL, more or less. I threw a 4HD earth elemental (CR 3) and two goblins (each CR 1/3) at my party (8 level 1s, EL 3) in their first encounter. They came out OK (two mortally wounded that were bandaged up in time to avoid death), and with a definite impression of the deadliness of this forest.

The number one thing that I see here is that you are thinking like a player. This is good, because it provides you with empathy with them, but also bad, because it tempts you to give them too many breaks. The only real way to see what's too much is to push your party a little too far. Otherwise you won't know what they're capable of.


RE: spellcasters not using up spells, you better hope that they don't. Otherwise the party will get rocked when you surprise them at midnight.

 

[AuraSeer]

Are players just supposed to pitch a tent wherever they are?

Not necessarily, but you can do that if you have to. That's why there are spells like rope trick, secure shelter, and magnificent mansion.

And at high levels, it seems like spellcasters could never use up all their spells after just four encounters.

The casters may have plenty of spells left, they just won't be very useful ones. You tend to expend your most powerful stuff first, which means your arsenal gets progressively weaker as the day goes on.

For a Wiz11 for instance, the first encounter sees him chucking 6th-level spells. But he has very few of those available, so he's quickly reduced to his 5th-level slots. Then 4th. By the end of the day he may have a dozen spells still prepared, but if they're all first and second level, they won't do much good against his CR 6 opposition.

Note that this also applies to noncasters, to a lesser extent. A fighter never runs out of attacks, but his limited resources are his hit points and magic items.

 

[brehobit]

I've very much of the opinion that having a wide variance in the number of encounters/day can help make the game more interesting. Going after the arch-baddy when he is on the road? You might only face one encounter. Rushing through the dangerous forest to get a person to a city in time to stop a war? Needing to get an item from a dungeon quickly? The PCs won't be able to rest between encounters and the number could be quite large.

This variety can make a more "wargamey" D&D game more interesting. Certain classes do better with one encounter per day (psion for example), while others do better with lots (warlock would be the extreme there). It helps to make everyone shine at different times. And, as others noted, the variety can be more realistic.

 

[S'mon]

In my own games, PCs in the wilderness very rarely have more than one combat encounter/day; unless they're invading the goblin forest or similar, in which case it's run like a dungeon. When dungeon-crawling, 3-4 combat encounters before resting is about average, although if they get 'on a roll' it can sometimes be a lot more. High level groups' encounters/day varies more - they often have trivial encounters that don't use up appreciable resources, but when they do face a tough fight it can take a long time to run, an hour or more.

 

[Plane Sailing]

In my own games, PCs in the wilderness very rarely have more than one combat encounter/day; unless they're invading the goblin forest or similar, in which case it's run like a dungeon.

I'd add a note that one combat encounter per day greatly boosts the relative power of casting classes vis a vis other classes. If they have even an inkling that they can blow most of their magic power and don't need to hoard it for future use, they will greatly outshine the other PCs. 3e was pretty much balanced for "dungeon" adventuring (for better or worse), which means several encounters per day (or period between significant rests).

The wizards and clerics won't thank you if they can't blow their wad of spells with optimum effectiveness at all times, but your noncasters will thank you...

Cheers

 

[Crothian]

I go with a little higher then 4 as the DMG suggests. The fewere encounters you have the more you allow the spellcasters to shine as they can blow all their spells in a few short encounters. But the more encounters you have it favors the fighters and rogues since their abilities are good all through the day. Spellcasters are the most powerful characters in the game so I like to have mo0re encounters so that it strains their resources more.

 

[argo]

I really appreciate the different perspectives. I've played the SWRPG a lot and resting has never been a problem; then again, we're usually on a starship heading somewhere new after every 3-5 encounters.

And looking back on that now with a DM's perspectave to you think that maybe, just maybe, your GM had it planned that way? That possibly the SWRPG provides hyperspace travel, which takes days-to-weeks, as a convient excuse for downtime?

Four encounters per day is a nice number. Its small enough that you can get through them quickly but big enough that you can throw different things at your players to keep them on their toes. It also has the advantage that after the second or third encounter your PC's have a chance to re-evaluate the situation. If you mis-calculated the toughness of the encounter or the dice rolls went badly for them they have a chance to retreat that they don't get if you throw 2 encounters of average level + 2 at them. Likewise if they blew through your earlier encounters too easily you have the chance to throw someting extra in there just before the "boss" encounter (or possibly just add a few waves of carbon-copy reinforcements onto the end of encounter 3 to make it drag out a little longer). With experience you can start experimenting with other tricks.

Good luck.

 

[Khristos]

I do 0-5 based on an equal CR to the party (so say a group of 3rd lvl people facing 4 encounters would face 3 encounters if one was a CR: 4 etc) I actually build tables based on this I dont increase encounters if the encounter is weak and if a final encounter is higher I tend to let it ride. It would sort of like this

Roll a d6-1 for number of encounters... If party was say 4th lvl I would then roll the following

1= CR 2 (1 encounter) 2= CR 3 (1 encounter) 3-4= CR 4 (1 encounter) 5= CR 5 (2 encounters) 6= CR 6 (3 encounters)

As an extra measure I also have 0-3 events.... These reflect just giving a bit of flavor text about an area people are passing by.... this has the added effect of teaching people not to autocast and prepare for battle just because I am talking.

Really there is quite a bit I do for overland travel (my homebrew has 2 moons which have different cycles which affects the amount of light after sundown) There is weather to consider which I tend to have altering tables based on region, time of year, and previous weather effects. I have a chart for such weather to be intermittant and when it starts during the day and how long it lasts (when I dont just decide I want a blizzard as a "hazard" encounter or whatever) When I am not partial to a particular type of weather I usually have my computer provide me with 28 days of weather, temp, wind direction and speed. I then have this handy during the session (so it appears seemless for the players) along with several predone encounters and events (the sound of creaking trees and a tree falling in the forest seems more ominous when there is a dense fog with an unnatural chill... and tends to prompt the players into more paranoid actions while the same events during a warm sunny day evokes less fear)

 

[S'mon]

I'd add a note that one combat encounter per day greatly boosts the relative power of casting classes vis a vis other classes. If they have even an inkling that they can blow most of their magic power and don't need to hoard it for future use, they will greatly outshine the other PCs. 3e was pretty much balanced for "dungeon" adventuring (for better or worse), which means several encounters per day (or period between significant rests).

The wizards and clerics won't thank you if they can't blow their wad of spells with optimum effectiveness at all times, but your noncasters will thank you...

Cheers

I find that spellcasters only dominate if they have time to precast before the 1 encounter that day; if the party is ambushed itself the spellcasters don't have time to buff & are about as effective as the party fighters. I do somewhat tone down the spellcasting classes IMC by eg making Clerics spontaneous casters with a limited spell list, and nerfing a few spells (though others get boosted, and I broaden Wiz/Sorc's spell list).

 

[S'mon]

The main reason not to have 4 fights/day during travel is versimilitude, it just strains my sense of disbelief too much if a party on a well-travelled road is having to constantly fight.