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<blockquote data-quote="moritheil" data-source="post: 2137591" data-attributes="member: 30610">Hmm . . . I would say that the best way to do this is to ask yourself in advance what the area is like.&nbsp; 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.)&nbsp; 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.&nbsp; 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.&nbsp; 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.&nbsp; 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.&nbsp; 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.&nbsp; This is good, because it provides you with empathy with them, but also bad, because it tempts you to give them too many breaks.&nbsp; The only real way to see what's too much is to push your party a little too far.&nbsp; Otherwise you won't know what they're capable of.RE: spellcasters not using up spells, you better hope that they don't.&nbsp; Otherwise the party will get rocked when you surprise them at midnight.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="moritheil, post: 2137591, member: 30610"] 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. [/QUOTE]

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