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<blockquote data-quote="Mustrum_Ridcully" data-source="post: 4444670" data-attributes="member: 710">Well, the encounter design guidelines contain of more then just the XP values in 4E. They also include guidelines on monster groupings. Holy Bovine just didn't use these groups, and got a suboptimal result. (Without any attack on Holy Bovine - there were obviously good reasons for him trying this encounter setup, and DMs will always experiment with rules and figure out what works and what doesn't).Basically, since he used only one part of the rules, he got the flaws of 1-size-fits-all rules. If you do mix the roles of monsters, you will usually get better results. (Of course, even here, this can never be guaranteed. Even a &quot;2-dimensional&quot; system of guidelines doesn't encompass the full complexity of monster interaction.)My experience so far suggests that mixing roles is important to make an encounter interesting.Maybe that's the fundamental flaw of Solo encounters - if you don't mix, you're losing out something. Even if it isn't related to power or balance, it can be to interestingness. Hence the suggestion of Mike Mearls to use a varied terrain and add further options in combat are cruical - what you can't get from monsters with roles, you might get from terrain, hazards and stunts.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mustrum_Ridcully, post: 4444670, member: 710"] Well, the encounter design guidelines contain of more then just the XP values in 4E. They also include guidelines on monster groupings. [I]Holy Bovine[/I] just didn't use these groups, and got a suboptimal result. (Without any attack on Holy Bovine - there were obviously good reasons for him trying this encounter setup, and DMs will always experiment with rules and figure out what works and what doesn't). Basically, since he used only one part of the rules, he got the flaws of 1-size-fits-all rules. If you do mix the roles of monsters, you will usually get better results. (Of course, even here, this can never be guaranteed. Even a "2-dimensional" system of guidelines doesn't encompass the full complexity of monster interaction.) My experience so far suggests that mixing roles is important to make an encounter interesting. Maybe that's the fundamental flaw of Solo encounters - if you don't mix, you're losing out something. Even if it isn't related to power or balance, it can be to interestingness. Hence the suggestion of Mike Mearls to use a varied terrain and add further options in combat are cruical - what you can't get from monsters with roles, you might get from terrain, hazards and stunts. [/QUOTE]

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