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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 5683483" data-attributes="member: 20323">[MENTION=2067]Kamikaze Midget[/MENTION]I think it's doable without house rules, though whether or not you can pull it off in the time you would a normal 4e combat is another matter.The sticking points are healing surges, HP/attrition, and sustained daily powers.Looks like you've already reached the same conclusion about healing surges that I was going to offer. Your average 5 PC party might be able to draw on 15 surges of healing with everything they've got; but the party probably has net 35+ healing surges. So reducing the party to almost 0 surges in one encounter is impossible barring extraordinary circumstances. OTOH this also gives you a barometer of how much punishment they can take before they have no way to access surges still remaining. Hence extra opportunities to spend healing surges built into the encounter.You've also got the high HP of 4e monsters magnifying as you increase the number of monsters in the encounter. Easily leading to grindy fights. Somewhere a blogger posted about "accelerants" in 4e combat, and while it's a souless term, it captures the functionality of damaging terrain well - it serves to beat down the monsters faster. You could reduce monster HP instead if you don't mind house rules, but the "accelerants" do add a cool factor when the players realize that interacting with the combat environment can have big payoffs.Last thing is that, as everyone who has participated in Lair Assaults can attest, sustainable powers will sway the balance of fights, and often in ways that simply upping number of monsters won't address. Depending on your groups composition this may or may not be an issue, but I've definitely seen a flaming sphere used to devastating effect against a 3 in 1 encounter.You know...having some kind of "break/transition point" or two in te midst of fighting could solve all these issues in one fell swoop. At a narratively opportune moment - say the next wave of beasties - all ongoing effects end (unless it's a unique hazard the DM rules otherwise), including conditions on PC/monsters, wall spells and summonings, any powers which read "until the end of the encounter". I would also give each PC a choice to go on the defensive or the offensive (or other option) at this point: On the defensive they can spend a healing surge, reposition, bar a door, take hostages, and so forth. On the defensive they could unlock a high-damage terrain power, maybe recharge an encounter attack power, sneak into flanking, head monsters off at the pass, set a trap, and so forth. It would be last anywhere from a round to a minute, but not a full round.</blockquote>

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