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<blockquote data-quote="Azgulor" data-source="post: 8591244" data-attributes="member: 14291">1. That's a guideline, not a shackle.2. This is a sandbox philosophy statement more than a rules comment, but not every encounter has to be a combat encounter.For a specific example, when I first created my sandbox campaign area, I did the traditional sprinkling of settlements, ruins, monster lairs, etc.&nbsp; One such lair was for a manticore.&nbsp; The first time the PCs wandered into manticore territory, instead of throwing a Level 6 monster at a Level 1 party, they discovered two recent kills.&nbsp; A few recall knowledge checks later, they strongly suspected they were seeing the aftermath of a manticore attack.&nbsp; Wilderness travel got a lot more tense after that.&nbsp; --So, despite rolling a manticore encounter (they weren't in the lair hex but in hunting ground hex), I used it to foreshadow, instead.The second time they passed through that territory a manticore encounter manifested again.&nbsp; They were Level 2 and had several NPC allies (due to the current quest) with them.&nbsp; They &quot;encountered&quot; the manticore at a far distance.&nbsp; The manticore didn't engage due to the size of the party.&nbsp; The party didn't engage because a) they didn't need to, b) they didn't want to fight an aerial opponent, and c) they were Level 2 (meta-gaming reason).&nbsp; So, I presented the option of a combat encounter and left it to the players to decide.The third time they passed through they were now Level 4.&nbsp; Two PCs each with a Level 1 henchman.&nbsp; The manticore was encountered in the air at a closer range.&nbsp; The players were done with cat-and-mouse and kicked off the encounter.&nbsp; They won, but it was a narrow thing while the manticore was able to strafe/hit-and-run from the air.&nbsp; Once they scored some persistent bleed, the tide started turning their way.&nbsp; One PC almost died when the manticore scooped the halfling fighter off the ground and was flying away and then the manticore bled out 30' from the ground...&nbsp; The players still talk about that fight.Now very little of that story is PF2-specific.&nbsp; But while PF2 provides guidance for &quot;balanced&quot; play, it's only a restriction if you make it one.&nbsp; It's not a requirement and it's certainly not a limitation of the system.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Azgulor, post: 8591244, member: 14291"] 1. That's a guideline, not a shackle. 2. This is a sandbox philosophy statement more than a rules comment, but not every encounter has to be a combat encounter. For a specific example, when I first created my sandbox campaign area, I did the traditional sprinkling of settlements, ruins, monster lairs, etc. One such lair was for a manticore. The first time the PCs wandered into manticore territory, instead of throwing a Level 6 monster at a Level 1 party, they discovered two recent kills. A few recall knowledge checks later, they strongly suspected they were seeing the aftermath of a manticore attack. Wilderness travel got a lot more tense after that. --So, despite rolling a manticore encounter (they weren't in the lair hex but in hunting ground hex), I used it to foreshadow, instead. The second time they passed through that territory a manticore encounter manifested again. They were Level 2 and had several NPC allies (due to the current quest) with them. They "encountered" the manticore at a far distance. The manticore didn't engage due to the size of the party. The party didn't engage because a) they didn't need to, b) they didn't want to fight an aerial opponent, and c) they were Level 2 (meta-gaming reason). So, I presented the option of a combat encounter and left it to the players to decide. The third time they passed through they were now Level 4. Two PCs each with a Level 1 henchman. The manticore was encountered in the air at a closer range. The players were done with cat-and-mouse and kicked off the encounter. They won, but it was a narrow thing while the manticore was able to strafe/hit-and-run from the air. Once they scored some persistent bleed, the tide started turning their way. One PC almost died when the manticore scooped the halfling fighter off the ground and was flying away and then the manticore bled out 30' from the ground... The players still talk about that fight. Now very little of that story is PF2-specific. But while PF2 provides guidance for "balanced" play, it's only a restriction if you make it one. It's not a requirement and it's certainly not a limitation of the system. [/QUOTE]

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