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Message: <blockquote data-quote="fanboy2000" data-source="post: 4906713" data-attributes="member: 19998">I count 5 PCs:<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">"Dave," a new players who's a halfling ranger</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">"Sarah,"a player who couldn't make it, who's an Eladrin Warlord</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Another new player</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">"Bob," the party Rogue, who interprets this as being the party thief who likes to pick pocket peasants.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">And "Newt," who's a Goliath Warden</li> </ol>Sarah's Eladrin Warlord (great combo!) was played by "Another New Player." So 4 players were present, and there were 5 PCs. 1 solo = 5 monsters of the same level. According to the DMG 1, a hard encounter is between level n + 2 and level n + 4. So, the dragon by itself is hard, but doable.Generally speaking, I don't spend the XP budget. I eyeball it based on the number of PCs. Standard Monsters = 1, Elites = 2, Solos = 5, and minions = 1/4. Easy encounters are made with monsters of either a lower level than the party, or fewer monsters than PCs. 1 dragon + 1 elite = 7 monsters! That's what made the combat so hard the first time.If Jelia was level 7, it's possible that the combat was winnable, but not without significant resource depletion. Winning that kind of combat requires excellent teamwork and a party that has most of it's resources. (i.e. dalies and healing surges)If Jellia was level 9, like the dragon, the action points each foe spends in the first two round will likely drop a PC below bloodied with no significant drop in the monster's resources. Things rapidly go downhill from there and the best way to handle combat is to start slapping status conditions on the bad guys in hopes of forcing them to adopt a sub-par strategy. One or more PCs will die in such a situation, reducing overall damage output. The only kind of party that can take this kind of punishment is one of multiple strikers and defenders. (Strikers for damage output, defenders for damage soaking.)</blockquote>

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