Players dissatisfied with level of danger in 4e

[catsclaw227]

Short rests... it's short rests...

I did look this up and it does say "rest" not short or extended. In our game, we assumed the RAI meant extended rest, so that's how we've been playing.

Somewhere I thought I read that they intended to say extended rest, but I can't find it anywhere....

 

[ArcaneSpringboard]

Another issue is that the threat against players drops dramatically in Paragon. I've read that it recovers somewhat in Epic, but I'm not sure why.

 

[Oldtimer]

I did look this up and it does say "rest" not short or extended. In our game, we assumed the RAI meant extended rest, so that's how we've been playing.

Somewhere I thought I read that they intended to say extended rest, but I can't find it anywhere....

Fair enough, but RAW it's a rest, i.e. a short or extended rest. Which in effect means a short rest. I haven't seem anything written about any other intentions.

 

[ArcaneSpringboard]

I did look this up and it does say "rest" not short or extended. In our game, we assumed the RAI meant extended rest, so that's how we've been playing.

Somewhere I thought I read that they intended to say extended rest, but I can't find it anywhere....

I think you're going through some really intense contortions to say that 'rest' doesn't mean 'extended rest' or 'short rest'.

If they'd intended it to be Extended rest, it should have been in the errata.

 

[Pseudonym]

We prefer to think of it as "as interesting as possible."

The really lethal ones combined enemies and terrain or traps.

The golems and the acid pit,
The wererats and the acid cloud trap,
The duergar and the exploding cave pillars,
The black pudding/sticky slime floor combo

Straight up fights in featureless areas are far easier than a challenging fight coupled with hindered movement or features that channel us in to tight groupings.

 

[Gort]

I don't get what's so hard about "increase the difficulty of the encounters slowly until you reach a danger point that satisfies you". Haven't we been doing this for three editions already? Being imaginative or clever about your encounters is great, but it really just comes down to: "Encounters too easy? Make them harder."

 

[ExploderWizard]

I don't get what's so hard about "increase the difficulty of the encounters slowly until you reach a danger point that satisfies you". Haven't we been doing this for three editions already? Being imaginative or clever about your encounters is great, but it really just comes down to: "Encounters too easy? Make them harder."

It may seem obvious but balance paralysis grips some people who actually think that a game designer knows more about whats right for thier gaming group than they do.

 

[Storminator]

The really lethal ones combined enemies and terrain or traps.

The golems and the acid pit,
The wererats and the acid cloud trap,
The duergar and the exploding cave pillars,
The black pudding/sticky slime floor combo

Straight up fights in featureless areas are far easier than a challenging fight coupled with hindered movement or features that channel us in to tight groupings.

The rampaging Ent that knocked us thru the walls into the immobilizing vines...

Or my favorite, the Soldier/Brute giant snakes between the water and the attacking poison vines. Yeah Soldier/Brutes - when the DM goes "hey, those were too tough!" you're in for a hard fight.

PS

 

[ArcaneSpringboard]

I don't get what's so hard about "increase the difficulty of the encounters slowly until you reach a danger point that satisfies you". Haven't we been doing this for three editions already? Being imaginative or clever about your encounters is great, but it really just comes down to: "Encounters too easy? Make them harder."

The issue isn't just making them harder. The issue is making them harder without having a substantial increase in combat length. You can easily throw more monsters at the party, or making them all higher level, but that also is going to substantially increase the amount of time needed to resolve the battle.

 

[S'mon]

The issue isn't just making them harder. The issue is making them harder without having a substantial increase in combat length. You can easily throw more monsters at the party, or making them all higher level, but that also is going to substantially increase the amount of time needed to resolve the battle.

I find in 4e you can use lots of minions and same-level monsters to increase lethality without much increase in combat length. Conversely using higher level monsters increases combat length and the feeling of grind.