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<blockquote data-quote="Lord Zardoz" data-source="post: 5114177" data-attributes="member: 704">Using enemies in waves is something I have already started doing with 4th Edition.&nbsp; It allows you to avoid the problems of tracking too many combatants on your turn, and it allows you to sustain pressure on your players.&nbsp; It will make the fight feel longer, but the payoff in terms of sustained pressure on the players, and to the perception of risk, is great.Regarding advice to use Level X+3 encounters on a Level X party, I do have a few things I should point out.&nbsp; The WotC printed adventures really like using monsters of a higher level then the players.&nbsp; The increase in AC and attack bonus is like trying to ride a bicycle up a hill.&nbsp; For a small hill / small encounter, it works fine.&nbsp; But the longer the encounter goes, the harder it gets.&nbsp; I have had a Level X encounter against Level X players using Level X+3 monsters result in having the players miss very often while nearly always being hit.&nbsp; This will turn an encounter bad pretty fast if the encounter is scaled as being difficult for the players according to the encounter builder.When you break an encounter up into waves, you want to be using monsters as close to the PC's level as possible.&nbsp; Higher level monsters will get too lethal later in the fight.&nbsp; Lower level monsters wont create enough pressure on the players unless you are hitting them en masse.END COMMUNICATION</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Lord Zardoz, post: 5114177, member: 704"] Using enemies in waves is something I have already started doing with 4th Edition. It allows you to avoid the problems of tracking too many combatants on your turn, and it allows you to sustain pressure on your players. It will make the fight feel longer, but the payoff in terms of sustained pressure on the players, and to the perception of risk, is great. Regarding advice to use Level X+3 encounters on a Level X party, I do have a few things I should point out. The WotC printed adventures really like using monsters of a higher level then the players. The increase in AC and attack bonus is like trying to ride a bicycle up a hill. For a small hill / small encounter, it works fine. But the longer the encounter goes, the harder it gets. I have had a Level X encounter against Level X players using Level X+3 monsters result in having the players miss very often while nearly always being hit. This will turn an encounter bad pretty fast if the encounter is scaled as being difficult for the players according to the encounter builder. When you break an encounter up into waves, you want to be using monsters as close to the PC's level as possible. Higher level monsters will get too lethal later in the fight. Lower level monsters wont create enough pressure on the players unless you are hitting them en masse. END COMMUNICATION [/QUOTE]

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