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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Iron Sky" data-source="post: 4947347" data-attributes="member: 60965">I was just reading Stalker0's great <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/254630-stalker0s-guide-anti-grind-4.html#post4874106" target="_blank">thread</a> where S'mon wrote up some quick summaries of his encounters so far and how they went and I thought it would be a cool idea to have a thread with a stockpile of such encounters.Could be useful to look through to see what worked for people and what didn't.Here's a few examples of what I was thinking of from the game I'm running currently.  I put the template I used at the bottom of the thread.Scenario: PC Round-up[sblock]XP Encounter Difficulty: Level 7(Party was level 3)Brief summary: The local watch are rounding up the PCs at the behest PC-hostile neighbor empire/kingdom that just took over the village the PCs have entered.Area setup: The town square of a village, with a big open area with fountains, a park, etc and many narrow streets and alleys running out of it.Enemies:1 batch of 6 Level 1 minions (Human Militia)4 batches of 1d4 Level 1 minions. (Human Militia)4 Level 1 Artillery (Custom Rifleman)2 Level 1 Soldiers (Custom Spearmen)2 Level 2 Skirmishers (Custom Swordsmen)Enemy setup: The PCs are surrounded and accosted by the first 6 local watch.  If (when) they resist, the militia call for help. Each of the next 4 turns, a new batch of militia trickles in from various alleys around the square.  On turn 6, a group of actual soldiers from the nearby hostile kingdom arrive at opposite sides of the town square in two squads(2 Artillery, 1 Soldier, 1 Skirmisher per group).How it went:The PCs slaughtered the uncoordinated militia as they trickled in, making the enemy soldiers seem far more fearsome, especially when the enemy Artillery focused fire and dropped a player on the first turn they arrived.  The PCs had to split up against the enemy squads, making for interesting tactics and positioning.Actual Difficulty: Easier then XP prediction.  The squads of troops were tough, but the minions were a push-over.How well did it work?: I'd give it a 7.  The PCs got to kick butt, the enemy soldiers came off as tough and coordinated after the militia, and the players pulled through after a tough fight.  It was a pretty good fight for the first of my campaign(PCs started at level 3).[/sblock]Scenario: The Secret Gate[sblock]XP Encounter Difficulty: Level 11(Party was level 7)  Brief summary: The Dwarves are under siege and a group of Changeling infiltrators have discovered an ancient forgotten gate that will let the enemy hordes into the Dwarven mountain citadel.  The PCs are sent by the Dwarven Lords to stop the enemy from opening the gates or at least hold them until a Dwarven Lord can bring his personal guard to the gate. Area setup: A large open cavern area with a 12 square wide gate at the north end.  Along each side of the cavern are series of 3 battlement-topped towers connected by ramps.  Towers are 20', 30', and 40' feet tall and at the top of the 40' tall towers are the gate controls.  The ramps leading down from the 20' towers are surrounded by 10' tall walls, each with a reinforced wooden door.  The doors have about 50 hp (enough to withstand 2-3 rounds of damage) or a moderate-to-hard Strength break DC.It takes two turns of both gate controls being operated before the gates start to slide open (into the walls), then they widen 1 square per turn, allowing enemy minions to start pouring in.  The gates can be closed 1 square per turn via access to either set of controls(only need access to one side to close the gates, both to open them). Enemies:4 Level 8 Elite Lurkers (Custom Changelings)Infinite Level 8 Minions(Hobgoblin Warriors, outside the gates) Allies:12 Level 5 Minions (Custom Dwarves)Dwarf Lord + Personal Guard(Plot, arrive if the gates open too far and start slowly pushing the enemy army back if the PCs can close the gates) Enemy setup: One Lurker is at the top of each of the 40' towers at the controls.  One Lurker at the top of each of the 20' towers.  The ones on the 20' towers try to stall the PCs however they can while the others try to open the gates.  How it went: The PCs split up and battered down the side doors with the help of their minion guard allies.  The barbarian went right and got in a heated 1v1 duel with a Lurker, while the Sorcerer blasted the one at the controls on the right. The other PCs charged the two Lurkers on the left, while the dwarven minion allies rushed to hold the hobgoblins that started pouring in through the slowly opening gates. All the PCs on the left died (partially due to some Dailies used too late, partially due to overly-powerful custom monsters, and partially to some great DM rolling for the monsters)  The PC barbarian reached the gate controls on the right and closed the gates - while battling a stream of minions that threw themselves at his tower - as the Dwarven Lord and his guard killed off the hobgoblin horde that had made it inside.The two infiltrators on the left managed to jump off the tower and slip outside before the gates closed.  Actual Difficulty: Harder than XP prediction.  With more balanced lurkers than the ones I used, probably about right.  Before the session I planned 2 solos, but decided I wanted 4 elites instead.  Changed them from solo to elite right before the session without also balancing their powers...  How well did it work? I'd give it an 8.  The fight and setup was great, tense, and cinematic, but 4/5 dead players wasn't as cool.  If less players had died, probably a 10/10 - especially since the PCs discovered the existence of the ancient, forgotten gate on their own after a 3-day investigation trying to track down the infiltrators(skill challenge).[/sblock]TemplateScenario: (remove spaces around sblocks below) [ sblock ]XP Encounter Difficulty: Level +/- XBrief summary: Area setup: Enemies:X Level+/-Y RoleEnemy setup: How it went: Actual Difficulty: How well did it work(on a scale of 1-10):[ /sblock ]I'll probably post more later.  I'd love to see other people's encounters, good and bad - even if you don't want to use my template. Can never have too many good encounter ideas!</blockquote>

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