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<blockquote data-quote="timbannock" data-source="post: 4580208" data-attributes="member: 17913">Like said, it depends on the situation.&nbsp; Some monsters should be sneaky bastards.&nbsp; Some should be dumb and charge head on even if that's not the best idea.I've found in 4E that you need to be aware of terrain and other stuff way more, and keep that in mind when &quot;balancing&quot; an encounter: if the terrain advantage is heavily stacked against the PCs, don't make the enemy equal to Party Level +3 or more.&nbsp; It'll just be mean.&nbsp; In 3.X, I allow any books, so I often find the PCs are way tougher than my badguys.&nbsp; In that case, I'm much more apt to play dirty, but I still keep the encounters within the guidelines of 3.X encounter building.&nbsp; Playing dirty gives me the edge.Occasionally, I throw an unbeatable force out there, but I specifically call attention to that fact and make it as clear as possible without actually saying it in those words...and I make sure it's not there as a fight encounter (at least not in theory).&nbsp; If the Players are too dumb to realize it, I give them a Sense Motive check using the rules in Complete Scoundrel to &quot;size up&quot; their foe.&nbsp; If they STILL try to fight it, then you really can't hold me accountable for that, can you?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="timbannock, post: 4580208, member: 17913"] Like said, it depends on the situation. Some monsters should be sneaky bastards. Some should be dumb and charge head on even if that's not the best idea. I've found in 4E that you need to be aware of terrain and other stuff way more, and keep that in mind when "balancing" an encounter: if the terrain advantage is heavily stacked against the PCs, don't make the enemy equal to Party Level +3 or more. It'll just be mean. In 3.X, I allow any books, so I often find the PCs are way tougher than my badguys. In that case, I'm much more apt to play dirty, but I still keep the encounters within the guidelines of 3.X encounter building. Playing dirty gives me the edge. Occasionally, I throw an unbeatable force out there, but I specifically call attention to that fact and make it as clear as possible without actually saying it in those words...and I make sure it's not there as a fight encounter (at least not in theory). If the Players are too dumb to realize it, I give them a Sense Motive check using the rules in Complete Scoundrel to "size up" their foe. If they STILL try to fight it, then you really can't hold me accountable for that, can you? [/QUOTE]

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