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<blockquote data-quote="Skallgrim" data-source="post: 4759389" data-attributes="member: 79271">Really good article.&nbsp; I'd like to offer a few ideas which are compatible with yours, but rather different in emphasis.The grind seems to be widely defined as the point in combat where the party has effectively “won”, but have not yet beaten the monsters.One way of &quot;avoiding the grind&quot; is not to avoid this point, but to reveal, at this point, that the party is WRONG.&nbsp; What the party had previously thought to be &quot;the grind&quot; is actually the &quot;intermission&quot;.This can be accomplished in several ways.&nbsp; One of the easiest is the &quot;wave&quot;.&nbsp; Simply introduce more opposition at this point.&nbsp; Of course, it is best if this opposition makes sense (enemy reserves, monsters attracted to the commotion).&nbsp; It is also important to factor these enemies into the overall encounter level.&nbsp; Don't add so many monsters that the encounter becomes impossibly hard for the party.&nbsp; Two good options (at least) exist here.&nbsp; You can add Minions, which do not add substantial challenge or XP to the encounter, but can certainly spice up what had seemed to be a boring grind.&nbsp; This is a very good option for enemy reserves and the like.&nbsp; In addition, minions are a good opposition for parties which have already spend many of their encounter or daily powers, and are reduced to basic attacks and at-will powers.&nbsp; The other option is the &quot;Godzilla&quot; theme.&nbsp; Add a powerful monster which attacks the party and the opposition indiscriminately.&nbsp; This can allow you to remove pesky &quot;straggler&quot; monsters more quickly (and also prevent the party from interrogating them) and lets you show off the damage potential of the elite (or solo) without wiping a party member.&nbsp; This is a better option when the party has husbanded their resources, and still has a substantial amount of daily and encounter powers to work with.&nbsp; Envision, if you will, a battle in a dank, subterranean cavern. The party has defeated the troglodytes, and is engaged in &quot;cleaning up&quot; the last few of the opposition.&nbsp; Suddenly, a giant lizard (cave drake, purple worm, whatever) crashes through a cavern wall, and devours a trodlodyte whole, pushing its bulk through the opening.Another option, distinct from the &quot;wave&quot; in many ways, is the &quot;power-up&quot;.&nbsp; Perhaps the last bandit is succumbing to Lycanthropy, and &quot;wolfs out&quot; under pressure.&nbsp; Perhaps the cultist has bound a demon into his own body.&nbsp; Perhaps the ritual the adventurers interrupted simply needed ANY sacrifices, and the slain enemies are just as good as the rescued hostages.&nbsp; This is similar to the &quot;Godzilla&quot; idea, but ideally, it should be possible for the adventurers to either avert the threat, or, at least, have some foreshadowing of the threat, so that they can see it coming and possibly postion themselves for it, or reserve some powers to deal with it.&nbsp; Ideally, this should basically be a much more challenging encounter than it originally appeared to the adventurers, but should still be more of a &quot;culmination&quot; encounter than the suprise value of a Godzilla encounter.&nbsp; I can just hear the party saying &quot;Hey, this fight against the Evil High Priest is going pretty well.....Aaaaaaaaah!&quot;.I realize this is much less intelligently written, and much less elegantly structured than your very nice article, but I do think that &quot;re-imagining&quot; the grind can also be a valid tactic too.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Skallgrim, post: 4759389, member: 79271"] Really good article. I'd like to offer a few ideas which are compatible with yours, but rather different in emphasis. The grind seems to be widely defined as the point in combat where the party has effectively “won”, but have not yet beaten the monsters. One way of "avoiding the grind" is not to avoid this point, but to reveal, at this point, that the party is WRONG. What the party had previously thought to be "the grind" is actually the "intermission". This can be accomplished in several ways. One of the easiest is the "wave". Simply introduce more opposition at this point. Of course, it is best if this opposition makes sense (enemy reserves, monsters attracted to the commotion). It is also important to factor these enemies into the overall encounter level. Don't add so many monsters that the encounter becomes impossibly hard for the party. Two good options (at least) exist here. You can add Minions, which do not add substantial challenge or XP to the encounter, but can certainly spice up what had seemed to be a boring grind. This is a very good option for enemy reserves and the like. In addition, minions are a good opposition for parties which have already spend many of their encounter or daily powers, and are reduced to basic attacks and at-will powers. The other option is the "Godzilla" theme. Add a powerful monster which attacks the party and the opposition indiscriminately. This can allow you to remove pesky "straggler" monsters more quickly (and also prevent the party from interrogating them) and lets you show off the damage potential of the elite (or solo) without wiping a party member. This is a better option when the party has husbanded their resources, and still has a substantial amount of daily and encounter powers to work with. Envision, if you will, a battle in a dank, subterranean cavern. The party has defeated the troglodytes, and is engaged in "cleaning up" the last few of the opposition. Suddenly, a giant lizard (cave drake, purple worm, whatever) crashes through a cavern wall, and devours a trodlodyte whole, pushing its bulk through the opening. Another option, distinct from the "wave" in many ways, is the "power-up". Perhaps the last bandit is succumbing to Lycanthropy, and "wolfs out" under pressure. Perhaps the cultist has bound a demon into his own body. Perhaps the ritual the adventurers interrupted simply needed ANY sacrifices, and the slain enemies are just as good as the rescued hostages. This is similar to the "Godzilla" idea, but ideally, it should be possible for the adventurers to either avert the threat, or, at least, have some foreshadowing of the threat, so that they can see it coming and possibly postion themselves for it, or reserve some powers to deal with it. Ideally, this should basically be a much more challenging encounter than it originally appeared to the adventurers, but should still be more of a "culmination" encounter than the suprise value of a Godzilla encounter. I can just hear the party saying "Hey, this fight against the Evil High Priest is going pretty well.....Aaaaaaaaah!". I realize this is much less intelligently written, and much less elegantly structured than your very nice article, but I do think that "re-imagining" the grind can also be a valid tactic too. [/QUOTE]

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