D&D 3E/3.5 Statistical Analysis of 3.5 Power-Attack: UNDERpowered?

[Shard O'Glase]

Facing an AC 18 opponent at 12th level?

I personally think facing an AC18 opponent at 12th level is a lot less wierd than the assumed 1 or 2 CR 12+ opponents left and right at 12th level.

8 CR 9 monsters would be a good challenge to a level 12 group, and I think I'd find a decent number of AC 18 or less opponents in the CR9 range.

Do the CR7-9 monsters just suddenly disapear off the face of the earth once you hit level 12. I don't think so and I certainly am not going to limit my encoutners to the small range of CR12-14 monsters in the game when I can throw a group of lower level CR monsters at the party and they'd still face an appropriate challenge.

 

[Spatula]

This answer is not authoritative, and is based on my reasoning, not a reading of the 3.5 book. That said, I bet I'm right:

That's the most reasonable way to handle it, but I am wondering how the rules address it, or if they even bother.