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<blockquote data-quote="Nareau" data-source="post: 3579106" data-attributes="member: 969">This is something I deal with in my game every week.&nbsp; Lemme tell ya--if you think it's hard to manage at 10th, you're in for some headaches at 18th level!&nbsp; <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile&nbsp; &nbsp; :)"&nbsp; data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />First off, it's a good sign that you're talking about this issue with your players.&nbsp; It shows you're already a good DM.It's been my experience that D&amp;D doesn't scale very well.&nbsp; Part of the problem (as I see it) is that after 10th level, the bonuses totally eclipse the dice.&nbsp; Another issue lies in the fact that two 15th level characters can have a difference of 20 or more in their AC/to hit bonuses.&nbsp; That makes it very difficult to determine how hard an encounter should be.&nbsp; The same creature can be a lethal threat to one PC, and a minor inconvenience to another.Here's some solid bits of advice:Know your PCs numbers.&nbsp; Each time my group levels up, I inspect their character sheet.&nbsp; Not only do I usually find one or two minor errors, but I also get a good sense of how I should be setting up encounters.&nbsp; If I know the PCs have an AC between 25 and 35 normally, and up to 55 when buffed...well, that tells me I need to throw creatures with at least a +20 or +40 to hit at them.I'll echo the advice that you be willing to &quot;cheat&quot;.If a weak monster has a cool ability with a low save DC, try throwing a bunch of 'em at the party.&nbsp; But instead of making each PC make 5 or 10 saves, have them make a single save, with a +2 to the DC to each additional monster.&nbsp; So the Despair power of 6 mummies would be 17 (base) +10 (that's +2 for each beyond the first) = 27.&nbsp; That's a pretty good save DC number for an 18th level party, as the cleric will probably make it with no problem, and the fighter/rogue will likely fail.If you're not already good with statistics, you might want to brush up a little.&nbsp; It helps a lot to be able to say, &quot;This thing should hit 25% of the time, and should do 35 points of damage on average&quot;.&nbsp; It takes a long time, but I think one sign of being a great DM is that you're very rarely surprised at how an encounter turns out.Good luck!&nbsp; If it gets to be too much, I might recommend you bring your game to a close before it hits really high levels.&nbsp; I know I sometimes wish I didn't have to prep for my high-level game...Nareau</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Nareau, post: 3579106, member: 969"] This is something I deal with in my game every week. Lemme tell ya--if you think it's hard to manage at 10th, you're in for some headaches at 18th level! :) First off, it's a good sign that you're talking about this issue with your players. It shows you're already a good DM. It's been my experience that D&D doesn't scale very well. Part of the problem (as I see it) is that after 10th level, the bonuses totally eclipse the dice. Another issue lies in the fact that two 15th level characters can have a difference of 20 or more in their AC/to hit bonuses. That makes it very difficult to determine how hard an encounter should be. The same creature can be a lethal threat to one PC, and a minor inconvenience to another. Here's some solid bits of advice: Know your PCs numbers. Each time my group levels up, I inspect their character sheet. Not only do I usually find one or two minor errors, but I also get a good sense of how I should be setting up encounters. If I know the PCs have an AC between 25 and 35 normally, and up to 55 when buffed...well, that tells me I need to throw creatures with at least a +20 or +40 to hit at them. I'll echo the advice that you be willing to "cheat". If a weak monster has a cool ability with a low save DC, try throwing a bunch of 'em at the party. But instead of making each PC make 5 or 10 saves, have them make a single save, with a +2 to the DC to each additional monster. So the Despair power of 6 mummies would be 17 (base) +10 (that's +2 for each beyond the first) = 27. That's a pretty good save DC number for an 18th level party, as the cleric will probably make it with no problem, and the fighter/rogue will likely fail. If you're not already good with statistics, you might want to brush up a little. It helps a lot to be able to say, "This thing should hit 25% of the time, and should do 35 points of damage on average". It takes a long time, but I think one sign of being a great DM is that you're very rarely surprised at how an encounter turns out. Good luck! If it gets to be too much, I might recommend you bring your game to a close before it hits really high levels. I know I sometimes wish I didn't have to prep for my high-level game... Nareau [/QUOTE]

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