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<blockquote data-quote="MiraMels" data-source="post: 7003798" data-attributes="member: 6855497">Playing the monsters like monsters?A big, powerful monster like, say, an earth elemental won't distinguish between a armored human with a sword and a human wearing just clothes.&nbsp; It won't notice a few extra sword swipes.&nbsp; If it's coming at the players with hostile intent, its coming at the players as a group.&nbsp; It doesn't want to wear them down one by one like a tactically-minded group of humanoids used to fighting threats that are bigger or more numerous (sometimes both at once!) than themselves.&nbsp; It's a big thing and it wants these little things gone. If the earth elemental wants to just drive them off, maybe hitting them all once will make them go away.&nbsp; It's easier for the puny humans go away if they are all wounded, but all walking.&nbsp; Feel free to have to have the monster switch up tactics and start focusing down a character after they have earned the monster's attention.&nbsp; Baddies get enough hit points compared to the party in 5th that they can afford to play less-than-perfectly in the opening stages of the fight. On the mechanical side, I think damage is more meaningful when it gets spread out.&nbsp; I'm not playing to win, I'm playing to challenge.&nbsp; You might consider those to be the same thing, but I disagree.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="MiraMels, post: 7003798, member: 6855497"] Playing the monsters like monsters? A big, powerful monster like, say, an earth elemental won't distinguish between a armored human with a sword and a human wearing just clothes. It won't notice a few extra sword swipes. If it's coming at the players with hostile intent, its coming at the players [I]as a group[/I]. It doesn't want to wear them down one by one like a tactically-minded group of humanoids used to fighting threats that are bigger or more numerous (sometimes both at once!) than themselves. It's a [B]big thing[/B] and it wants these little things [B]gone.[/B] If the earth elemental wants to just drive them off, maybe hitting them all once will make them go away. It's easier for the puny humans go away if they are all wounded, but all walking. Feel free to have to have the monster switch up tactics and start focusing down a character after they have [I]earned the monster's attention[/I]. Baddies get enough hit points compared to the party in 5th that they can afford to play less-than-perfectly in the opening stages of the fight. On the mechanical side, I think damage is more meaningful when it gets spread out. I'm not playing to [I]win[/I], I'm playing to [I]challenge[/I]. You might consider those to be the same thing, but I disagree. [/QUOTE]

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