Its not that simple, and it is purely up to the DM to make it fit.
In your example:
"you stroll through a plain and get ambushed by puny goblins, you gain some levels, you stroll through that same plain again and now the goblins are hill giants"
It wouldnt be something like that, in my game at least. If you want to keep going back and picking on those "puny goblins", eventually you will stop getting XP for one thing. No challenge = No XP. Also, even stupid puny goblins have SOME brains. They are going to start recognizing an issue. They will start going out in heavier armed and larger groups. Then they will send "specialists" hunters to track the invading enemy. Eventually you might find yourself at War with a whole tribe. now you deal with not only the grunts, but the elite forces as well including spellcasters, warlords, etc. Goblins also have allies. Now you have to deal with their allied Orc tribe, or better yet hired Gnoll and Bugbear or ::ghasp:: dare I say Hill Giant mercenaries?
Its all a matter of perspective and story telling.
An example. A Powerful Swashbuckling fighter puts down another fighter in the streets because he was a "nasty meeny". A few weeks later that "nasty meeny's" older brother may decide to show up as the Fighter's bartender with a "special" drink for him.
Its all in the story. The world is controlled by the DM and the players help to paint the canvas of the story to be unfolded, but a DM should never be intimidated by a Powerful player. "Balance" is all in the DM's control.
Rules were meant to be broken. If I plan to throw a Fire Giant against my party and they suddenly start to mop the floor with him, I adapt. Either he had a lot more HD than they figured on, or he is a better fighter than they thought, or oops he is a Sorcerer too, or ... hey guess what... He has Magic Items too, one of which allowed him to call for help....
I dont like to kill PC's and I cheat in reverse, making it easier for the party when they are way outmatched, but I always make it challenging. I want PCs to feel like they barely made it out of a fight with their skin in tact, unless it is something for flavor like running into a Goblin patrol at 15th level. In which case I rarely even run the combat since it is inevitable that the party will mow them down.
Anyway, just my rambling thoughts.
In your example:
"you stroll through a plain and get ambushed by puny goblins, you gain some levels, you stroll through that same plain again and now the goblins are hill giants"
It wouldnt be something like that, in my game at least. If you want to keep going back and picking on those "puny goblins", eventually you will stop getting XP for one thing. No challenge = No XP. Also, even stupid puny goblins have SOME brains. They are going to start recognizing an issue. They will start going out in heavier armed and larger groups. Then they will send "specialists" hunters to track the invading enemy. Eventually you might find yourself at War with a whole tribe. now you deal with not only the grunts, but the elite forces as well including spellcasters, warlords, etc. Goblins also have allies. Now you have to deal with their allied Orc tribe, or better yet hired Gnoll and Bugbear or ::ghasp:: dare I say Hill Giant mercenaries?
Its all a matter of perspective and story telling.
An example. A Powerful Swashbuckling fighter puts down another fighter in the streets because he was a "nasty meeny". A few weeks later that "nasty meeny's" older brother may decide to show up as the Fighter's bartender with a "special" drink for him.
Its all in the story. The world is controlled by the DM and the players help to paint the canvas of the story to be unfolded, but a DM should never be intimidated by a Powerful player. "Balance" is all in the DM's control.
Rules were meant to be broken. If I plan to throw a Fire Giant against my party and they suddenly start to mop the floor with him, I adapt. Either he had a lot more HD than they figured on, or he is a better fighter than they thought, or oops he is a Sorcerer too, or ... hey guess what... He has Magic Items too, one of which allowed him to call for help....
I dont like to kill PC's and I cheat in reverse, making it easier for the party when they are way outmatched, but I always make it challenging. I want PCs to feel like they barely made it out of a fight with their skin in tact, unless it is something for flavor like running into a Goblin patrol at 15th level. In which case I rarely even run the combat since it is inevitable that the party will mow them down.
Anyway, just my rambling thoughts.
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