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<blockquote data-quote="jgsugden" data-source="post: 8991287" data-attributes="member: 2629">This has been litigated a lot, but I stick with my statements:1.) There are too many variables for us to ever get a system that prececisely balanceds combat.2.) The design space in the DMG encourages more encounters of lower difficulty and very, very, very few DMs use these.&nbsp; They think that medium and easier encounters can't be interesting because the PC heroes do not feel threatened.&nbsp; I argue in the alternative that it is these battles that make the heroes feel powerful by showing their lives, much like a super hero, were never really in danger ... but I also argue that they can be a challenge as there are thousands of ways to challenge PCs that do not require you threaten their lives.&nbsp; Stopping kobolds from escaping with something, rescuing someone before they are slain, preventing a ritual from being completed, etc... all can give the PCs scenarios they can fail - without ever being threatened.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; To that end, I build and balance my combats as follows:1.) Does it contribute to the story in a good way?2.) Can the PCs reasonably be expected to survive it with decent tactics and use of some of their finite resources?Tghose two questions do not take much to answer, and do not require XP calculations or any of that other garbage.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="jgsugden, post: 8991287, member: 2629"] This has been litigated a lot, but I stick with my statements: 1.) There are too many variables for us to ever get a system that prececisely balanceds combat. 2.) The design space in the DMG encourages more encounters of lower difficulty and very, very, very few DMs use these. They think that medium and easier encounters can't be interesting because the PC heroes do not feel threatened. I argue in the alternative that it is these battles that make the heroes feel powerful by showing their lives, much like a super hero, were never really in danger ... but I also argue that they can be a challenge as there are thousands of ways to challenge PCs that do not require you threaten their lives. Stopping kobolds from escaping with something, rescuing someone before they are slain, preventing a ritual from being completed, etc... all can give the PCs scenarios they can fail - without ever being threatened. To that end, I build and balance my combats as follows: 1.) Does it contribute to the story in a good way? 2.) Can the PCs reasonably be expected to survive it with decent tactics and use of some of their finite resources? Tghose two questions do not take much to answer, and do not require XP calculations or any of that other garbage. [/QUOTE]

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