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Message: <blockquote data-quote="AbdulAlhazred" data-source="post: 5702015" data-attributes="member: 82106">Right, what I would add to this is that you definitely want to understand that there is a difference in the role of encounters and thus differences in the way they should function in the game. 4e is a very 'cinematic' game. In AD&D for instance combat was deadly, long range planning was the players primary tool, and most individual fights were light weight. Throwing a few orcs at the party was reasonable and you didn't need to bother much in these fights with anything beyond having a basic location. These low impact fights would be over pretty quick, and they were basically there to suck the cleric's CLW supply (and healing potions) down.The 4e encounter is bigger and intended to be more interesting. You can see this just looking at Kobold Hall in the DMG, where each of the encounters has a 'shtick'. Sticking some monsters in a room goes badly. The AD&D "5 orcs in a room" worked because it took 20 minutes to run, and the players could end it with a spell if they got bored around minute 5. You simply can't do that in 4e encounters. Each one is meant to be a little mini-story of its own. They don't need to be TOO complex, but you have to make the encounter area interesting, give the monsters some kind of 'shtick', provide the players with ways to mess with the battlefield, etc. Setting up plots so that encounters have alternate goals besides just "kill 'em dead" has high value too.Luckily (well, by design) the way 4e mechanics are designed makes adding interesting stuff to encounters pretty easy. If you put a pit in a room the PCs (and the monsters) have defined ways to push people into it. Every character can run, jump, climb, make improvised attacks, etc, and character's are tough enough that if they take a bit of risk the consequences aren't usually instantly fatal either. The point being you have to watch out not to design adventures in the same way in 4e you would in AD&D. There ARE ways to emulate the feel of older AD&D style play, but simply putting monsters in rooms won't work, even though 4e will let you make those encounters balanced, they'll feel 'dead'.</blockquote>

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