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<blockquote data-quote="Clefton Twain" data-source="post: 2988638" data-attributes="member: 1138">Encounters where the enemy can keep its distance and hammer the party are always a tough issue, especially when said enemy can heal. Usually these creatures *have* to use this tactic or they will die quickly. The mephit's flight, fast healing, and breath weapon are all factors that make up its CR. Yes, it has a 6 Intelligence but one would think it's probably done this sort of thing before. It knows it can heal and knows it can hit the party from afar. Therefore, even a retarded mephit would probably be able to figure this out.A mephit would probably know it cannot go toe-to-toe with probably even just two enemies, much less that many. Most any creature except your basic animal should be able to figure that out. Besides, who's to say this was just your &quot;average mephit&quot;? maybe it was a little smarter?It sounds like the party made a couple of tactical errors which often happens and isn't usually anyone's fault but is nevertheless unfortunate and makes the encounter harder.Though it has more INT, the same problem can be had with the Ogre Magi. It has the ability to fly and turn invisible--two abilities that, at its challenge rating, make it quite powerful when the PCs themselves probably can't fly to get at it. I will be the first to admit that these types of encounters are often both difficult to run for the DM and may not be very fun for the PCs.It sounds like you played the Mephit fine. There are ways to counteract flight and the mephit doesn't really have that many hit points as the two melee guys figured out once they charged the creature. Most parties would lob a couple of magic missiles&nbsp; and the encounter would be nearly over.But if you'd charged in with the mephit, the combat would have lasted a round and is that worth the CR of the enemy?--CT</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Clefton Twain, post: 2988638, member: 1138"] Encounters where the enemy can keep its distance and hammer the party are always a tough issue, especially when said enemy can heal. Usually these creatures *have* to use this tactic or they will die quickly. The mephit's flight, fast healing, and breath weapon are all factors that make up its CR. Yes, it has a 6 Intelligence but one would think it's probably done this sort of thing before. It knows it can heal and knows it can hit the party from afar. Therefore, even a retarded mephit would probably be able to figure this out. A mephit would probably know it cannot go toe-to-toe with probably even just two enemies, much less that many. Most any creature except your basic animal should be able to figure that out. Besides, who's to say this was just your "average mephit"? maybe it was a little smarter? It sounds like the party made a couple of tactical errors which often happens and isn't usually anyone's fault but is nevertheless unfortunate and makes the encounter harder. Though it has more INT, the same problem can be had with the Ogre Magi. It has the ability to fly and turn invisible--two abilities that, at its challenge rating, make it quite powerful when the PCs themselves probably can't fly to get at it. I will be the first to admit that these types of encounters are often both difficult to run for the DM and may not be very fun for the PCs. It sounds like you played the Mephit fine. There are ways to counteract flight and the mephit doesn't really have that many hit points as the two melee guys figured out once they charged the creature. Most parties would lob a couple of [I]magic missiles[/I] and the encounter would be nearly over. But if you'd charged in with the mephit, the combat would have lasted a round and is that worth the CR of the enemy? --CT [/QUOTE]

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