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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(Psi)SeveredHead" data-source="post: 5537717" data-attributes="member: 1165">While power creep does occur, it's fortunately not as bad as in 3.x, due to the simpler more transparent math. But I think you may have a point with the greater number of options. Still, I find the number of options in the PH1 alone to allow great synergy. More to the point, the DM can pick any combo of monsters they want, even inventing new ones if need be, so the DM actually has greater control over power synergy than PCs do.IMO not only were MM1 monsters underpowered, some were horribly underpowered and some were actually on the right level. The damage wasn't based on level, but on ability scores, which allowed for this problem. I'll never forget the time I killed two PCs with rage drakes in a level-balanced encounter. They were dealing proper damage, and the PCs, who were new to 4e, hadn't gotten the hang of dangerous encounters yet, on the grounds that nothing they had faced up till that point had been a challenge.As Keep on the Shadowfell progressed, occasionally they'd run into something which seemed horrifyingly powerful, like the Orcus underpriests. These weren't using weapon damage, and so dished out esentially "appropriate" damage. (Incidentally, many of the encounter levels in that adventure were quite poorly planned. 5th-level soldier minions ended up never taking a hit and slaughtering a 3rd-level party. Never use an 8th-level solo against 4th-level PCs, especially pre-MM3. Talk about a slugfest. Kalarel had only one encounter power, but his AC was so high the PCs couldn't hit him.)Now I'm running Dark Sun, using the proper damage rules. The PCs usually deal less damage with their at-wills than monsters, and have fewer hit points, but have the following benefits:Action points.More encounter powers (I count dailies as encounter powers, but those are even more powerful, of course).Healing (a great way of reducing their hit point disadvantage).Utility Powers (even one can be very handy, especially if you find one that's an encounter power).Depending on party makeup, the PCs could have gotten lots of buffs (no clerics in my group) or control effects on top.I find the fights to be much more satisfying now. At the end of the battles, the only things the PCs have lost are healing surges and maybe a daily or two.I don't find MM1/MM2 monsters too wimpy to use however, as I always put the monsters on index cards. Even before the MM3 beef, I did so to make assembling monster combos easier. I didn't want to (as an example) have to flip between the "dragon" and "kobold" sections for an encounter. So when the new damage expressions came out, I simply updated all those index cards.</blockquote>

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