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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ForceUser" data-source="post: 1820765" data-attributes="member: 2785">Balancing encounters is definitely my biggest bugaboo. Every now and then I just screw up and throw something at my players that's ridiculously, stupidly, "I should have known better, what was I thinking?" tough. I've thrown a trio of pennaglion 1st-level commoners (CR 4 each) at a 4th-level party of 6 (pennaglions cast dominate person at will). I flubbed the wipeout. I flubbed another wipeout later when I threw 7 stone giants and a slightly advanced stone giant leader at a 12th-level party of 7. Still later I threw a gnoll warband of 16 plus a 4th-level gnoll cleric and 5th-level gnoll ranger leader at a party of 7 whose average level was 4. Luckily the party pulled it out on their own, but it was a very near thing.In all of these cases I simply forgot (or didn't realize) exactly how tough these monsters were. Most of these encounters, as well as others I've ran, could go either way provided the PCs maximize their talents and get a few lucky rolls. If the PCs use poor tactics or roll badly, these fights become deathtraps. As a DM, I'm usually kicking myself halfway through the fight as I watch the results of my poor judgment unfold. Players deaths due to stupidity on the part of the PCs I can deal with. Player deaths due to my lack of ability to plan fair encounters just make me, not to mention my players, frustrated. I struggle with this each time I crack open the Monster Manual to plan for the next session's probable encounters. I am trying to learn to err on the side of caution. Sometimes I get excited about the monsters themselves and forget the realistic capabilities of the players. As they level up it's just going to get worse, I think.</blockquote>

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