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<blockquote data-quote="tetrasodium" data-source="post: 8698819" data-attributes="member: 93670">This is something that has changed over the editions. the scope of what qualifies as a &quot;pointless encounter&quot; has exploded to include nearly any encounter not in the double lethal range or so.In the past every encounter mattered including the &quot;trash&quot; pointless ones the party can steamroll trivially.&nbsp; &nbsp; Sure those low CR critters may be no real threat to the group, but they nicked a couple people &amp; now the group needs to decide between using precious resources that won't be available when they hit a real fight to heal them individually or continuing on knowing that any real fights will start with a couple people already wearing a few scratches that might really matter.&nbsp; Those were decisions with real weight the party needed to think about because those scratches might be what kills those PCs while those wasted heals might be the reason why someone else can't be healed to stop them from being killed.Now in 5e though spell slots are entirely fungible, PC's don't need to heal every point of damage, PCs recover resources at the drop of the hat &amp; do it safely, PCs even get to ignore damage beyond zero.&nbsp; Sure a player could theoretically be taken to negative max HP, but not everyone plays in the level 1-2ish range &amp; it grows increasingly unlikely when any 1hp LoH or healing word will both reset the negative as well as bring the PC back to a fully functioning state. mooks just exacerbate the problem &amp; make players gravitate towards short rest classes that try to force a short rest after every nova-5mwd encounter or two.&nbsp; With a small group it might matter, but start pushing 4-5+ PCs &amp; there is just so much on demand nova after any rest thatthe gm needs to throw out swarms of seriously powerful critters to even qualify as a speedbump.&nbsp; There's not much use for pointless encounters in that light,</blockquote>

[QUOTE="tetrasodium, post: 8698819, member: 93670"] This is something that has changed over the editions. the scope of what qualifies as a "pointless encounter" has exploded to include nearly any encounter not in the double lethal range or so. In the past every encounter mattered including the "trash" pointless ones the party can steamroll trivially. Sure those low CR critters may be no real threat to the group, but they nicked a couple people & now the group needs to decide between using precious resources that won't be available when they hit a real fight to heal them individually or continuing on knowing that any real fights will start with a couple people already wearing a few scratches that might really matter. Those were decisions with real weight the party needed to think about because those scratches might be what kills those PCs while those wasted heals might be the reason why someone else can't be healed to stop them from being killed. Now in 5e though spell slots are entirely fungible, PC's don't need to heal every point of damage, PCs recover resources at the drop of the hat & do it safely, PCs even get to ignore damage beyond zero. Sure a player could theoretically be taken to negative max HP, but not everyone plays in the level 1-2ish range & it grows increasingly unlikely when any 1hp LoH or healing word will both reset the negative as well as bring the PC back to a fully functioning state. mooks just exacerbate the problem & make players gravitate towards short rest classes that try to force a short rest after every nova-5mwd encounter or two. With a small group it might matter, but start pushing 4-5+ PCs & there is just so much on demand nova after any rest thatthe gm needs to throw out swarms of seriously powerful critters to even qualify as a speedbump. There's not much use for pointless encounters in that light, [/QUOTE]

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