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<blockquote data-quote="Jhaelen" data-source="post: 3747907" data-attributes="member: 46713">All in all it works surprisingly well in most cases. It breaks down at the very beginning (CR below 2) and when using the 2xCR = EL+2 formula too often (with encounters of 12+ creatures).There are also some oddities with mixed CR groups, where altering the order of adding the creatures results in different ELs.What doesn't work well at all are the different methods of advancement: by HD, template or class. It's just not possible to give a formula that works equally well for the incredible variety of creatures that exist.CR is also problematic because there are no good recommendations on how to figure out an appropriate CR except by comparing a monster to existing ones. Something similar to the 'DM's Helper' Excel sheet which gives average values for HP, AC, attack &amp; damage, etc. is incredibly useful in that regard.Finally some things are frequently forgotten when figuring out CR / EL: party size, action points and point-buy method used (if any). All of these have an effect which has to be considered.So, to sum it up:CR / EL works well if sticking to standard parties / monsters. For anything beyond that extra effort is required for the method to stay somewhat useful.I'm not convinced, btw. that the 4th.ed. approach to return to adding up xp values to create 'appropriate' encounters will be better in any way. You'll run into exactly the same problems as in the current edition.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Jhaelen, post: 3747907, member: 46713"] All in all it works surprisingly well in most cases. It breaks down at the very beginning (CR below 2) and when using the 2xCR = EL+2 formula too often (with encounters of 12+ creatures). There are also some oddities with mixed CR groups, where altering the order of adding the creatures results in different ELs. What doesn't work well at all are the different methods of advancement: by HD, template or class. It's just not possible to give a formula that works equally well for the incredible variety of creatures that exist. CR is also problematic because there are no good recommendations on how to figure out an appropriate CR except by comparing a monster to existing ones. Something similar to the 'DM's Helper' Excel sheet which gives average values for HP, AC, attack & damage, etc. is incredibly useful in that regard. Finally some things are frequently forgotten when figuring out CR / EL: party size, action points and point-buy method used (if any). All of these have an effect which has to be considered. So, to sum it up: CR / EL works well if sticking to standard parties / monsters. For anything beyond that extra effort is required for the method to stay somewhat useful. I'm not convinced, btw. that the 4th.ed. approach to return to adding up xp values to create 'appropriate' encounters will be better in any way. You'll run into exactly the same problems as in the current edition. [/QUOTE]

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