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When you've made the battle too much to handle...
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<blockquote data-quote="overgeeked" data-source="post: 8565046" data-attributes="member: 86653"><p>That assumes encounters must be balanced. They don't need to be. It's typically better if they're not. The encounter should be whatever makes sense for the encounter. If it's not level appropriate the players can either think, the characters die, or come back when they're more powerful.</p><p></p><p>Trying to curate an experience goes against the whole point of making choices. If the choices don't matter, it's only an illusion of choice, which is no choice at all.</p><p></p><p>Since I wouldn't want the players doing it to favor themselves, I won't do it as a DM. If they're still standing and fighting at -12 hp, I'm going to call shenanigans. But then, I also roll for monster disposition/reaction and use morale instead of having everything fight to the death. Fair is fair. If you're going to ignore honest die rolls, why bother making them in the first place?</p><p></p><p>That's the rub. As a player, you can't tell. You never really know if the DM is cheating or not. Fudging dice, fudging monster hp, or stats, or abilities. Fudging is a great way to erode player confidence. It makes them not trust you. Once that's gone, there's almost no getting it back. Roll in the open. Tell the players the AC and HP of the monsters up front. Go. They know what's up and they can make an informed choice. They know you're not cheating and not giving them any nudges. Makes for a much more satisfying experience all around.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="overgeeked, post: 8565046, member: 86653"] That assumes encounters must be balanced. They don't need to be. It's typically better if they're not. The encounter should be whatever makes sense for the encounter. If it's not level appropriate the players can either think, the characters die, or come back when they're more powerful. Trying to curate an experience goes against the whole point of making choices. If the choices don't matter, it's only an illusion of choice, which is no choice at all. Since I wouldn't want the players doing it to favor themselves, I won't do it as a DM. If they're still standing and fighting at -12 hp, I'm going to call shenanigans. But then, I also roll for monster disposition/reaction and use morale instead of having everything fight to the death. Fair is fair. If you're going to ignore honest die rolls, why bother making them in the first place? That's the rub. As a player, you can't tell. You never really know if the DM is cheating or not. Fudging dice, fudging monster hp, or stats, or abilities. Fudging is a great way to erode player confidence. It makes them not trust you. Once that's gone, there's almost no getting it back. Roll in the open. Tell the players the AC and HP of the monsters up front. Go. They know what's up and they can make an informed choice. They know you're not cheating and not giving them any nudges. Makes for a much more satisfying experience all around. [/QUOTE]
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