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Message: <blockquote data-quote="nnms" data-source="post: 5291257" data-attributes="member: 83293">Another reason to scale is that 4E is built on the premise that monsters or NPCs are only statted out as needed.  Also, minion rules show that there is not some absolute power framework by which everything is built.  If it's *useful* to the game or story, a powerful warrior dies as a minion.The stats of all the monsters are stats relative to PCs at the appropriate level.  They aren't an objective indicator of their power like in previous editions.  if a monster fights another monster, they don't need stats at all.  The DM is simply going to decide the outcome based on what he feels is appropriate.NPCs are the same way.  The DMG (rightly) advises that you shouldn't even bother statting them out except in ways that the PCs will interact with.One of the best features of 4E is that the encounter design/level system works.  Why toss that aside out of a desire to bring an absolute framework back into the game after it was done away with?  Just open up the monster builder and adjust the monster to the appropriate level and go.Or, if you want the monster to be too powerful for the PCs, do it as a skill challenge or a partial encounter.  The player's agree to attack, you call for the initiative roll and then inform them that they can't possibly win and that it's time for a skill challenge to determine how lethal the encounter is for the players.  They then have to extricate themselves during the skill challenge.Rule 1 of skill challenges is that they shouldn't stop the story through failure.  So failing is not necessarily going to be lethal.  Perhaps they get chased where they didn't want to go.  Perhaps they are forced to flee and their failure becomes their reputation.I like to handle it with a combination of the first combat round and then a skill challenge.  Nothing gets the point across quite like "you rolled a 18, plus your bonus?  That's a miss.  You slam your sword against the creature's hide in what should have been a lethal blow, but all it does is anger the creature.  You're not sure if any of your attacks can actually hit it.  Better roll a lot of 20s."  Then when they start to react, you can call for the skill challenge (or run it without calling it a skill challenge).</blockquote>

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