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<blockquote data-quote="Raven Crowking" data-source="post: 5004882" data-attributes="member: 18280">Please note, I didn't say &quot;remove the kobold encounter because the kobolds are beating the PCs&quot;.&nbsp; Rather, if the encounter is meaningless, the outcome is known, and the glazed look is soon to appear in the players' eyes, let the encounter end.&nbsp; If the PCs' victory is as assured to the kobolds as to the players, it makes sense that the kobolds surrender or run away.It was also a not-so-subtle point:&nbsp; System matters.&nbsp; Some systems, by virtue of their grindy combat rules, are not particularly well suited to a sandbox playstyle.&nbsp; It is a reasonable rule of thumb that, the more encounters your game will have that don't relate directly to the players' goals, the faster the game should be able to resolve encounters.&nbsp; Some games are a &quot;Critical Fail&quot; in this respect.&nbsp; Other games are &quot;Critical Fails&quot; in other respects.Regardless of what game system you prefer, it is important for the GM to understand how that system affects play, and adjust the setup of his game to make use of that system's strengths, while supporting its weaknesses, to the greatest extent of his skill.&nbsp; IOW, If you have four-hour game sessions, and are running 3.5, don't include an encounter with 40 kobolds unless you and your players don't mind doing anything else in that session.&nbsp; (Even in RCFG or 1e, this is likely to eat up at least half an hour, depending upon your players).RC</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Raven Crowking, post: 5004882, member: 18280"] Please note, I didn't say "remove the kobold encounter because the kobolds are beating the PCs". Rather, if the encounter is meaningless, the outcome is known, and the glazed look is soon to appear in the players' eyes, [i][b]let the encounter end[/b][/i][b][/b]. If the PCs' victory is as assured to the kobolds as to the players, [i][b]it makes sense that the kobolds surrender or run away[/b][/i][b][/b]. It was also a not-so-subtle point: System matters. Some systems, by virtue of their grindy combat rules, are not particularly well suited to a sandbox playstyle. It is a reasonable rule of thumb that, the more encounters your game will have that don't relate directly to the players' goals, the faster the game should be able to resolve encounters. Some games are a "Critical Fail" in this respect. Other games are "Critical Fails" in other respects. Regardless of what game system you prefer, it is important for the GM to understand how that system affects play, and adjust the setup of his game to make use of that system's strengths, while supporting its weaknesses, to the greatest extent of his skill. IOW, If you have four-hour game sessions, and are running 3.5, don't include an encounter with 40 kobolds unless you and your players don't mind doing anything else in that session. (Even in RCFG or 1e, this is likely to eat up at least half an hour, depending upon your players). RC [/QUOTE]

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