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Message: <blockquote data-quote="jgsugden" data-source="post: 1236122" data-attributes="member: 2629">Speaking from experience, taking 1/4 of a 12 character group out is not like taking 1/2 of a 4 character group. Why? Because you get greater imbalances on on a smaller scale.What the heck do I mean by that?Let's pretend that you have 4 red knights and 4 black knights. The two sides fight with each red knight fighting a different black knight. It is a balanced fight. Suddenly, one of the red knights disappear. The black knight that was fighting him can suddenly turn on another red knight creating a 2 on 1 advantage.Let's pretend that you have 12 red knights and 12 black knights. The two sides fight with each red knight fighting a different black knight. It is a balanced fight. Suddenly, three of the red knights disappear. The 3 black knights that were fighting them can suddenly turn on one red knight creating a 4 on 1 advantage. This is a rather simple example, but the same theory applies to lots of actual scenarios: an equal percentage advantage on a larger scale creates more room for small scale imbalances.On a separate note: Having all these cohorts makes balancing combats very difficult for the DM. He might create a battle that he thinks is balanced, but wil almost certainly result in a TPK if it gets to be too difficult. After all, it is easy to balance an encounter for a 4 PC 10th level party. It is very hard to come up with something balanced for a 4 10th level PCs, 4 8th level cohorts, 4 ECL 8 dragon cohorts and 4 ECL 8 wild animal cohorts (plus an animal companion, a paladin mount and a few familiars.)</blockquote>

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