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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mesh Hong" data-source="post: 5172986" data-attributes="member: 73463">From this thread it seems to me that we are talking about two very different things when we discuss grind: 1: Poor monster/encounter design.2: Slow turn resolution. Poor monster/encounter designBadly designed encounters can by definition go bad. Over time each DM should get a feel for the rough power level and potential of their group. Until this has been achieved it is most prudent to start with relatively simple encounters and gradually increase the challenge and complexity to see how that affects play. Each group will have a different point or combination of factors that steps over the line, so there is no hard and fast rule over where a fun encounter ends and where an un-fun encounter begins. Another issue with encounter design comes in at the transition between Heroic/Paragon and Paragon/Epic. The power increase of the PCs is massive and encounter design that previously would have been deadly can become easy or at least simple. Again each group will manifest this in different ways so only experience will inform you how to adapt. As has been pointed out there are certain creatures and conditions that can be inappropriate for some groups. Wraiths and Dracolich’s from MM1 are poorly designed. My general advice would be to be incredibly wary of any encounter that uses both insubstantial and weakened, or too much stun. But this really is general advice, there is nothing inherently wrong with these conditions but they are open to abuse (no matter how fair you think you are) so a little extra care is needed when placing them in an encounter or on a monsters stat block. Slow turn resolutionIf you are looking at your watch between turns then you are probably wishing that everyone would just speed up. This is probably what most people refer to when they consider the grind, hence my continued belief that “grind is all in the mind”. It is the mental state of boredom, or a feeling of disengagement. If a turn is talking so long that you are losing track of what is going on and the excitement of the combat situation is slipping away then you will naturally consider it a grind. Again everyones attention span and play expectations are different. It is really up to the group as a whole to determine the optimal length of a combat encounter if that is important to them. If it is important then the players and the DM must share the responsibility of working towards a self imposed combat time limit, through quicker and more organised player activity and also through simplified encounter design. Each group will find their own level of compromise. Personally, the length of an encounter is not that important to me or my group as long as it is interesting. This is probably why we do not feel the grind, we are having fun so what does it matter if an encounter takes half an hour or five hours?</blockquote>

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