XP Awards?

[Wolffenjugend]

I've discovered a little problem. IMC, the P usually ends up in the final confrontation with the villain after they are fully rested and prepared. Usually. The villain is also usually fully rested and prepared.

My question is this: does encounter level take this into account or (IIRC) does it assume that the P is not at optimal strength but has endured some intial encounters.

The encounters are usually well-balanced (in terms of CR of the enemy) but the P always seems to have the upper hand. When determining the suitability of an encounter with, say, 4 10th-lvl characters vs. a CR 10 monster, should the monster be tougher if the characters will be at full strength when facing it? Assume there are no other encounters for that day...

 

[dok]

IME, the default assumption about CR & EL is that it assumes every day will include 3-4 encounters of an EL equal to the party between resting periods. If the PCs rest & recover more frequently, then they're not going to have as much trouble with any given encounter.

The appropriate response to this is that for climactic fights with the BBEG, include the equivalent of one or two additional encounters worth of opponents in close proximity, either in the same battle, or immediately before.

 

[Shin Okada]

EL calculation is assuming that the party still has enough resources to have a chance to handle that encounter.

A party of 4 PCs are assumed to spend about 20% of their resources (spells and hps) when they meet an encounter of the same EL as their level. It is written in P.49 of the DMG.

So, in the other word, those pcs are assumed to handle 4 or 5 of such encounters before they rest. Thus, the difficulty to beat the 1st of such encounter and the 4th of such encounter are assumed to be the same. But if they meet 5th or 6th of such encounter before they rest, it will be a tough challenge.

DMG is not saying much about higher EL and the resources. And it is hard to say indeed. But basically, EL calculation is assuming that the party still has enough resources to have a chance to handle that encounter. Generally, be careful if you are forcing PCs to meet 4 or more encounters of "challenging" or harder before they rest.

By the way, a EL10 encounter is assumed to be just "challenging" for a party of 10th level 4 men party. Usually, "Boss Encounter" of an adventure has EL of "Very Difficult", that is 1 or 4 higher than party level. FYI, If the EL=party level +4, PCs are assumed to have only 50% chance to win. But IMHO often actual PCs have better stats and equipments than the model shown in DMG.

 

[Wolffenjugend]

So, if 4-5 encounters are "normal," what range of EL should I be looking at for a single, final encounter with the villain? If +4 EL has a 50% survival chance, does that sound about right? i.e. 4 10th-lvl characters vs. a single CR 14 enemy? Or an enemy with minions that totals EL 14? Too easy?

 

[LazarusLong42]

Well... it depends on the party, on the enemy, and on the rolls of the dice. The one-shot I just finished DMing, the party could have taken some serious hurt from the final villain, which was PL+4... but a single sunder attack that was a confirmed critical destroyed a single very important weapon, and so ended the villain, before he took a single hp of damage. (Story trumps rules every time...)

 

[Flyspeck23]

So, if 4-5 encounters are "normal," what range of EL should I be looking at for a single, final encounter with the villain? If +4 EL has a 50% survival chance, does that sound about right? i.e. 4 10th-lvl characters vs. a single CR 14 enemy? Or an enemy with minions that totals EL 14? Too easy?

A single monster is (nearly) always easier to defeat than a bunch, so there's a higher chance of survival.
Generally, don't throw anything of more than EL 4 higher than the party at them if you expect them to actually fight (and not just run away, which might be the best course of action).

My advice: go for a mix. Look at the DMG, p. 49 - EL 14 Mixed Pair would be CR 13+11 (for example the BBEG and his most able henchman). That should be fun.