Hot answers tagged encounters
13
According to the rules, the XP to be given to each player is the sum of the Monsters' XP, divided by the number of players. See the Dungeon Master's Guide page 120, under Earning XP:
Characters earn XP for every encounter they overcome. The XP reward for completing an encounter is the sum of the XP values for each monster, NPC, trap or hazard that makes ...
12
It sounds like you are an experienced DM, who has been successful so far without using the EL/CR rules.
That being the case, I don’t think they’ll help you.
Monsters’ CRs are often terribly inaccurate. Monster Manual II is particularly egregious, such as the CR 9 Adamantine Horror that has at-will Disjunction. Dragons are under-CRed ...
11
General Rule: a party of 4 characters at level X can be expected to win an encounter of level X using a moderate amount of resources. Three or four of those encounters in one day should exhaust the party. One monster at CR X produces an EL (Encounter Level) of X.
Adding a second monster of the same CR usually increases the EL by 2. I usually somewhat ...
8
This depends on a number of things. Do your players like to favor combat over other forms of role-playing? How long are your sessions? Do your players understand the rules well enough to where things are going to move by quickly (sounds like no, in this case)? Do you as a DM mind running a lot/a little/no combat in any given session? This sort of thing is ...
6
Reaction should always be rolled before the DM even reveals the presence of the monsters. They may call out from the darkness for parlay, or greet the party with open arms. Once you're rolling initiative you've already made up your mind that it's a fight and it's too late to gain anything of use from a reaction result that doesn't imply a fight.
One of the ...
6
As written in DMG P41:
Experience Points: You can give characters XP at the end of every
encounter, or wait until they take an extended rest, or wait until the
end of the game session. Simply divide the XP total for the encounter
by the number of characters present.
Please note, that you can give the XP rewards after the session as well.
About ...
5
Determining combat encounter frequency is best done by taste. i.e. some groups like to have lots of combat and some prefer lots of roleplaying opportunities. If your combats come too frequent, it can feel like a slog if it's more than your players enjoy. In order to get a feel for your own group's preferences, it'll help if you give them a variety of pacing ...
3
Okay, here's my rough rule-of-thumb rules for figuring encounter level "adequateness".
To start with, take the average level of the party.
Next, adjust for party size. Every two additional party members above four increases the "average level" by one. So for a party of 6, take the average level and add one.
All of this assumes a "balanced" ...
2
In D&D 4E the experience point system is extremely simple, but they can be confusing if your new to RPGs so I will clarify for you.
I don't currently have the rule books so I can't quote things but I played 4E for 5 years.
The XP for an encounter is added up, then divided up into equal parts per player in your group.
Example: You have 5 players of ...
2
I suggest using an ECL calculator to determine how much your group can handle. Remember this is just a guide and some monster's CRs are not very accurate, and some groups will be more effective than others, thus requiring harder ECLs. D20 ECL Calculator is a good free calculator that even does some additional calculations for you.
Once you know how to ...
1
You total the monsters XP together. Then you divide it by how players there are. Similar to treasure division. Or if you wanna be cold hearted only reward XP to the person who killed it (evil laugh). Don't forget to scale the xp to their level.
I think it table on page 178 of the DM's Guide, if the monster is harder in anyway they have changes in the ...
1
This is what I do during my encounters, and sorry if it sounds too obvious - I basically try to "invoke" a dialog with the players.
At the beginning of the battle, if I assume that the enemy is willing to "negotiate", I tell the players that, for example, the Goblin king looks at them and asks them:
"What are you doing here? I will not let some pesky ...
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