The guidelines for building encounters in Saga Edition use an average of the total CLs of the enemies and hazards and divides it by 3. A result that is within three levels of the average level of a party of four player-characters is more or less a fitting encounter. I've read this both in the books and in the Encounter Design 101 web supplement. The trouble is, my game has five player-characters. How would I adjust the formula to work with this additional player?
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\$\begingroup\$ Welp, my rule of thumb as a DM is round down. \$\endgroup\$– 13ruce1337May 29, 2014 at 0:50
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\$\begingroup\$ No, I mean, I have five players, while the Encounter Level formula is designed for four players. I'm asking what I would change in the formula. \$\endgroup\$– SchneidendJun 2, 2014 at 21:16
2 Answers
Page 247 of the SW Saga Edition Revised Core Rulebook has this at the end of the paragraph on Combining Different CLs:
Note that these calculations are based on the assumption that there are four heroes at the party. For each additional hero, subtract 1 from the result. For each missing hero, add 1 to the result. [Result here refers to SUM(CLs)/3]
5 players is 25% more than 4 players, so multiply the total CL value by 1.25, and this way it should roughly balance the numbers ratio. Or just adding an extra unit for each 4 units should also work? Balance as needed as the game progresses.