[PnP] How do you balance encounters?

[Alan Kellogg]

I don't. Should the opposition outclass the group I look to see if they
can...

A. Out spent the badguys
B. Get allies
or C. Make friends.

At the very least I want my players to use their brains, instead of relying
on mechanics and luck to get them through.


On Sat, Apr 19, 2014 at 11:52 AM, Melkor <mttdicor7 at inbox.com> wrote:

>  Hi all,
>
> how do you manage to balance encounters in P&P?
>
> I have a group of four players:
>
> Ennon: OCV 2, DCV 4
> Gunnard: OCV 9, DCV 8
> Darrel: OCV 3, DCV 5
> Habbakuk: OCV 6, DCV 5
>
> the average hit point value of each character is around 20, except for
> Gunnard who has 33 HPV.
>
> Given this situation, i always have doubts as to which creature (monster)
> they should face.
> As you probably remember, Richard Snider at the end of book IV stated that
> "the situation that evolves in your game must be designed such that:
>
> A) they are not automatic victories for your players
> AND
> B) they are situations that the party involved can win
>
> I always try to stick to this (apparently simple) rule, but it is not so
> easy, so i would like to know how you are used to managing encounters.
>
> I think it is a mistake for the game master to throw monsters at the party
> that are too strong to beat, but at the same time the player's skills must
> be put to test, that is why i think that encounters should always be
> balanced.
>
> Now, how to balance them? How to pick the correct monster (*one which is
> as strong as my players are*) from the monster list in book III?
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