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2 years ago ::
Aug 09, 2011 - 3:37AM
#1
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Date Joined:
Jan 18, 2011
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Hey what do you think of this encounter(3 out of 3 Enounters) 3 x Lvl 5 Beholder Guath - 400 XP each Its designed for a final encounter for 4 4th Level players. Theres plot reasons for the encounter being 3 beholders 
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2 years ago ::
Aug 09, 2011 - 3:53AM
#2
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Date Joined:
Apr 14, 2010
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According to the rules, 1 player = 1 Standard monster, and 1 Elite = 2 Standards. Also, monsters with stats of level+1 or considered to be a reasonably hard encounter.
So basically, there's 1 Beholder Gauth too many. Your players also have only 1 daily power which they have probably used by now, so I'd be hesitant to throw this at them.
You could level them down to level 4 (-1 to initiative, defensesm, attack rolls and damage, and -20 HP). It's still gonna be nasty, but more survivable.
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2 years ago ::
Aug 09, 2011 - 3:57AM
#3
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Date Joined:
Jan 18, 2011
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Well, a pair would fit better anyway. Will make it a pair rather than a 3some.
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2 years ago ::
Aug 09, 2011 - 4:14AM
#4
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Back in the day when I DM'd I would calculate the average damage per round each player could generate, do the same for the monsters and then given each groups hit points figure out who would drop first. Once it was evened up you can look at the spells and special abilities to see how that would affect it. e.g. if one of 4 players is likely to be incapacitated then reduce their avg dmg. Of course over time the players got better and better with more options and I had to stack the odds more and more against them !
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2 years ago ::
Aug 09, 2011 - 9:04AM
#5
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Date Joined:
Jul 21, 2004
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If there's a plot reason for having that encounter, take the next step and come up with a plot reason why the monsters aren't interested in grinding the party into the dust. Give the monsters some goal that is vital to them that they can achieve even if the PCs still draw breath. The nice thing about aberrations is that their motivations might be utterly alien, so you have a pretty free rein. They could do something utterly nonsensical like reaching a point on the map and rotating around their horizontal axis three times, with the result that all later aberrations the party encounters have resist 5 fire. Then they leave, not particularly caring if the PCs still live, and not particularly interested in risking their own lives to try to kill them. They'll fight back to achieve their goal, but their non-lethal eye rays might be more than adequate to keep the PCs off their backs long enough for them to achieve their goals.
[N]o difference is less easily overcome than the difference of opinion about semi-abstract questions. - L. Tolstoy
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2 years ago ::
Aug 09, 2011 - 11:05AM
#6
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Date Joined:
Jan 18, 2011
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If the players are smart, they shouldn't have to fight them.
But we all know that is not going to happen.
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2 years ago ::
Aug 09, 2011 - 12:20PM
#7
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Date Joined:
Jul 21, 2004
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If the players are smart, they shouldn't have to fight them.
But we all know that is not going to happen.
Right, but there's the other side of the coin: the monsters shouldn't have to fight the PCs either. Why risk it? Well, there are plausible reasons for them risking it, but I'm saying there are also plausible reasons for them to keep the engagement to a short skirmish rather than a deathmatch. Find one and then the power of the monsters doesn't matter. The need for monster balance is predicated on the idea that if the PCs don't win then they die. Dismiss that idea.
[N]o difference is less easily overcome than the difference of opinion about semi-abstract questions. - L. Tolstoy
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2 years ago ::
Aug 09, 2011 - 12:22PM
#8
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Date Joined:
Dec 28, 2010
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1200 XP encounter results in a level 7 encounter, which is a level +3 encounter.
Technically, it will be one very hard encounter.
Depending on your players, they might die, barely survive or have some difficulty.
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2 years ago ::
Aug 09, 2011 - 12:25PM
#9
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Date Joined:
Jul 21, 2004
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1200 XP encounter results in a level 7 encounter, which is a level +3 encounter.
Technically, it will be one very hard encounter.
Depending on your players, they might die, barely survive or have some difficulty.
Which is why it should be used as something other than a straight-up slugfest.
[N]o difference is less easily overcome than the difference of opinion about semi-abstract questions. - L. Tolstoy
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2 years ago ::
Aug 09, 2011 - 12:46PM
#10
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Date Joined:
Jun 29, 2011
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Not that I play forth but from what I heard it can be as bad as any other game. Some players are so stacked or so lucky with dice rolls (or just cheat roll =p ) that they can easily nuke stuff that should be impossable for their level. While other players with average bilds or bad rolls are brought to their knees by stuff they should easily defeat. And when you got a mix of the two like I do in my group its a pain in the @$$!
Minus the advice above all I can say is use your best judgement, you know your players built and how well they do more then we do. At worst if its to much for the PCs and they are near death have an accident happen to one or two of them.
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