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I think that i found the answer today whilst reading through the books.<br><br>I was reading book III (creature book) and at the end of the book (page 59) i was struck by this phrase written by Snider:<br><br>"<i>For play balance, the referee should restrict the total AHP of the forces that a party can encounter to three times the parties total HPV or less.<br><br>To preserve the challenge of encounters, except in special circumstances, the Character party should never have more than a three to one advantage over the force that they combat, except in special circumstances during an adventure</i>".<br><br>Now, i must admit that i'm quite confused.Maybe it's because i am not an english mothertongue or it's just because Mr Snider isn't quite clear here?<br><br>I take the first phrase to mean that:<br><br>-the referee can arrange an encounter (for instance) with a single monster that has 120 hpv whereas the total hpv of the party is 40 (40x3=120)<br><br>while the second phrase means (again, as i got it):<br><br>-the party can (and should have, most of the times except in special circumstances) three times the chance of winning over a monster or an encounter, so the referee can arrange an encounter where there are 2 ogres totalling 20 HPV whereas the party total HPV can be of 60 (20x3), but not more than that.<br><br>Am i right? what do you think?<br><br><br>> -----Original Message-----<br>> From: longshotgm@comcast.net<br>> Sent: Wed, 23 Apr 2014 18:50:20 -0400<br>> To: pnp@list.powersandperils.org<br>> Subject: Re: [PnP] How do you balance encounters?<br>> <br>> <br>> That works well.<br>> Nice thing about pnp is you can do that with ease.<br>> Richard made it just for that reason.<br>> <br>> <br>> At 02:55 AM 4/21/2014, you wrote:<br>> >My 2 CP,<br>>> <br>> >As far as i'm concerned i use another formula for the CDF:<br>>> <br>> >MEL/2 + CEL/5 + HPV/10 + CL<br>> >+1 per advantagous ability (combat ability, magic items, resistance,<br>> >immunity etc)<br>> >-1 per disadvantagous ability (low morale, afflictions, prohibition etc)<br>>> <br>> >Doing the same with player's caracters you can compute the encounter<br>> ratio.<br>> >Above 2-1, the combat will be one sided<br>>> <br>> >TNT<br>> >-----Message d'origine-----<br>> >De : pnp [mailto:pnp-bounces@list.powersandperils.org] De la part de<br>> Scott<br>> >Adams<br>> >Envoyé : lundi 21 avril 2014 03:29<br>> >À : The Powers and Perils Mailing List<br>> >Objet : Re: [PnP] How do you balance encounters?<br>>> <br>>> <br>> >Alex, Paul, David all had good points.<br>> >Balance is serious work. I believe in balance a a lot.<br>> >But experience is the best judge. Most GMS go from Grade E to A in my<br>> view.<br>> >Grade E newbies are those who are 80% hack and slash and 10% characters<br>> and<br>> >10% plot.<br>> >Grade A tend to be the best 70% plot, 10% hack/slash and 20% characters.<br>> >I used to be Grade E in the 80s using CEL as a balance. But it quickly<br>> fell<br>> >through bad times.<br>> >Very few are Grade A+. Oout of the hundreds I only know of 4-5 GMS that<br>> are<br>> >grade A+.<br>> >So it is mostly experience.<br>> >CDF is good bu it can be dangerous.<br>> >A CDF 8 dragon might seem bad but for some characters they are easy.<br>> >Yet a CDF 1 monster that has a ability to kill with a look can be more<br>> >dangerous. So CDF is not a good factor.<br>> >If I reclal Soul Davias for example are low CDF? But they are quite<br>> >dangerous to underestimate.<br>> >I tend to look at it case by case basis for pcs. I have a 8 foot 800<br>> pound<br>> >Bard that can handle likley a army on his own with 70 odd hp. But he<br>> can be<br>> >downed by a simple spell.<br>>> <br>> >I have a person who uses dual daggers. I tend to konw she can handle<br>> more<br>> >than one person so I figure more than 1 for her. Yet I have a small<br>> Faerry<br>> >that is weak somewhat (not fully) but can be understimated by the bad<br>> guys<br>> >who cna tke out a hundred bad guys with her bow.<br>>> <br>> >I also look at the gear. A person wearing AV7 magic armor can handle a<br>> >tougher bad guy than one who is weairng no armor.<br>> >I see a person who has magic toys is out balanced by their use so I may<br>> >overwhelm that person so that the toys are useless.<br>>> <br>> >I don't on purpose design some encounters to be mean. For example my<br>> last<br>> >enocunter I had<br>> >5 human npc males<br>> >2 great apes<br>> >1 unknown magic user (will not reveal here since aprt is looking:) )<br>>> <br>> >vs the<br>> >Giant Bard, Shman/Wizard, Dagger Maiden, Faerry so 8 vs 4 more or less.<br>> >The humans are wimps and taken out fast.<br>> >But the apes do damage.<br>> >The unknown bad guy takes out he giant and could've killed him.<br>> >So I balance the giant with a simple few magical words.<br>>> <br>> >There is no rule of thumb here.<br>> >One must see teh pc as a whole their gear, skills and experience.<br>> >a Newbie player who is doing a fighter with bogus gear and skills is<br>> useless<br>> >if he can't figure out how to do tactics in a fight.<br>>> <br>> >But a overconfident giant who fears nothing cna be taken down without<br>> even a<br>> >blade.<br>>> <br>> >A gm shouldn't every fight to kill.<br>> >In fact balance it. 3-3 easy ho hum batles.<br>> >This tends to make players cocky.<br>> >Then bam a hard fight.<br>> >Reel them in for their bravado.<br>>> <br>> >A gm who sends 100 goblins against 10 pcs sees the pcs dead.<br>> >But a SMART player who can wipe them out with a simple XYZ spellcan be a<br>> >great balance.<br>>> <br>> >In my mind I have a irrational math for balance.<br>> >If I see a player pick up a Sword of Doom and Chainmail of the Gods then<br>> I<br>> >see that as a certain factor of points to balance it out.<br>> >So let's say in my mind I have 20 points vs 25 a fair balance.<br>> >But if i see naked pcs with nothing but a few sticks swarmed by a trible<br>> of<br>> >goblins then in my mimnd it might be 50 to 10 a unfair balance.<br>> >So I allow outs. Outs are critical to every encounter. If your stupid<br>> >enough to need the cup on the altar across the room then go get it.<br>> Just be<br>> >careful of the lava on the floor. If you need to cross a roof with 200<br>> >archers on teh ground below then you deserve to die playing pin cushion.<br>> >But there is always a out.<br>> >The same lava can be skipped by that vine in the roof if only you can<br>> get<br>> >there.<br>> >Same roof can be crossed with that tower shield the guard left.<br>> >If you can see a out it is always there.<br>>> <br>> >For the goblins if you can simply jump off the cliff to th eriver below<br>> to<br>> >avoid them then do so.<br>>> <br>> >Balance is hard to figure out. But give folks a way out.<br>> >Kobayshu Maru no win things are NOTFun for players.<br>>> <br>>> <br>>> <br>>> <br>>> <br>>> <br>>> <br>>> <br>>> PM 4/19/2014, you wrote:<br>>> >Hi all,<br>>>> <br>>> >how do you manage to balance encounters in P&P?<br>>>> <br>>> >I have a group of four players:<br>>>> <br>>> >Ennon: OCV 2, DCV 4<br>>> >Gunnard: OCV 9, DCV 8<br>>> >Darrel: OCV 3, DCV 5<br>>> >Habbakuk: OCV 6, DCV 5<br>>>> <br>>> >the average hit point value of each character is around 20, except for<br>>> >Gunnard who has 33 HPV.<br>>>> <br>>> >Given this situation, i always have doubts as to which creature<br>>> >(monster) they should face.<br>>> >As you probably remember, Richard Snider at the end of book IV stated<br>>> >that "the situation that evolves in your game must be designed such<br>>> >that:<br>>>> <br>>> >A) they are not automatic victories for your players AND<br>>> >B) they are situations that the party involved can win<br>>>> <br>>> >I always try to stick to this (apparently simple) rule, but it is not<br>>> >so easy, so i would like to know how you are used to managing<br>>> encounters.<br>>>> <br>>> >I think it is a mistake for the game master to throw monsters at the<br>>> >party that are too strong to beat, but at the same time the player's<br>>> >skills must be put to test, that is why i think that encounters should<br>>> >always be balanced.<br>>>> <br>>> >Now, how to balance them? How to pick the correct monster (one which is<br>>> >as strong as my players are) from the monster list in book III?<br>>>> <br>>> ><<a href="http://www.inbox.com/earth">http://www.inbox.com/earth</a>><br>>> >3D Earth Screensaver Preview<br>>>> <br>>> >Free 3D Earth Screensaver<br>>> >Watch the Earth right on your desktop! Check it out at<br>>> ><<a href="http://www.inbox.com/earth">http://www.inbox.com/earth</a>><a href="http://www.inbox.com/earth">www.inbox.com/earth</a><br>>> >_______________________________________________<br>>> >pnp mailing list<br>>> >pnp@list.powersandperils.org<br>>> ><a href="http://www.powersandperils.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pnp">http://www.powersandperils.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pnp</a><br>>> <br>>> <br>> >_______________________________________________<br>> >pnp mailing list<br>> >pnp@list.powersandperils.org<br>> ><a href="http://www.powersandperils.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pnp">http://www.powersandperils.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pnp</a><br>>> <br>>> <br>> >_______________________________________________<br>> >pnp mailing list<br>> >pnp@list.powersandperils.org<br>> ><a href="http://www.powersandperils.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pnp">http://www.powersandperils.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pnp</a><br>> <br>> <br>> _______________________________________________<br>> pnp mailing list<br>> pnp@list.powersandperils.org<br>> <a href="http://www.powersandperils.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pnp">http://www.powersandperils.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pnp</a>
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