Balance: Encounters – NEWPROTEST Publishing

Encounters

Encounters should be challenging, but not so difficult that the game is no longer fun for the players.

Combat Considerations

If a group of low-level characters are meant to fight a fire-breathing dragon, their odds of survival are pretty low. However, the dragon is controlled by the Narrator, and the Narrator gets to decide if the dragon is friendly or timid or fiercely territorial.

Sometimes, combat is intentional, and encounters with creatures or NPCs should be fun for the players. Instant-death ends a story pretty quickly, so giving the players the opportunity to be successful is important. For this reason, there are some simple combat-math guidelines available.

Blight Wolf (CL:1)

Description: Blight Wolves have black matted fur and glowing yellow eyes. They carry the stench of death.

Brawn: 2
Reflex: 3
Discipline: 0
Wit: -1

Health: 2
Defense Rating: 2
Attack:

Bite (2)

Abilities:

Pack Tactics: While two or more Blight Wolves are within 20 feet of each other, they each gain +2 to Attack.

In the example of the Blight Wolf shown above, the creature has stats and combat abilities that aren’t that much more powerful than that of a first level character wielding a dagger. For this reason, they have a Creature Level (CL) of 1, and don’t pose too much of a threat against a team of adventures. But because they come in packs (2 or more), the tables can turn quite quickly.

As a general guideline, a reasonably challenging encounter should built around a 2:1 ratio of character levels to creature levels. If there are two Level 1 characters, they can handle one Blight Wolf without too much difficulty. If there are two Blight Wolves (CL:2), this would be easy for four Level 1 characters, but perhaps a little challenging for just three.

Regardless, this is merely a guideline, and creature combat can be very dynamic. Sometimes characters get very lucky. Sometimes the creatures are the lucky ones.

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