How many games that you've played/DMed have actually followed the 4 encounters per day guideline?
Curious as always,
TS
hmmm...none
One encounter per day speeds up the game and if it's one good fight then no one will complain. The only exceptions are dungeon crawls and other site based adventures.
Nope,
4 encounters per day would take too much time. Each session lasts about 6 hours and one encounter can take like forever (2 hours).
So in my campaign I do the one encounter per day, but the encounter is usually EL +2. I am steering my campaign into more role-playing waters after several sessions of orc-bashing.
Since my sessions are usually 2 hours + I have usually had more than 10 encounters along with much roleplaying chaos by the time the session is over.
Um... since I've never heard of that guideline before, I'd have to say "never".
Game sessions can last anywhere from 4-12+ hours, with an average around 6 hours in length. I've had PCs clear out an entire level of a large dungeon or, conversely, spend the entire session on essentially one encounter. I don't really keep track. I *do* keep track of what the fantasy calendar day is but most of the time the PCs start off in the "morning" and when they emerge from the dungeon, it's generally assumed to be "evening". The only exception, of course, would be if they got there butts handed to them shortly after entering and had to run for their lives - then they'd have to fill the rest of the fantasy day with more mundane activities, I guess, like...breathing in relief or something. :)
None Doesn't seem to be necessary?!
Depends on the session. If the in-game time is critical for some reason, then i make it a factor and adjust ECL accordingly for multiple encounters without rest. If not, there is no reason to stay within those suggested guidelines. In fact, they can be quite cumbersome in real time...
As ever,
ACE
Four per day? (Where d'that come from?)
You're talking about outdoor random encounters(?)... In my game it's never the same. I roll the percentile dice every hour with a (usually)3% to encounter something... Sometimes it goes up to 8% and sometimes it's 0% depending on time of day, terrain, and weather.
Once I confirm that there IS an encounter, then I determin what kind of encounter it is... It could be monsters (by monsters, I mean orcs, dragons, dwarves , herds of antilopes or pilgrims), a place (like an abandoned campsite, some caves, some ruins, or a log cabin), or an event (like a forest fire, or an eclipse). I have made tables for all of this.
So, basically, there could be no encounter whatsoever, and there could be five or six encounters per day, it's just that there's no need for all of them to be fights (hey, man, not everyone is out to get the PCs...).
Ultradan
Just to clarify, I am talking about in-game time rather than real time when I say 4/day. I don't have my books at the moment, but the 4/day guideline is somewhere in the DMG.
The idea is that such a guideline is the major factor which balances all items and classes that have X/day abilities. With less encounters per day, spellcasters and similar characters that depend on X/day abilities can throw their weight around and shine more. With more encounters per day, spellcasters and such run out of power which allows other characters to shine.
My own experience has been primarily that of single massive battles in which resource dependant characters have to use as much of their X/day firepower as possible just to survive.
Are you sure you're not thinking of the theoretical basis of the CR system? The CR system is built around the assumption that a group consisting of a wizard, cleric, fighter, and rogue, all of X level, will expend 1/4 of their resources in a fight with a creature of (CR = X). The implication comes through strongly that the party is expected to be able to handle 4 such encounters per day, and that is "balanced," but somewhere in the RAW there is also a mention that this is not true.
Successive fights will be harder and harder, expending a greater and greater portion of resources, since all resources are not created equal. One fireball is better than two magic missiles, but after a fight or two, even though only 1/4 of your total resources by quantity are gone, that's all your left with and you have to expend a greater proportion of your remaining resources to handle the fight. The next encounter will compound this.
Anyway, regardless of where you are getting this idea from, I throw as many encounters at my party as I think 1. the story calls for, 2. is exciting, and/or 3. they can handle. If this is 4, so be it. If it's 1, so be it. If it's 52, so be it.
Not even with the older version. One per/day is more than enough to bog down "story" progress. Melee can be so intrusive that I relegate it to the justifiably minimum necessary to support the skills these guys are supposed to have when they finally encounter the BBEG.
|
Are you sure you're not thinking of the theoretical basis of the CR system?
The four encounters per day norm comes from the DMG:
An encounter with an Encounter Level equal to the PCs' level is one that should expend about 20% of their resources -- hit points, spells, magic item uses, and so on. This means, on average, that after about four encounters of the party's level the PCs need to rest, heal, and regain spells.
I tend to try to run four or more encounters per game day. This allows for a bit more control over the danger level. One big encounter at an ECL 3 or 4 above that of the party makes for a decent "big" encounter, but is more likely to result in unexpected character deaths than several (or many) smaller encounters. And the tension from the smaller encounters builds nicely, too.
I'm not a fan of the "one big fight" method. It just feels... unbalanced. The party gets loot that's too high level for them, etc. I know that doesn't necessarily pan out, since they miss lots of other smaller loots and thus it is equal overall, and with NPC wealth guidelines as they are, you don't really get BBEGs with gear that's too good for the party. Still, ACs and saves and hp aren't "scaled" to the party's level. I just prefer a series of EL appropriate (maybe +/-1) fights, culminated by one similar fight who happens to be the BBEG. Just seems more "right" to me, but I realize that's purely a style preference.
Still, I don't typically concern myself with considerations of how many fights the party should have per day.
I took the "4/day" to mean how many encounters the average gaming group should get into per session. This is something I've always tried to promote in my games.
Frankly, I've played in a lot of other campaigns, and always got bored during the slow moments. Murder mysteries drag on too long for me--for the most part--and puzzles usually leave me wanting to go running off into the woods to kill gnolls.
For me, one or two encounters a session tend to leave me feeling a bit unsatisfied. I like to see my players run across a wide variety of monsters and challenges that will swiftly reward them with the experience they need to expedite the story. Hanging around at the tavern at level two gets old quick.
I usually run for a 3-4 hour session every week, so I set a goal of at least one encounter every hour, hopefully two in the depths of a dungeon. Other time can be spent collecting treasure, navigating obstacles, interrogating/negotiating with captured enemies, and rescuing prisoners.
Don't get me wrong, though. I love a good PC-NPC dynamic, a kind of interaction that enriches the role-playing experience, and makes the gameplay more meaningful. For instance, a recently acquainted merchant is suddenly held hostage by an evil cult to Erythnul, for a sacrifice. The PC has a greater vested interest in his rescue, but one that encourages experience gain through the most basic element of D&D: combat.
I usually don't get to four per game day althoug I run a lot of one-shots which last about one day (game-time) and some 8 hours (real time)
I prefer to build a lot of suspense in my games and combat distracts from it. It's better to have the PC's sweating over what is going to happen for 3 hours then it is to have them fight things every other minute; they tend to loose the story a bit.
Last night I did make it though; 4 full encounters in a single session. They fled one; completed 3 and just barely managed to all stay alive. It did start to distract from the story though; especially the almost random encounter that have little to do with it.
Although they just loved fighting Snuggles, the 20ft parrot from hell.