APL=average party level, what level the party is and what sort of challenges they should be able to take.
CR=challenge rating, the level of the encounter, apl lvl encounter= normal encounter, apl +1 bit harder, +2 challenging.
|
APL and CR are really confusing me, could someone explain to me what they are and there significance to the game? Thanks.
APL=average party level. If you have four 3rd level characters, the APL is 3. If you have four characters of levels 7, 6, 6, and 5, the APL is 6.
CR=challenge rating. It is a description of how challenging an encounter is expected to be. If the challenge rating (CR) is equal to the APL, then the encounter should be of normal difficulty. If the CR is three higher than the APL, the encounter should be of epic difficulty.
In choosing an encounter, think on how hard you want it to be, and then build to that challenge rating.
Go to the link uber nerd linked.
Essentially though the average party level (APL) should equal the Challenge Rating (CR).
e.g Party: Wiz 5, Rogue 4, Fig, 6 APL 5
they should have "average encounters which have a CR of 5
It is far from a perfect system but should get you in the right ballpark. After DM'ing awhile, particularly the same group, you will know instiinctively what the party can fight based on character strengths/weaknesses. This is a beginner and official use tool only as the wide range of possible character designs can make a 'right' CR encounter overwhelming or trivial and therefore minimizes its use.
Never forget that as DM you have the ability to fudge die rolls, HP's, etc. to keep the encounter exciting and challenging. You should definitely use this as it is inevitable an encounter of your design will be unbalanced and could cause a TPK.
Phoenix, the APL/CR system is designed to help GMs build appropriate level encounters to challenge the player's PCs.
It assumes a standard four person party, meaning the party should at least have the following roles covered: tank, healer, artillery, sneak. If you have more or fewer party members, you'll need to be ready to make adjustments. If your players are advanced power gamers or total newbies, you'll need to be ready to make adjustments.
CR = APL encounters are expected to be encounters the party can easily win if they utilize reasonable tactics and have reasonably competent characters. In encounter design CR = APL encounters are typically designed as resource draining encounters, not truly threatening ones. After a few such encounters the party will be starting to feel like they are running out of spells, heals or other use-per-day abilities (wildshape, rage, etc.) This makes other encounters more difficult. Most GMs will set up a series of encounters starting with lower difficulty encounters leading up to a major encounter (perhaps APL+3 or so) to really challenge and threaten the player's PCs.
The system is not perfect and playstyle and party makeup can skew the results considerably. You'll have to learn your group's "sweet spot" through experience.