Deadlord36 wrote:Funny, I see again the line " My players need all they can do to survive" etc. etc.
Do all of you DM this way? I throw encounters at PC's purely randomly. They might get 5 kobolds or 3 red dragons, same as in "real life". I have never been one to tailor every encounter to the PC's. I do, however, always leave SOME way of escape if brainpower/roleplaying is used.

That'd get awfully frustrating after the 39859th time the way-too-powerful-for-the-group smushed them into the dirt. And if there's always an "out" against the too-powerful monsters, that seems like it would strain credibility and roleplaying a heckuva lot.

I don't tailor my encounters to the group, but I don't toss challenges at them "randomly". Imo, that's no more akin to "real life" (as if dragons attacking villages are, heh) than hand-tailoring every encounter to the party's strengths and weaknesses.

Deadlord36 wrote:Funny, I see again the line " My players need all they can do to survive" etc. etc.
Do all of you DM this way? I throw encounters at PC's purely randomly. They might get 5 kobolds or 3 red dragons, same as in "real life". I have never been one to tailor every encounter to the PC's. I do, however, always leave SOME way of escape if brainpower/roleplaying is used.
Xvarts....................
OK, quick trivia: Which module is the only one to contain xvarts (don't ask which edition).

Wouldn't the dragons be more likely to go after the 5 kobolds than the party?

As a one-time anthropology major, I can't stand the idea of "random" encounters. Monsters can "wander" in a defined area that makes sense, sure. They don't appear sporadically (eg. teleport) in places they don't belong, at least not unless that's a plot device.

If you're in a relatively civilized countryside, you know it's dragon-free. You would have heard "The dragons are coming! Outflanking Village A was razed..." weeks before you actually saw one...besides, dragons are smart. They know better than to attack weakling (low-level) humans without a good reason. If people start going missing, the tougher humans show up. Dragons have long lifetimes and good memories.

If you're not in relatively civilized countryside, what's the motivation for kobolds/the party being anywhere near known dragon territory? They would have been exterminated ages ago. You get the point. Randomness doesn't make sense on it's own. It requires explanation.

Kobolds, on the other hand, might be a perfect fit for the party...neither is terrified of the other to the point that they wouldn't go on with their everyday business (eg. willing to risk an encounter). Their normal environments overlap. Kobolds do have more things to do than harass party members, you know. Laundry, dishes, child-rearing, food-gathering, Kurtulmak worshipping. Sure they'll spear you in the eye given a chance...

Man, I gotta DM again.

re: Xvarts..doh..I just saw this one a while ago...it's a 1st Ed mod, and fairly common too. Dont know which one.
[edit]  I'm going with N3, Destiny of Kings, but that's just a shot in the dark.

Sentinel it is!
I'm not saying that I just throw darts at random encounter tables, it's more along the lines of what jamesmishler said. If the party turns a corner on the road and finds an androsphinx making a meal of a horse, they have the option to leave or interact. If they attack it, so be it. I almost never railroad them.
The last time I played (not DMed) in a group, the young, 3E-loving DM was a huge fan of beating the party down to a few hit points every session. Monsters would go after the party member with the most hit points. He had 3 ogres ignore the other party members and focus on me, and I ended up dying. He acted surprised when I told him I was dead. Then, of course, a paladin showed up, since the party was about to get wiped, and slew all the ogres singlehandedly. I don't object to dying, but a little realism would have been nice.

Deadlord36 wrote:The last time I played (not DMed) in a group, the young, 3E-loving DM was a huge fan of beating the party down to a few hit points every session. Monsters would go after the party member with the most hit points. He had 3 ogres ignore the other party members and focus on me, and I ended up dying. He acted surprised when I told him I was dead. Then, of course, a paladin showed up, since the party was about to get wiped, and slew all the ogres singlehandedly. I don't object to dying, but a little realism would have been nice.

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You've really got to stop posting my watch list

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