Don’t Level the Encounters – Just the Characters

Has this happened in your campaign?

The PCs have just obtained a new level and as they head out for parts unknown they discover that their new encounters are all beefed up – almost as if they gained a level as well. I know I’m guilty of it, new opponents or the same ones as before with a level or two added to match up with the party’s new level.

I think that it’s due to two factors, the players’ desires and the systems we play.

My group plays D&D primarily and the leveling system is aimed at combat encounters – specifically combat encounters that are of an equivalent level to the PCs’ party. If you give them weaker opponents it slows down their progression which in turn makes for unhappy players as they want to advance their characters and get the “new stuff” associated with the new level (spells, feats, skills, etc.).

So what happens? The opponents continue to get tougher, combat sessions get longer and character advancement slows down as it now takes more sessions to reach the next plateau. You’ve created the same slow progression issue, you’ve only used a different method.

As a suggestion I would recommend you, as the GM, set a guideline for how often you want to level the group and then follow it. For most groups I think you’ll find that advancing a level every 4-6 sessions will be about right. That should be fast enough to make your players happy but not so fast that you can’t keep up. We took this approach and everyone seems to be happy with the results.

So that takes care of the leveling of characters but what about the encounters?

There is actually a simply solution, don’t change the opponents or at least not right away. This sounds easy but the habit a lot of GMs have (and I’m guilty of it myself) is that you want to challenge the party. We all have a sense of competition in us and even though the GM and party are not suppose to be competing, it can sneak into your game.

In most fantasy settings low level parties go up against low level creatures such as orcs or goblins – so why don’t they face them at higher levels? Think about this way for a moment, if you give your higher level party opponents that use to take them to the limit but now are more easily handled, aren’t you making a more enjoyable game? Think about it from the player’s perspective, now that level means a bit more, they can actually see the value of their increased melee ability or powers. Of course don’t go totally soft, give them a “big baddie” once in a while as well, but now those opponents will be a focal point of an adventure and not just another combat that they need to survive.

So remember, just because the party level goes up doesn’t mean that the encounters have to follow suit.

May your dice roll well.