Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Essex 05-25-05, 08:41 PM	How exacly do you use the table from the DMG to determine the CR of an encounter involving multiple opponents, some of which have a CR of 1? I know that every time you double the number of creatures with a CR beyond 1 you add 2 to the encounter level, but the book states that this doesn't work for creatures with a CR of 1. The text directs you to a table, but I can't figure out exactly how to use it. For example, I have an encounter with two CR 5 creatures and 4 CR 1 creatures. The two CR 5 creatures become a CR 7 encounter. Do the CR 1 creatures raise the encounter level to CR 8? If not, how many would be needed?
tiercel 05-25-05, 09:42 PM	Just a note: in general, you may want to try questions like this on the What's a DM to Do? (http://boards1.wizards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=24) or even DM Rules Counseling (http://boards1.wizards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=536) boards. Here, you have to be careful to keep CR and EL straight. Every creature has a CR, but an encounter has an EL. CR is what you use to give experience. If you fight 2x CR 5 and 4x CR 1, you get XP for a CR 5 creature (x2) and XP for a CR 1 creature (x4). You only modify CR if you modify the creature (by giving the elite array, more monster hit dice, class levels, or some kind of homebrewed power-up). EL is what you use to judge the "difficulty" of the encounter. Assuming a party of 4 PCs, an EL equal to the average party level should be a moderate challenge, that the party can handle several of in a day. EL = (party level + 4) should be a very tough fight that will push your party to their limits (or possibly past). EL = CR for one creature. Every doubling of creatures is +2 EL after that. Four CR 1 creatures is EL 5 (two doublings), and EL 5 + two CR 5 is "one and a half doublings" or +3 EL, for a total of EL 8. Note that you can (and probably should) manually adjust EL taking any special factors into consideration: if the monsters get to strike from ambush, or if the PCs know about the monsters and are fully prepared and buffed-up specifically for them before they go in. In general, if you manually adjust the EL, then you should tweak the XP given as well (up to double XP if you manually raise the EL by 2, for example). In summary: two CR 5 creatures plus four CR 1 creatures == EL 8 "by default." This would be a not-too-bad encounter for a party of four 8th level characters, fairly tough for four 6th level characters, and dangerous for four 4th level characters.