A ? on CR [Archive] - Wizards Community - Pages Merged by Solauren

A ? on CR [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Jokken
12-04-05, 07:22 AM Is a Dire Boar too much for 2 level 3 characters? A fightr and a rouge.
Radijs
12-04-05, 07:55 AM This isn't the best subforum to put this question in. The best place where it belongs it the monster forum or Whats a dm to do forum

That said I'd say the two PC's are in for a rough ride. The Dire Boar is a monster with a CR 4 and they are only lvl 3 and only half the size of a normal party. They can overcome this encounter but they will have to pull out all the stops and as a DM you may have to fudge a roll or two to prevent a player kill.
Inigo Carmine
12-04-05, 10:33 AM It's doable, but it will be tricky.

The way I see it, Halving the number of PCs is roughly the same as doubling the amount of enemies. Doubling the amount of enemies (assuming the enemies doubled are exactly the same). This makes the dire boar similar to a CR 6 encounter, for a CR 3 party. In my experience, a party can easily handle one battle 3 CR higher than themselves, so long as there are no other battles that tough that day. In fact, another battle that day 2 CR higher than they are would be risking death most likely.

However... With less PCs, it will make the battle much more "swingy", and the margin for error/bad luck is very small. That is, statistical variations from the norms are more likely to occur. IE, if the boar gets a critical in the first round, it is likely to result in a TPK.

If you're going to have a small party, it is probably better to have multiple weaker enemies. The more dice that need to be rolled, the more the statistically average conclusion is likely to occur (the pcs winning without anyone dying).

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Jokken 12-04-05, 07:22 AM	Is a Dire Boar too much for 2 level 3 characters? A fightr and a rouge.
Radijs 12-04-05, 07:55 AM	This isn't the best subforum to put this question in. The best place where it belongs it the monster forum or Whats a dm to do forum That said I'd say the two PC's are in for a rough ride. The Dire Boar is a monster with a CR 4 and they are only lvl 3 and only half the size of a normal party. They can overcome this encounter but they will have to pull out all the stops and as a DM you may have to fudge a roll or two to prevent a player kill.
Inigo Carmine 12-04-05, 10:33 AM	It's doable, but it will be tricky. The way I see it, Halving the number of PCs is roughly the same as doubling the amount of enemies. Doubling the amount of enemies (assuming the enemies doubled are exactly the same). This makes the dire boar similar to a CR 6 encounter, for a CR 3 party. In my experience, a party can easily handle one battle 3 CR higher than themselves, so long as there are no other battles that tough that day. In fact, another battle that day 2 CR higher than they are would be risking death most likely. However... With less PCs, it will make the battle much more "swingy", and the margin for error/bad luck is very small. That is, statistical variations from the norms are more likely to occur. IE, if the boar gets a critical in the first round, it is likely to result in a TPK. If you're going to have a small party, it is probably better to have multiple weaker enemies. The more dice that need to be rolled, the more the statistically average conclusion is likely to occur (the pcs winning without anyone dying).