Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Shan'Tillies 05-05-05, 04:21 PM	Hallo everybody. I'll get right to the point. What is the difference between CR and EL? One Bearded devil has a CR of 5 and EL of 5, but 4 Bearded devils have a combined CR of 20 but represent a EL of 9. How is this making any sence???
HomebrewedMonster 05-05-05, 04:58 PM	This makes sense because as the party's resources and powers increase they are capable of outputing more damage and can also take more. So a Bearded devil is a challenge for a party of four 5th level characters, 4 are a challenge for 4 9th level characters. A challenge rating is suppose to tell you the following: this creature will use a quarter of the party's resources to defeat it. Now an EL is the actual encounter level, so the four bearded devils should use up a quarter of a 9th level party's resources. Hope that helps.
primemover003 05-05-05, 05:26 PM	CR applies to a single creature and represents how tough that creature is for a Party of 4 PC's. So the Barbazu's CR 5 means it will deplete 20% of the resources (spells, hp's, class abilities/day, etc) of a party of four 5th level characters. CR also determines how much experience points the given creature is worth. EL is a Tool used by the DM to assess how challenging a given encounter is for a standard party. So four CR 5 Barbazu are an EL 9. This means these 4 devils are an appropriate challenge for a 9th level party. EL's only other purpose is determining Treasure. The value of treasure is based on how tough an encounter is, not how powerful the componant creatures in the encounter are. CR only increases when you make an individual creature stronger by adding class levels, HD, or Templates. EL increases with the number of creatures in a given encounter. Encounter design and monster design are an Art, not a science. You'll have to experiment till you get the hang of it.
Shan'Tillies 05-06-05, 10:48 AM	First off, Thanks for the help. Secondly, how do you calculate the EL? Untill now I've jus winged it when ever I had to create and encounter my self. Most of the time I use premade adventures and tie them together into my own little campaign and it works great. But I would like to make some more interresting encounters, which fitt the party better. I have a dwarf tank-like player and a halfling rouge with almost no hp. It's a bit tough to keep her alive and at the same time challenge the dwarf. He's a bit cocky so last time he met a winter wolf alone (lvl 6 char.). That made him a bit more humble :D
yonman 05-06-05, 11:09 AM	There's a table and text in the DM's guide that explains how EL is calculated. It's a little bit more complicated than this, but basically, every time you double the # of creatures from 1 you add 2 to the EL. Ex. 1 Bearded Devil (CR 5) is EL 5 2 Devils is EL 7 4 Devils is EL 9 Or you can forget about doing math and just use this online resource: http://www.d20srd.org/encounterCalculator.htm
primemover003 05-06-05, 01:17 PM	The EL tables are in the DMG, pg 49 or 50 IIRC...