Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 splendidplumage Mar 17, 2015 14:06:33	So I am planning on running an exploration campaign. I thought I could make a random encounter table to see what they find. However I then decided I should actually plan each encounter out rather than it just 'you encounter X number of creature Y what do you do'.   The first encounter I have generated is 2 Scouts. A hard encounter for my party of 4 1st level characters.   However the problem with these guys as designed is their attack has a range of 600'. They are observant stealthy guys. In many of the environments the scouts can be encountered in they would see the party coming and with no longbows themselves the party might struggle? For example an encounter of we run across a desert for 10 rounds being shot at would be a disaster.   What sort of terrain would make this fair? If it needs a map to show what is happening does anyone know where I can find a fair map, or map generator online that would be large enough scale?
#2 AaronOfBarbaria Mar 17, 2015 15:15:33	I don't think it is a matter of terrain that would make this encounter fair, it is one of asking yourself what the scouts' goals are, and whether that even involves attacking the party on sight - which it likely doesn't, since the point of a scout is to gather information and report back, not initiate hostile action against unknown quantities.   If the scouts need to know why the party is in the area, they'll need to get significantly closer than their maximum bow range, and will either have to actually initiate conversation with the party or stealthily follow them and observe them for some time until an idea of why the party is around can be discerned.
#3 BRJN Mar 17, 2015 15:44:35	Put the Scouts in thick foliage - a swamp or forest or very tall grass - so the effective "max range" is more like 60 feet.  If the Scouts roll Perception and Stealth fairly well, the PCs discover their (doused) campfire instead of them; they are nearby watching to see what happens next.   You could have the PCs see the Scouts canoeing down a river, going the other way.  But there is no tell-tale "these are scouts"; they look like fur trappers or the D&D equivalent of UPS from a distance.