I'm seeing the statistic cited across the web that the DMG says 6-8 encounters per adventuring day is typical or normal, but can't find the actual text. Would someone kindly let a fellow DM know the section/page number?
I'm seeing the statistic cited across the web that the DMG says 6-8 encounters per adventuring day is typical or normal, but can't find the actual text. Would someone kindly let a fellow DM know the section/page number?
Also, if you look at the adventuring day xp table (same section), it adds up to 6-8 times the medium encounter budget.
I personally prefer 3ish Deadly encounters, which is supposedly comparable according to that same chart.
Same! That way it’s easy to get through a whole adventure in a single session. (Less than 3 breaks the short rest system though, so 3 is the sweet spot.)
I don't really care about the encounters per day recommendations. We do very few classic dungeon slogs, it's mostly larger set piece fights as endless fighting chains isn't what my table find fun.
So I adjust accordingly - if I only prep for one set piece fight I take into account that the party has full resources and up the CR and number of opponents accordingly. And CR calculation is whacky anyway so...
And yes, this way the short rest vs long rest balance for classes is off. But my players don't care, everyone has fun, so all is well.
It's really hard for me to imagine doing 6 or more combat encounters in a single session (I know the text says "adventuring day" but holy crap, I'd hope most sessions could span at least one in-game day) - especially once you're past Tier 1 and Tier 2. A hard encounter (using multiple foes) at, say, level 7, can easily take up to an hour (depending). Unless you're just throwing a lot of low HP mooks at the party, I don't know how 6+ combat encounters per session is feasible.
Plus doing that many encounters consistently would just get to be a grind, I would think, even for the most hardcore min/max or optimizers.
I would completely agree with you, with the exception of throwing in a medium or low threat encounter, just to break the pacing and tension of the game up for a moment. Other than that, yeah, 6-8 encounters in an adventuring day is too much. 3-4 can easily fill a 4 hour session.
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I believe the guidelines are more for rookie DM's who are trying to plot out as much of their campaign as possible. Setting up 6-8 encounters, that will not kill the party (or force them to flee) is difficult, unless you stick with Moderate in Encounter Builder stuff. To me, it's simply a time-eater then, with combat being trivial enough to not really carry any weight, ie: risk, for the party.
I set encounters to fit the theme and location of the party, as well as where they are in the campaign. Some days they have one major encounter, others, they are harassed repeatedly by trivial monsters, swarms of Goblins and such, easily dispatched, but needing to be addressed. These little encounters can also be used to suck resources out of the party (Cooldowns on special abilities, eating spell slots, using potions perhaps) to make a moderate encounter later, a bit more interesting and challenging. The number in the book is just a guide for how to drain party resources through the day to add importance to getting a rest in, or rationing resources, in case something bigger pops up.
I wouldn't put TOO much weight on it and I would suggest being flexible with your plans. For example, setting up 6 encounters for the day is great, but if a couple early ones get really crap die rolls from the party, they may well take a lot more damage, or burn a lot more resources than you expected/planned on. Always be ready to scrap an encounter if the dice gods are frowning on the party and in the same thought, be ready to boost the HP of some foes, if the party is rolling pure gold. The idea is to provide a day where the players DO things, fighting, puzzle solving, social interactions and such, to consume resources and use skills that refresh on rests. As a DM< you will want to try and keep abreast of how that is going, and make some minor adjustments to get the resource output in line with the challenges sent, for fun, engaging and hopefully not entirely deadly, adventuring days.
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I like 6 to 8 encounters per day in a dungeon crawl. It means you have to think about your resources, especially after about level 8 if you are only having 1 or 2 encounters per day you can just use all you high level spells almost without worrying. It should not be all the time but it provides a different challenge. I have just finished a published campaign that ended with a huge dungeon, at a guess we spent about 9 or 10 sessions in that dungeon and had maybe 40 encounters and about 4 long rests. Up to that point we had mostly been having 1 to 3 encounters per day.
I like 6 to 8 encounters per day in a dungeon crawl. It means you have to think about your resources, especially after about level 8 if you are only having 1 or 2 encounters per day you can just use all you high level spells almost without worrying. It should not be all the time but it provides a different challenge. I have just finished a published campaign that ended with a huge dungeon, at a guess we spent about 9 or 10 sessions in that dungeon and had maybe 40 encounters and about 4 long rests. Up to that point we had mostly been having 1 to 3 encounters per day.
In a dungeoncrawl, yes. It's not unrealistic to have this many encounters due to (presumably) enough foes located in proximity to each other.
Also, the encounters could becomes waves of one long encounter, depending on if the dungeon residents are allied/friendly, and if they're close enough to detect the sounds or effects of combat.
To bring in an old school reference, someplace like the original Temple of Elemental Evil, there are a lot of sections where if the party starts a fight with the monsters in one keyed area, it's going to alert and bring in monsters from nearby keyed areas.
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I'm seeing the statistic cited across the web that the DMG says 6-8 encounters per adventuring day is typical or normal, but can't find the actual text. Would someone kindly let a fellow DM know the section/page number?
Chapter 3, Creating Adventures, Creating Encounters, The Adventuring Day, pg 84
I opened right to it!
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Thank you!!!
Also, if you look at the adventuring day xp table (same section), it adds up to 6-8 times the medium encounter budget.
I personally prefer 3ish Deadly encounters, which is supposedly comparable according to that same chart.
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Same! That way it’s easy to get through a whole adventure in a single session. (Less than 3 breaks the short rest system though, so 3 is the sweet spot.)
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I don't really care about the encounters per day recommendations. We do very few classic dungeon slogs, it's mostly larger set piece fights as endless fighting chains isn't what my table find fun.
So I adjust accordingly - if I only prep for one set piece fight I take into account that the party has full resources and up the CR and number of opponents accordingly. And CR calculation is whacky anyway so...
And yes, this way the short rest vs long rest balance for classes is off. But my players don't care, everyone has fun, so all is well.
It's really hard for me to imagine doing 6 or more combat encounters in a single session (I know the text says "adventuring day" but holy crap, I'd hope most sessions could span at least one in-game day) - especially once you're past Tier 1 and Tier 2. A hard encounter (using multiple foes) at, say, level 7, can easily take up to an hour (depending). Unless you're just throwing a lot of low HP mooks at the party, I don't know how 6+ combat encounters per session is feasible.
Plus doing that many encounters consistently would just get to be a grind, I would think, even for the most hardcore min/max or optimizers.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
I believe the guidelines are more for rookie DM's who are trying to plot out as much of their campaign as possible. Setting up 6-8 encounters, that will not kill the party (or force them to flee) is difficult, unless you stick with Moderate in Encounter Builder stuff. To me, it's simply a time-eater then, with combat being trivial enough to not really carry any weight, ie: risk, for the party.
I set encounters to fit the theme and location of the party, as well as where they are in the campaign. Some days they have one major encounter, others, they are harassed repeatedly by trivial monsters, swarms of Goblins and such, easily dispatched, but needing to be addressed. These little encounters can also be used to suck resources out of the party (Cooldowns on special abilities, eating spell slots, using potions perhaps) to make a moderate encounter later, a bit more interesting and challenging. The number in the book is just a guide for how to drain party resources through the day to add importance to getting a rest in, or rationing resources, in case something bigger pops up.
I wouldn't put TOO much weight on it and I would suggest being flexible with your plans. For example, setting up 6 encounters for the day is great, but if a couple early ones get really crap die rolls from the party, they may well take a lot more damage, or burn a lot more resources than you expected/planned on. Always be ready to scrap an encounter if the dice gods are frowning on the party and in the same thought, be ready to boost the HP of some foes, if the party is rolling pure gold. The idea is to provide a day where the players DO things, fighting, puzzle solving, social interactions and such, to consume resources and use skills that refresh on rests. As a DM< you will want to try and keep abreast of how that is going, and make some minor adjustments to get the resource output in line with the challenges sent, for fun, engaging and hopefully not entirely deadly, adventuring days.
Talk to your Players. Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
I like 6 to 8 encounters per day in a dungeon crawl. It means you have to think about your resources, especially after about level 8 if you are only having 1 or 2 encounters per day you can just use all you high level spells almost without worrying. It should not be all the time but it provides a different challenge. I have just finished a published campaign that ended with a huge dungeon, at a guess we spent about 9 or 10 sessions in that dungeon and had maybe 40 encounters and about 4 long rests. Up to that point we had mostly been having 1 to 3 encounters per day.
In a dungeoncrawl, yes. It's not unrealistic to have this many encounters due to (presumably) enough foes located in proximity to each other.
Also, the encounters could becomes waves of one long encounter, depending on if the dungeon residents are allied/friendly, and if they're close enough to detect the sounds or effects of combat.
To bring in an old school reference, someplace like the original Temple of Elemental Evil, there are a lot of sections where if the party starts a fight with the monsters in one keyed area, it's going to alert and bring in monsters from nearby keyed areas.