CR Calibration

[rg9000]

Does anyone have a good way to gauge how capable a party is at defeating certain leveled encounters?

I know CR is a thing, but that doesn't help me when, say, I want to have a CR9 boss monster for a party of level 7s. Or say, how should I adjust CR for parties of 6 players? 5? 13?

[Mike Miller]

Well, there are CR calculations for this, but you could just do a dry run of the battle if you have the character sheets. Just do what your characters usually do in battles and see how it goes. Then you can see what ACs are getting hit, what spells are changing the battle, etc.

[heavyfuel]

It's impossible to tell you without knowing a bunch of factors such as how many players in the party, their classes, their degree of optimization, their wealth and how they're spending it, their use of strategies (or lack of use), YOUR use of strategies for the NPCs fighting then, etc.

This is a feeling you'll develop as you get more experienced with DMing.

But as 2 general rules:

1- CR is more over than under rated. That is to say, a CR 7 creature is usually super easy for a party of lv 7 players (exceptions exist, of course);

2- Fighting one creature is easier than fighting four, even their CRs indicate they should be equally tough. Action economy is a very big deal, and the NPC getting 1 action while the PCs get 4 or 5 makes the fight super easy

[ericgrau]

Try this encounter calculator:
http://www.d20srd.org/extras/d20encountercalculator/

Generally EL = party level is a routine fight. Pretty easy to win but it uses some of the party's resources.

EL = PL - 2 = trivial fight. Party can walk all over it while hardly burning any resources.
EL = PL + 2 = difficult fight. This is a real challenge where one of the player's might die or at least fall unconscious.
EL = PL + 4 = overwhelming fight. May or may not end up in a TPK.

Of course with good optimization the party might effectively fight at a higher level than their actual level. You might find that you need to add 1-3 to the EL. Plus some monsters play well against the party's weaknesses, or others play to their strengths.


Well, there are CR calculations for this, but you could just do a dry run of the battle if you have the character sheets. Just do what your characters usually do in battles and see how it goes. Then you can see what ACs are getting hit, what spells are changing the battle, etc.
This is even better if you have the time. Start with the encounter calculator, then readjust with your knowledge of your party. Or, if time permits, a dry run.