Completionist players in a sandbox

[snikrept]

It may be fun for the players to stomp all over something that was formerly difficult but now is a breeze. Definitely keep some of these in the world as they level up, as they might choose to attack them for that reason alone.

Gauging the threat levels of encounters allows decent opportunity for RP injection. As PCs advance, their fame in the world grows, but also their perceived responsibilities grow as well. When they are level 2, the townsfolk are grateful for their help against goblins, but the townsfolk are perplexed when level 17 demigods show up to slay the goblins - in the same way they'd be perplexed if the King showed up to mop their floor. Hell, the townsfolk probably are afraid to speak to the level 17 demigods, let alone bring up that they have a goblin problem. If the demigods do choose to attack the goblins, the goblins have also heard of them, and they flee the region at the mere hint of the PCs' coming. Meanwhile the Emperor grows annoyed that his level 17 allies are killing goblins while the Lich Lord plots to overthrow him.

At high levels the PCs might be encouraged to network and develop contacts in the world such that killing the goblins can be outsourced to their followers. Perhaps at a certain point they become the lord of an area, or they have the ear of a lord of an area, and they send their police force to dispatch the goblins rather than going in person. Or maybe they have their own branch of a religion and they send their zealots. Or they have their own undead army and they send some skellingtons. Or whatever. They can start playing the grand chess game rather than being a pawn all the time. That way these low level threats remain fresh, in the context of pacifying whole regions.

Another thought: intelligent monsters only choose to fight when they think they can win. As the PCs grow in power and fame, the same monsters begin to choose to run away, or if escape is impossible, to beg for their lives in exchange for something. Combat should become less frequent in low level encounters if the monsters are realistically intelligent, and these encounters become more about surrender negotiation and/or intimidation.