Pitfalls

This section arms you with a wide variety of useful tricks to add interest to your encounters, but you should keep an eye out for some common pitfalls of encounter building. Don't Make Every Encounter Complex: There are many ways to make complex and dynamic encounters, but making every single encounter complex will become exhausting for you and your players. Some encounters should be simple, both because it will make the world feel more real and because it's a good way for the group to relax without as much to keep track of. Avoid Flat Difficulty: Ensure that not too many of your encounters fall at the same threat level. Having some low- and even trivial-threat battles adds variety, and it's great to throw in a few severe encounters beyond just bosses. Beware of Unexpected Difficulty: You might end up with creatures that have abilities that fit well together, making them extremely powerful as a combo, or that are particularly well-suited against your PCs. Compare the creatures and what you know about your PCs in advance, especially if the encounter is already a severe threat by the numbers. Running the Encounter has suggestions for what to do if you find a spike in difficulty during an encounter rather than in advance. Watch for Overpowered Terrain: As noted under Budgeting for Terrain, some features of the environment can increase the danger drastically. Consider your creature and the environment, and see whether the creature has a massive advantage compared to PCs in that terrain, such as a flying monster that's immune to radiation and that fights with long-range Strikes in a highly radioactive environment. If your PCs are reliant on tech gear to fight at long ranges or get closer to flying enemies, you might want to adjust.