Topic: Regarding encounters.

[Sinfullyvannila]

Heya, just starting up a new RM campaign, and it's been a while. A long LONG while. I was wandering if there is a way to gauge an enemy's power compared to the PCs. I know they have levels listed, but I'm not sure if those are more for RRs or actually gauge their strength. Also, would, say a level 3 monster and a level 3 PC have about even capabilities, or would 5 level 3 PCs mop the floor with a level 5 monster and so forth.

[providence13]

Welcome to the forums!
That's a great question and I don't know how to answer it for anyone else.
For me, looking at how many ways "monsters" can crit or shrug off a crit, helps a lot. If +OB  and hits are about the same for encounter and PC's, then that could be evenly matched. But if the creature has -1 crit reduction (magic, tough hide, etc), Spell Lists they can use intelligently, or ignores "bleeders" or some such, that can be extremely tough.

On the other hand, a party of 10 berserker dwarves attacking a small Mage's Guild might be evenly matched.
Can PC's fight with 2 weapons or Adrenal Speed? Do they have 'buff' spells that they should've cast before combat?

I try to plan them just a little tougher than the party on average. Some encounters are a little easier and a few are far above the party's capabilities. Running is always an option.

[Cory Magel]

Heya, just starting up a new RM campaign, and it's been a while. A long LONG while. I was wandering if there is a way to gauge an enemy's power compared to the PCs. I know they have levels listed, but I'm not sure if those are more for RRs or actually gauge their strength. Also, would, say a level 3 monster and a level 3 PC have about even capabilities, or would 5 level 3 PCs mop the floor with a level 5 monster and so forth.

I pay little attention to levels.  I pay more attention to:

Firstly: OB, DB, and any immunities (resistant to Stun, doesn't bleed, doesn't take piercing crits, etc).
Secondly: Concussion Hits, Armor Type, and Special Abilities

A few simple skeletons can be a nightmare for an inexperienced group since they can't be stunned, don't bleed and are going to ignore many critical hits.

[rdanhenry]

The question assumes "3rd level character" tells me how powerful the character is in combat terms, but a third level Layman optimized for crafting or a third level spell-caster optimized for knowledge and informational magic is far from a match in combat to a Fighter optimized for melee or a Sorcerer optimized for offensive magic. A 5th level character optimized for stealth and ambush has the advantage on a 5th level Magician optimized for directed spells and movement spells up until the moment of detection, at which point the Magician (if not yet hammered by the assassin) gains the advantage. There are an enormous number of variables in balancing combat, and while we can point out factors to look at, it ultimately comes down to intuition and experience with your group (if your players are better tacticians than you are, you can throw more at them). Criticals mean balance is looser in Rolemaster than in games where you basically tick off damage, because a "weak" encounter can go bad and a "challenging" encounter can prove a quick victory on a toss of the dice.

[Marc R]

Very true. . .the specifics matter far more than a generalization. . .can you give us level, profession and a bit of OB/DB detail on your PCs for advice?

[yammahoper]

If foes combined OB/DB is half of PC's, the fight will be dominated by the PC's.

If combined OB/DB id 3/4, foes will land an occassional blow.

If combined OB/DB is 1/1 ratio, without terreign, tactical or magic advantage, it is anyones fight.  Obviously, who ever gains one or more of those advantages will most likely carry the field.

The advantages of ignore bleeding, ignore stun, crit reduction and LA/SL is the monster needs less DB (they are harder to hurt) and less OB (they don't parry much). 

Ignore Bleeding: the weakest of the special defensive abilities (primarily because most GM's do not track penalties do to blood loss), this ability will keep foes up a bit longer.  Consider it to effectively increase OB/DB by 10.

Ignore Stun: A very powerful ability.  Consider OB/DB increase to be 40.  If foe is LA, then 55.  If SL, then 70.

Crit I: effectively a +15 OB/DB increase.

Crit II: effectively a +25 OB/DB increase.

Crit I and II#: consider a +55/+65 OB/DB increase.

These are just guidelines and not rocket science and may only express my opinion.

[Sinfullyvannila]

Thanks a bunch guys, that helps a lot.

I'll give you a few more specifics about the party too. The PCs are rolling a Bard, Magent and Necromancer(the sample speciality priest given n the channeling companion). I'm thinking of making a Fighter and some kind of channeling character for healing as NPC characters since I doubt the Necro is going to get any healing spells. It's gonna be a short lived campaign, basically an extensive, but not huge dungeon crawl. Because of that, I'm probably gonna let them start somewhere between level 3-5.

Any other advice based on that?

[providence13]

Why do you feel the need to play NPC's to bolster the party?
I'm not judging you, I used to do the same in other systems.

But for RM, IMHO, PC's might need a reminder of how fatal combat/adventuring can be. They need to play as if their characters can die!
OTOH, I understand if you want to show everyone just how all the variables work with that specific party mix.

My point is that it can be even easier to plan encounters for a smaller party of less skilled adventures.

[Marc R]

the less you have to face, the less you need to put together to face them.

[Cory Magel]

If it's a dungeon crawl and the Bard and Magent aren't going to focus on fighting skills much than you may indeed need a Fighter type, however you might find a way for the Necro to cast healing spells and give them Fate/Hero Points instead of making an NPC healer of some type.

We've gone this route in games before. Either have a steady supply of healing items show up or even have an item written into the Necro's history that allows it to 'reverse' certain spells that would normally cause harm.

Also, we once had a Healer start off as a Fighter for level one and on the initial character creation used Talent Law (maybe Character Law would be better now) to become a halfway decent fighter, then switched to a Healer profession and started the campaign as a level one Warrior.  Course, that's getting into a lot of detail for what sounds like a shorter lived campaign.

[providence13]

The Necro could make fighters, as needed... given some raw material.

At least one of the PC's should pick up First Aid.

Healing Herbs in easy to apply patches could help or cheap healing potions.

But I always give PC's the option of running away. It doesn't always work.

[pastaav]

I say send in one or two NPC that you might kill off if the players seems to be able to handle things, or keep around if they players need lots of help. I can also be a good idea to provide them with some finite supply of powerful herbs.

Besides what others have said I think you need to pay extra attention to numbers. Three or four weakly goblins that close in one a single character is almost the same as a death sentence unless the defending character has very strong magic. If three or four players close in one a single "powerful" monster they have good chances to executing the beast quickly unless it has immunities and special powers.

[Old Man]

One thing I also do is total up the PCs in terms of combat levels vs magical levels. They tend to have very different affects on an encounter. Spell-casters usually having the AOE attacks and better ranged attacks but being squishy melee-wise. The tanks can't take out bad guys at range but make good walls etc.

Usually my NPCs fill gaps in the group's skill or magic set. My current campaign has lots of healing, so I don't bother. One NPC is the company's long time trader/chronicler/cook/treasurer. The other NPC is a newly hired tunnel rat for their upcoming underground journey. He has the caving, rock lore, stealth and knife skills.

Ciao,
Old Man