Balancing Encounters in RMC/ Challenge Ratings

[MikeRPG]

Hi,

I'm struggling to see any method to calculate or tailor the balance of an encounter against a PC group.

Does anyone know of a method (preferably by calculation) that I can estimate the approximate challenge of an encounter against a PC group? I totally get the wildness and lethality of RM, that environment, tactics, etc etc will impact, but that's not my question here.

Is there a basis that I can calculate how many orcs would be roughly matched to a party of 6 4th level PCs, of 4 3rd levels, etc etc. Can I say 2x 6th lvl Giants are approx balanced (all other things equal and assuming equal luck on rolls) are a roughly equal encounter for 2x 6th level PCs? Or 3x 4th level, etc?

I can't see any consistency at all in the FGU encounter template, and can't see how the APL relates at all. For example, if I have an APL of 5, and say 5 orcs in there, the total encounter XP is the same whether there is just one 5th level PC in the party, or if there are 10. Huh??

I see nothing in the rules that explains how encounters should be balanced, or a rule of thumb of "500 XP is approximately matched (100% match to your party), 600 XP is a tough encounter (120% matched to your party), or whatever.

If it's just a question of GM experience and trial and error, that's fine - can anyone share how they value-judge encounter balancing? (But I still dont see how the encounter tool works in that case?)

Any help appreciated, thanks!

[JohnD]

I don't believe the concept of encounter balance is really a thing in Rolemaster. Sometimes the party needs to recognize the need to retreat.

[Mansquatch62]

I agree with JohnD on that one. That being said...
I just look at the OB/DB ranges of my group vs. the encounter creatures. Factor in if surprise is likely (thereby negating some of the groups immediate defensive effectiveness), getting surrounded (flank and rear attack bonuses). Then I look at some attack tables, adjust creature OBs with the party's DB (again, rough estimates), and assume an attack roll of 50ish, and check the tables. That usually ballparks it for me.
Though things go wrong all the time based on player reactions and RNG.
Also something I just read. Embarrassingly I've been playing RM for 36 years, and just found out Adrenal Defense bonus must be divided by the number of opponents being defended against.

[YAKO SOMEDAKY]

I'm new so I may be talking nonsense, but I believe that the encounter part should have this XP part removed, I say this because the XP calculation is individual and has several factors that must be taken into account:
1 - How the difference between the Creature and the Character
2 - If it's the first time they've faced it
3 - If you are facing it alone or in a "group" (In case you have more than one player facing a creature)
4 - The type of critic
5 - Effects (like knocking down, knocking out and the like)
6 - Unusual damage
7 - Damage received
8 - Number of Creatures you killed or knocked out
That is, there are many factors that lead to the XP gained and this can change according to the player's luck (yes I believe that luck and of course a good DB and OB are essential), but the case is that these factors interfere in how much each player has experience gained after battle.
Now on second thought if this encounter XP is a bonus it would even be useful and if I'm mistaken it is the average of the players (I could be wrong but this average is the sum of experience levels divided by the number of players added in the party sheet)
Example: a group with 6 characters
2 characters at level 7
2 characters at level 6
2 characters at level 2
We would have the sum of 7+7+6+6+2+2 totaling 30 levels which divided by 6 (number of players) would give an average of 5 which is the Encounter's Party Average Level.

[Trenloe]

I'm new so I may be talking nonsense, but I believe that the encounter part should have this XP part removed, I say this because the XP calculation is individual and has several factors that must be taken into account.
FG uses the encounter record to allocate XP via the Party Sheet. So an XP field needs to be in an encounter record to allow allocation of XP. Use the field as you wish, but it shouldn't be removed.

[YAKO SOMEDAKY]

I know that, but in this case I adapted the XP part of the character sheet with the Rolemaster Adjustment extension. So there's how to deal with XP individually taking into account everything I've mentioned regarding combat and many other factors.

[MikeRPG]

Thanks very much everyone for your comments.

It's good to hear I haven't missed something obvious in the rules, but a shame there's no simple method. I guess this is RM, after all :-).

I'm going to see if there's a rough and ready rule of thumb I can use to estimate and plan an encounters severity. There was some really good guidance waaaaay back in some early D&D rules (might have been the Companion Set, I can't remember now). It was something like: total up all monster/NPC levels (adjusted for any *extraordinary* abilities), divide by the total PC party level, which will give you a 'severity ratio' of 100% (perfectly balanced), 80%, etc etc. There was some really good advice about how lethal an 80% encounter would be, the 'final boss' encounter might be 120%, etc.

I'll see if I can build a similar thing for RM. Forgetting variables like terrain, surprise, and overwhelminging numbers, It should come down to how reflective the NPC/creature levels really are vs a similar sized PC group on equal terms. You'd hope they will be pretty close, but I'm struggling with things like Basilisks which are 'only' Lvl 6, but are great at making a party into life-sized statues within a few rounds (at least I assume so - I've never actually used one).

I'll update again if any kind of pattern comes to light.

[JohnD]

Personally through experience I feel you can base things off a regular Orc.

The number of combat capable PCs you have = 1 Orc. For every 2 squishy PCs add 1 more Orc to your encounter. This is for 1st level PCs. Increase slightly above 1st level.

Also, have a "reinforcements arrive" encounter ready where you can bring a 2nd wave of foes into things if your PCs are stomping a new mudhole in your encounter more quickly than you wanted.

In the case of Orcs, say 6 are dropping a little too quickly, bring in another 2 who have bows and can fire into melee and fade away as needed.

If your encounter is wiping the floor, take an unhurt NPC and put their Hits at a level where they are a one hit kill.

I usually hold 25% of my encounter back as wave 2 to come in after 2 or 3 rounds if needed.