Hello there wizuriel!
wizuriel said:
Hey, new to DND and was advised to check out your system in making encounters.
By, new to D&D do you mean 3rd Edition (I presume?). If so, have you ever considered 4th Edition.
Was fine till I saw this example so for 5 lvl 5 pcs
Ah yes, I see where you are going wrong...
(yeah sorry for threadneocromancy but thread seems still active and figured better than starting a new thread)
No worries dude.
from my understanding, each character has ECL 6 (5 for lvl and 1 with a std point buy), so they have a combined CR of 30.
...this is your mistake.
You see, ECL 6 = CR 4, because CR is always 2/3rds ECL. So the 5 PCs are (for the purpose of that calculation) CR 20, not CR 30.
CR 20 = EL 18, adjusted for 5 party members is EL 14 (-4).
EL 14 = CR 10-11
Don't see how 14 works (though that would seem to make more sense as the lvl 20ish party from the pdf had an EL of 22).
Its an easy mistake to make, and looking over Grim Tales its not immediately obvious where I explain CR = 2/3rds ECL.
assuming its 17 though with the changes to cr*2 el+6 would a cr 30 party have an el of 41?
Are you refering to changes being made in Version 6 of the CR/EL document? Where the CR*2 = EL+4 dynamic has been changed? If so, those changes only apply to party (or monster) numbers. So instead of this...
CR 20 = EL 18, adjusted for 5 party members is EL 14 (-4). EL 14 = CR 10-11
you would have this...
CR 20 = EL 18, adjusted for 5 party members is EL 12 (-6). EL 12 = CR 7
Hope that helps a bit.
I'm happy to help you with any examples you might have until you get the hang of it.