D&D 3E/3.5 NEW 3ed DM Could use some advice

[Dimenhydrinate]

First of all I am a new 3ed DM. I have done the deed in 2nd and 1st but I do have some questions about 3rd. So if you will indulge me...

I have played the game and am soon to take over as the DM the biggest questions I have are how you calculate the CRs. I seem to have some mental block towards it. For example we have 5 5th lvl PCs in the party so how do I figure the proper CR for them?
Any and all help would be great! TIA!

 

[Ravellion]

Well, A CR 5 creature is a "balanced encounter" for a 5th level party (of 4 or 5 PC's). This means that they will expend 20% of their resources. Ie. they will quite easily live through this.

Try DMG page 100 and onward under the "Encounters"heading. For XP rewards for these encounters, see page 165 and onward.

Rav

 

[EOL]

Another big thing to take into consideration is how many combats the party will have. As Rav said a CR equal to the average level of the party (assuming 4 party members, but 5 is close enough) should expend 20% of the expendable resources. That means hp's, spells, and to a lesser extent potions and scrolls.

So if you figure the party is going to have five combats between rests than equal challange rating is just about right. If it's the only combat for the day I would go two or three levels higher.

 

[SpikeyFreak]

If you are experienced in DMing, you might want to just look at the creature and see if you think the players can handle it. Mainly look at attack bonus (to see if it will hit everytime or never), damage (to see if it can kill in one round), AC (to make sure the players can hit it), and special abilities like DR (to make sure the players can hurt it) or paralyzation (to make sure you don't do a TPK (total party kill).

Some of the CRs are off anyway (look at the Ogre, Dragons, and Bebilith for examples of creatures that can slaughter an "appropriate" party). In a lot of cases an experienced DM will be a better judge.

--Jaded Spikey

 

[Zhure]

I think dragon CRs are intentionally too low. Thus, fighting dragons should be an epic, memorable encounter. There are a few others like this as well.

Greg

 

[Orco42]

Spikey is very right about Dragons and Bebiliths.

Orges are tough but not too bad for a cr 2. I think they should be a CR 3.

 

[The_lone_gunman]

Look up "Encounter Levels"(EL) in the DMG (I dont know the page, i am at work ). Under that section it explains how to calculate the correct number of creatures for each encounter. Read that section a few times, it is kind of confusing at first, but once you understand it, it makes calculating encounter level a fairly straightforward process.

TLG

 

[Dimenhydrinate]

thanks you all