[4e] Dynamic vs. Static Encounters?

Neuroglyph

Am curious if folks find that D&D Encounters in 4e are too Static- ie. little or no interaction between encounter elements in a dungeon? So you have one encounter, wait, rest, continue to the next in a very MMO style of dungeon delving.

I wrote some ideas down in my blog trying to make my encounters more dynamic and the dungeon crawls less like a flowchart... but I'm curious if most players and DMs even mind about having static encounters?

Would welcome any and all feedback.

Sojorn

Static, yes, with a caveat. While by the book encounters do tend to be static, I try to encourage my players to do interesting things with whatever downtime they have.

I usually do this by setting the room they are currently in on fire, ad-libbing a falling/flaming ceiling trap, and then blocking all the exits with conveniently timed debris falls. Or something to that effect.

These "OMG WE"RE ALL GONNA DIE" moments are also great team building exercises, as in their immense desperation to survive, they usually band together and do something truly "heroic" to save their own asses.

And while it's not entirely necessary to do something like this, it does help alleviate the big "meh" between combat encounters occasionally. And they seem to enjoy it.

I RP with a bunch of masochists apparently.

devilkin

While fantasy isn't my favorite setting, I have always really enjoyed D&D becuase i really enjoy roleplaying and a first I had the same concerns about the encounter-rest-encounter loop with out the fluffy downtime stuff I'd seen so much of in my past experiences. After listening to the guys D&D session podcasts I feel less worried about it and excited to try out the new edition for the first time.

Wembley

I don't have too much experience with D&D but in my experience it seems as if it's kind of dependent on the DM. 4e seems to be a little bit more clear cut in it's definition of encounters and such so that it makes it a little harder to have dynamic encounters, but it's definitely not prohibitive and a DM with the proper desire can make it work without all that much effort. A good example of this popped up the other day on the Penny Arcade newspost where Gabe described one of his recent DMing experiences where the whole session was one big encounter. I thought this was an interesting approach to making things dynamic since the PCs were never out of initiative and there was no option to rest.

devilkin

Wembley wrote: »

I don't have too much experience with D&D but in my experience it seems as if it's kind of dependent on the DM. 4e seems to be a little bit more clear cut in it's definition of encounters and such so that it makes it a little harder to have dynamic encounters, but it's definitely not prohibitive and a DM with the proper desire can make it work without all that much effort. A good example of this popped up the other day on the Penny Arcade newspost where Gabe described one of his recent DMing experiences where the whole session was one big encounter. I thought this was an interesting approach to making things dynamic since the PCs were never out of initiative and there was no option to rest.

I read that and was very nerd excited at the thought of an adventure like that. I really wish I could start playing.