Ok, in the DMG on page 49 they provide a nice table to help you determine what amount of critters to use of a certain CR against a party of four of a certain level. However, how do you determine how to scale an encounter against two characters? Against seven?
I ask because I want to create some challenging fights for my group while they are split up, and I do not want to overpower them (too much, at least).
Quote from: NightfangOk, in the DMG on page 49 they provide a nice table to help you determine what amount of critters to use of a certain CR against a party of four of a certain level. However, how do you determine how to scale an encounter against two characters? Against seven?
You might want to try subtracting 2 from the CR for 1 or 2 characters and adding 2 to the CR for 6 or more, because you would add 2 to the CR if you doubled the number of monsters, so +2 or -2 seems to make some sense for doubling or halving the party size. If you are really worried about overpowering them, keep two HP numbers for the monsters -- what you roll and a low roll or the minimum. If the party is having trouble, assume the monster dies at the low number of hit points while if the party is doing well, use the regular number of hit points. You can also do the opposite if you are concerned about underpowering an encounter.