Challenge rating

[JohnPaulB]

Originally Posted by Skarg

I think there's a fundamental issue with framing what's in a game world based on difficulty level. It tends to lead to the difficulty framework actually being a primary cause of what is and isn't in the world, where things are, etc.

Difficulty is important to be able to assess so that characters can have an idea who is likely to kill them in a fight, and to award appropriate experience. We developed our alternate experience awards system because we noticed it was vastly more efficient (in terms of EP for risk) to slaughter nearly-harmless shadowights or untrained hobgoblins than it was to defeat someone more formidable than you were, which was clearly very backwards/wrong/unfun.

I think it's far more interesting and immersive if a GM plots out what is where in their gameworld based on what makes sense to be where, and then later observes how dangerous places are, than if he places threats based on an idea that there should be places which have certain strengths of opponents because they are supposed to be a certain level of difficulty.

In particular, looking at the above categories, it might or might not be literally what you meant, but I'm worried by the wording that there would be only five categories of place, and that several of them say that "most" people in them would be outside the most common normal categories (i.e. 28-33 points). That is, I would not expect that many of even the most dangerous adventure locations would have a majority of exceptionally skilled people, unless it's the stronghold of some elite group.

And of course, in TFT the situation tends to be even more important that the point totals. Not just in terms of characters' talents and equipment, but in terms of what ends up happening, how many foes get met at once, and in what layout, how the foes behave and what tactics they use, etc.

OK, that may be. But how do you let the guy who is 'purchasing' your module know how difficult it is before they buy it?

There is nothing like sending in a newbie into the 'Tombs of Horror' or the reverse, sending a grognard TFT player into a training wheels game.

Perhaps using the Crossword Puzzle method: Easy, Average, Hard, Very Hard.

But then again, it may not be needed. GURPS doesn't have any difficulty ratings for their material.