Since reading through the EPG I was excited to put the new CR guidelines to good use. Creating some new adversaries, and using the provided suggestion to put together vaguely balanced collections of official adversaries, etc.

However, with my group of four PCs (and just two of them last session) I have found every encounter to not even be close to difficult. I understand the point that this is only a guideline and there's that callout about "Know Your Group!", but I thought it would feel at least close. They're not all super-strong either - fantasy setting, we've got one face character, one ranged soldier-type character, one offensive mage and one defensive mage. They've faced all different combinations - a small group of rivals, a single rival with some minion groups, a single strong nemesis, lots of minion groups - and I don't think using the CR has helped at all.

Has anyone had the same experience? Or do most people find it works just as well (and saved time) eyeballing it?

I agree the power levels are pseudo at best. The power levels within the content thats in the Epg works but creating adversaries in total free form and then trying to reverse engineer to a power level will give you a headache.

So eyeballing it seems easier and better. Know your group is the Best Advice 🙂

I can see some merit for brand New GMs building their first encounter and getting a feel for the system

Hi there!

Personally I like it and used not just for common encounters, also for background problems and sollutions with PC and NPC actions.

It's a good reference to use when try to "autocalculate" some success or failures on missions and about out-of-screen conflicts.