Andrew Roberts, November 14 2014:
I always get asked at least twice at every gameday whether a table should go high or low. Here is a guide that should help with that...please note that there is no choice in the matter unless it is listed below:
Show ContentSeason 3 and Before:
1. Calculate APL. When doing so, round to the nearest whole number. If you have an APL that is exactly inbetween two whole numbers, such as APL 4.5, the party can choose whether they round up or down.
2. If the party is in a subtier for the scenario, you're done! Run in that subtier.
3. If the party is inbetween subtiers, you play down if you have 5 or fewer players, or play up if you have 6 or more players.
Show ContentSeason 4 and After:
1. Calculate APL. When doing so, round to the nearest whole number. If you have an APL that is exactly inbetween two whole numbers, such as APL 4.5, the party can choose whether they round up or down.
2. If the party is in a subtier for the scenario, you're done! Run in that subtier, using the 4 player adjustment if there are only 3 or 4 players.
3. If the party is in between subtiers, you play down without the 4 player scaledown if you have 4 or fewer players, or play up with the 4 player scaledown if you have 5 or more players.
Show ContentSpecial Case:
If the higher subtier is determined to be the appropriate one, and no one is actually in the level range of that subtier, then the party can choose to play down.
For example, if there are (6) Level 3's playing in a 1-5 in Season 2, that would simply be the 4-5 subtier (per the rules above). However, no one in the party is actually 4-5, so they can choose to play down. If it were the same situation with (3) Level 2's and (3) Level 4's, they would not have that choice as there are people in the 4-5 subtier.
A convenient flowchart of this process for your consideration:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9XUCsgs8jlbOVUwRTd0Tl9tV00/view?usp=sharing
http://imgur.com/a/xkgTJ
