Master PDF Update 1.1
Added 2022-02-01 08:40:05 +0000 UTCJust some consolidating here, getting everything in one place. I'm gonna try to get it updated each month. We're at 525 monsters already!
Comments
Nah, the hole only gets bored if the target is incapacitated. Normal conscious adventurers won't sit still long enough to get a good hole going.
Isaac Minarik
2022-02-20 10:14:10 +0000 UTCJust a question about the intellect devourer: Trepanation Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) slashing damage. This attack deals an additional 21 (6d6) damage to an incapacitated target and bores a small hole in its skull. Was the intention that it bores a small hole in the target skull regardless of if it is incapacitated or not?
Simen Lande
2022-02-18 11:04:16 +0000 UTCOh absolutely, my players are gonna haate him! I have had some more time to peruse the various monsters and you have really managed to make them much more unique than the vanilla monsters!
Simen Lande
2022-02-05 17:01:14 +0000 UTCGlad you like it! I really felt like spectral undead needed to feel different in some way from other creatures, and I think the spectral weapons and the choppy rhythm of shadow glide achieve that.
Isaac Minarik
2022-02-05 15:43:30 +0000 UTCI just have to say I fucking loove the Wraith you have done!
Simen Lande
2022-02-05 15:18:20 +0000 UTCExactly. You shouldn't have to crank every encounter to Ultra Deadly to challenge your players
Isaac (Conflux Creatures)
2022-02-03 19:14:02 +0000 UTCGood to know! Thanks. Just want to make sure that swapping the same CR creature wasn't going to be vastly different challenge and it sounds like it is, but is more reliable to gauge the actual challenge compared to the MM so that an encounter that is rated deadly is actually deadly.
Nick I
2022-02-03 18:55:30 +0000 UTCI try to cleave as closely as I can to the CR table on pg 274 of the DMG. The MM is really inconsistent with it, so there are often some pretty big shifts, most often in increased HP totals. With monsters that are wildly off the mark (like the rakshasa), I'll make two versions, one with the capabilities of the MM version, and one with the CR of the MM version. That's kind of a product of two things: WotC places a really high value on situation abilities and balances down to accommodate that, and I get the impression the DMG table was written after the MM was completed, rather than used as a guide. My own approach is that all monsters of a given CR should be able to do a similar amount of damage and survive a similar amount of rounds against a typical party of 4, so that the DM can look at that CR number and infer something meaningful from it. A Medium encounter should present a medium challenge and drain a medium amount of resources. A deadly encounter should be one where death is on the line. As written, the scale of engaging combat ranges from "Deadly" to "Super Ultra Deadly", because most monsters are missing half the HP that they should have. This also has the side effect of turning a lot of combats into rocket tag, since most monsters do roughly the right amount of damage but are made of paper. The barbed devil, for instance, has a DPR of 20-22, compared to the 33-38 range the table says it should have, and 110 HP, rather than the 131-145 suggested. This is pretty typical of nearly every monster in the MM. When people say CR is meaningless, this is what they're talking about. The only ones I try to balance against the MM rather than the DMG are Beasts, because I don't want to muck around too much with Polymorph/Wild Shape balance.
Isaac (Conflux Creatures)
2022-02-01 21:22:27 +0000 UTCHow much consideration is there to the CR? I am looking at the "Barbed Devil" and the HP and damage output has been increased a considerable amount to the MM. Is it that you found the original to be underpowered, the CR is closer to 5.9 for more advanced players, or just trying to make things more interesting without much heed to CR constraint?
Nick I
2022-02-01 19:11:03 +0000 UTC
