Post/Author/DateTime	Post
afeldspar 06-07-07, 11:10 PM	I am having trouble interpreting the rules for adding class levels to a monster. I have a Dungeon Crawl Classics adventure with a troglodyte who is a 2nd level rogue. It says it is a CR 3. Doesn't a troglodyte have 2 HD (the entry in the MM says HD is 2d8+4)? And wouldn't adding 2 rogue levels make it a CR 4 creature? Please let me know if the adventure is wrong or I am misunderstanding the rules. Much appreciated! Afeldspar
weasel0 06-08-07, 12:06 AM	Trogs are only CR 1 creatures. You use the HD, class levels, and level adjustment when making a player character. In which case it would be a ECL of 6 with 2 rogue levels. ...yeah, it is confusing. CR is used to rate a monster against a standard party of four(fighter, rogue, cleric, mage) using 25% of it's resources. So 1 trog would be good for a standard party of lv 1 characters. Add 2 lvs rogue to make a CR3 is now a good fight for a standard party of lv 3 characters. And to further confuse the issue, if you were to use a class that didn't compliment the trogs abilities you'd only add 1/2 a CR per class level.... but that's for the advanced class. I'm not there yet, I just know that it's out there. Simplist thing to say is, CR goes up by one for associated* classes, 1/2 for non-associated up to the monsters starting HD. So for your 1 HD trog, any player class is associated, thus earns a +1 CR. It's all on 248,249 of the MM 1 *associated being a melee monster taking a melee class, non being the same monster taking caster levels
afeldspar 06-08-07, 12:19 AM	Trogs are only CR 1 creatures. You use the HD, class levels, and level adjustment when making a player character. In which case it would be a ECL of 6 with 2 rogue levels. ...yeah, it is confusing. CR is used to rate a monster against a standard party of four(fighter, rogue, cleric, mage) using 25% of it's resources. So 1 trog would be good for a standard party of lv 1 characters. Add 2 lvs rogue to make a CR3 is now a good fight for a standard party of lv 3 characters. And to further confuse the issue, if you were to use a class that didn't compliment the trogs abilities you'd only add 1/2 a CR per class level.... but that's for the advanced class. I'm not there yet, I just know that it's out there. Thank you very much. I was getting confused about making a monster a PC vs. improving a monster for an NPC. Maybe I am tired, but the instructions on that in the MM seem unclear to me. Thanks again. I am running my first game tomorrow and I want to get everything right. Afeldspar
Nom 06-09-07, 01:35 AM	I am running my first game tomorrow and I want to get everything right.Don't worry, because you won't. In D&D, very rarely does everything go according to plan, and that goes x10 with a new DM. You will make mistakes and bad calls. It will be stressful for you. You will mess up on details. Don't sweat it. Instead, focus on presenting a fun challenge for your players. And when you make a mistake, quickly decide whether you need to "fix" it or whether to shrug your shoulders, smile as if it were intentional, and keep going. Nine times out of ten, players prefer the latter. (Hint: if you have argumentative players, there is one thing I would rehearse until to can do it without thinking: "We'll do it this way for now, and we can talk about it over e-mail after the game")
Some_call_me_Tim 06-13-07, 12:23 AM	In D&D, very rarely does everything go according to plan, and that goes x10 with a new DM. You will make mistakes and bad calls. It will be stressful for you. You will mess up on details. Don't sweat it. Instead, focus on presenting a fun challenge for your players.:clap: Well said. I can add little except when in doubt, favor the players, you will get far less arguments that way. Believe me, I like to discuss the rules, but save the rules debates for the forums, not game time.