Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 goaldilmun Jan 15, 2015 9:36:28	Was planning to make an encounter with a group of guards and a sergeant of a higher challenge rating. Decided to use the monster creation rules by modifying the basic guard - giving him more Hit Points etc. So I started off checking the basic guard's challenge rating up against the rules in the monster creation section of the DMG to get a feel for what should be changed and how. But the guard turned out to be Challenge 1/4, and not 1/8 as listed.   Has anyone else come across something like this? Are any other monsters or NPC's off in this way? Did make an error in my calculations?   The Guard has 11 HP, whcich is consistent with 1/8, but his AC is 16, bringing his defensive CR up one notch to 1/4 His damage per round is 4, which implies a CR of 1/4, while his atk bonus is +3. That should yield an offensive CR of 1/4 So, the average of def and off CR should be 1/4.   What is wrong here? My calc, the guard's CR or the monster creation system?   *edit: spelling
#2 AaronOfBarbaria Jan 15, 2015 10:24:17	Nothing is wrong.   The monster creation system provides guidance to get you monster stats that are close enough that a bit of playtesting your creations/customizations will be all it takes to get them right where you want them.   They are not a perfect set of mathematical truths that all monsters are expected to measure up to exactly, and they do not account for all the little changes made to monsters in the Monster Manual after they had the benefit of being fine-tuned through playtesting before the release of the monster manual, because they can not possibly account for that.   Many monsters in the Monster Manual do not match perfectly to the monster building guidelines, and that is working as intended - you are dealing with an a art, not a science, when building monsters.
#3 goaldilmun Jan 15, 2015 10:42:29	Yeah, I get that, but we're talking about an NPC here that is about as straightforward as they can get. It's a guy with a spear and a helmet, like. No special abilities or anything. If anything should fit the system - that's sort of it, isn't it?
#4 AaronOfBarbaria Jan 15, 2015 11:14:08	Not when his AC suggests a higher CR, but his hit points are far below the range for the next highest CR range, and his damage is only at the botton end of the next higher CR range - I could easily see playtesting leading to a clear decision of either A) this guy is CR 1/8 as-is or B) he makes the cut as CR 1/4 and gets his hit points doubled., and I'd have gone with choice A too if were my decision to make.
#5 goaldilmun Jan 15, 2015 11:33:53	Indeed. That's the sort of explnation I was looking for. Thanks.