| Post/Author/DateTime | Post |
|---|---|
| #1nerzuleJan 28, 2011 6:41:43 | Hi all, I'm having trouble understanding a certain aspect of monster creation. I'm working on a level 1 adventure and want to tweak a few monsters to fit my idea of the fights better, but I can't find a definite answer for an aspect of Monster Damage. I have what I believe are the new damage expressions introduced in MM3(page 40 of the compiled updates), I have the DMG, I have the new monster vault etc, but I can't find a straight forward answers to whether or not Monster attacks follow the damage expressions for weapons. I even spent about 2 hours last night searching forums, websites etc for an answer. I.E. A club attack is 1d6, dagger 1d4 etc. Do the new damage expressions only apply to 'powers'? What is confusing me is that the new damage expressions suggest that a single attack for a lvl 1 monster should be 1d8 + 4 damage. I believe that would be an average of 8.5 damage. Looking through the monster vault though, I have a Goblin Cutthroat. Short sword melee(1d6+5 or 2d6 + 5[8.5, 13])[Weapon appropriate dam dice] and a dagger ranged attack(1d4 + 5[7.5])[weapon appropriate]. Those are all fairly close to the suggested average damage, so is it just a matter of taking the weapon damage and then figuring out a +x to get the appropriate average damage suggested? How difficult is that once you start getting into 2dX 3dX etc? I can see how this might not make sense, I mean, [exaggeration]wouldn't you be looking at rolling 1d4 + 50 for a lvl 30 monsters dagger attack? Or would I actually just assign the suggested 4d8 + 20? I guess I was hoping more for a chart like I've seen before with low, medium, high damage. |
| #2MyrhdraakFeb 03, 2011 8:14:49 | Hi all, The average damage for a monster is in no way tied to weapon damage. However, when you design the monster it might be good to consider the weapon they are using in order for the players to accept it. Seeing a monster using a longsword doing 1d8+5 (average 10.5) is probably ok from a player point of view, but if it did 1d12+3 (average 10.5) they would like to know what kind of longsword that was - doing d12 damage, and where you can buy it? If it did 2d8+1 (average 10) they would find it ok as well as it could be expressed as 2x[W] + STR or something else they are used to in their own power descriptions. They all deal the same average damage, but would have different player acceptance. Thats my only guidline. |
| #3Neutronium_DragonFeb 03, 2011 12:18:23 | Some damage expressions are rewritten to use a thematically-appropriate die, but there's a limit to how far this will go. 1d8+4 becoming 1d6+5 isn't a substantial change, but the damage entry will generally try to keep the die 'average' and the +X amount reasonably close to one another. This is largely to ensure that the final damage remains within a similar range. 1d6+5 has a slightly smaller range than 1d8+4, but 2d8, while only producing 0.5 higher damage on average, is substantially more swingy. The goblin cutthroat's dagger attack has lower damage than the shortsword because the goblin is primarily a melee-based skirmisher, so the dagger is essentially a backup option and thus weaker. That's normal for melee-oriented creatures. |
| #4bone_nagaFeb 03, 2011 17:24:17 | I created a table that had the recommended damage expressions for each level and the average damage and min/max damage for those expressions. When I create weapon-wielding monsters, I try to use the appropriate weapon die when possible but I tweak it a bit (using multiple dice or changing the damage bonus) to get roughly the same average damage and close to the same range. It doesn't need to be dead on, as long as its within a couple points I don't worry about it too much. |