Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Blain1971 Jun 01, 2015 19:15:01	I am currently converting 'Curse of the Azure Bonds' to use the 5th edition rules for my gaming group. I want the new players to see how great an adventure it was, but thing is I do not know what CR to give the leveled NPC's in the adventure.   Example: In the Tilverton thieves guild there are 2nd level Thieve's the party may or may not fight. Ok, what CR do I give them? Using the method in the 5e DMG and treating them as 'monsters' the CR comes out 1/4 or 1/8, I forget. But I have seen some forums where people were saying the CR should match the character level. If that is so then where can I find that information?   Does anyone know themselves?
#2 AaronOfBarbaria Jun 01, 2015 21:48:00	CR does not match character level in 5th edition, as is plainly evident by looking at any of the NPC in the appendix of the Monster Manual, such as the Archmage which is CR 12 while being an 18th-level spellcaster.   CR 1/4 or 1/8 seems accurate for a 2nd level thief, though I'd probably replace any low-level thief NPCs with bandits from the monster manual, accompanied by a bandit captain if the original module had the thieves accompanied by a higher level thief.
#3 lawrencehoy Jun 01, 2015 23:05:34	AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
(Reply to #2) Blain1971	AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
(Reply to #3) Blain1971	lawrencehoy wrote:
#6 AaronOfBarbaria Jun 02, 2015 11:17:54	Level doesnt factor directly into CR because things like AC and damage aren't directly tied to level but are direct factors of CR, and because monster and NPC hit dice are meant to be determined by size rather than class.
#7 Mechatarrasque Jun 02, 2015 14:09:36	I have found one really nice benefit to CR not being tied into class level.  If you want to add a level (or even a couple of levels) of warlock to mid-level CR critters (I used an ice devil, so I will use "fiend" from now on), it doesn't change their CR as long as the warlock damage is less than the fiend's multiattack damage and the warlock's spells/invocations don't boost its AC too much (and you don't pick any spells that would cause the CR to go up based on the table in the DMG of things that raise the CR).  For the most part, multiattack is the best option, but if the PC's get out of melee range and try to pepper it with spells and arrows, eldritch blast them back while moving back into melee range (and having expeditious retreat on tap is nice too).  That isn't a great help for the low CR cannon fodder, but it seems like there is some potential to add flexibility to the mid-CR and up.
(Reply to #7) Blain1971	Mechatarrasque wrote:
(Reply to #8) Mechatarrasque	Blain1971 wrote: