One other note - I don't add monster mods to attacks or damage. It's irritating that 5e forces accuracy AND damage up. I like being able to vary it, so I used a 4e-style approach where stats don't have a direct, mechanical influence on attack and damage numbers. The influence is more thematic (the strong, clumsy ogre is inaccurate but punishing, the nimble goblin hits all the time for small amounts of damage).
D&D 5E Mike Mearls 5E 2014 Monster Mods?
- Thread starter not-so-newguy
- Start date
MichaelSomething
Legend
You could also just cut everyone's HP in half. That'll achieve the same thing???
overgeeked
Dragonbane
Good to see 4E monster design getting a shoutout.
TerraDave
5ever, or until 2024
And speaking of 4e, this would be a minion.
It has low-nonscaling HP, but it doesn't have the one-hit death rule of a minion. A few scenarios where they diverge at level 1 come to mind:
- Burning hands will fail to kill ~5% of the time on a failed save. On a successful one, it still kills around ~38% of the time.
- A mod-less attack like a firebolt cantrip will only kill 50% of the time. Other cantrips like freezing ray, and sacred flame only kill ~38% of the time. Some cantrips like vicious mockery can't kill a minion at all, which is a stark contrast to 4e.
- Even a normally-optimized martial character (+3 mod) using something like a longbow is going to fail to one-tap the Warriors 25% of the time.
- The common build that will regularly take these out is a greatsword-wielding fighter with GWF FS, which only fails ~0.3% of the time.
I personally like this. The failed save on burning hands is one of those scenarios that always irked me when fighting minions (relatedly, it's one of the reasons I enjoy the Flee, Mortals! minion rules).
dave2008
Legend
You can get his monster guidelines from is patreon (even at the free tier). I downloaded them. He is basically adapting the 4e model (solos, elites, etc.) to 4e.
This is the way. Monsters should be about fun and variety and surprises. I've never understood this idea that monsters follow the same rules as PCs. I almost didn't post this out of fear of derailing the thread, but you went first....
not-so-newguy
I'm the Straw Man in your argument
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