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<blockquote data-quote="NotAYakk" data-source="post: 9334291" data-attributes="member: 72555"><p>I mean, writing up a 4e style 5e monster building system isn't hard?</p><p></p><p>Around level 1 it is tricky. But beyond that</p><p></p><p>Defensive Level X base stats (X from 0 to 20)</p><p>(X+1)*5 HP</p><p>12+X/3 AC</p><p></p><p>Offensive Level X base stats (X from 0 to 20)</p><p>(X+2)*3 damage if everything hits</p><p>14+X/2 attack attribute (14 to 24)</p><p></p><p>Overall level is average of Offensive and Defensive level.</p><p></p><p>AOE abilities count for (1+X/2), where X the estimated number of extra targets beyond 1.</p><p></p><p>Save-for-half abilities count as +50% damage.</p><p></p><p>Proficiency derived from Overall level.</p><p></p><p>Each +1/-1 attack modifier above target multiplies damage by +/-10%.</p><p>Each +1/-1 AC modifier above target multiples HP by +/- 10%.</p><p></p><p>Doing saves/resistance/invisibility/etc ends up futzing with your offensive/defensive levels.</p><p></p><p><strong>Elites</strong></p><p></p><p>An Elite(N) monster has N times as much HP and (N-1) legendary actions. These legendary actions do 1/2 standard Offensive damage (or equivalent). They also have (N-1) "get out of jail free" cards (legendary resists or whatever).</p><p></p><p>They count as N monsters of a given level.</p><p></p><p><strong>XP Value</strong></p><p>Level X Elite(N) monsters are worth N times as much XP as a level X monster.</p><p></p><p>Rough first draft XP table:</p><p></p><p>1: 100 XP</p><p>2: 150 XP</p><p>3: 200 XP</p><p>4: 250 XP</p><p>5: 300 XP</p><p>6: 400 XP</p><p>7: 500 XP</p><p>8: 600 XP</p><p>9: 700 XP</p><p>10: 800 XP</p><p>11: 900 XP</p><p>12: 1000 XP</p><p>13: 1200 XP</p><p>14: 1400 XP</p><p>15: 1600 XP</p><p>16: 1800 XP</p><p>17: 2000 XP</p><p>18: 2200 XP</p><p>19: 2400 XP</p><p>20: 2600 XP</p><p>21: 2800 XP</p><p>22: 3000 XP</p><p>23: 3250 XP</p><p>24: 3500 XP</p><p>25: 3750 XP</p><p>26: 4000 XP</p><p>27: 4250 XP</p><p>28: 4500 XP</p><p>29: 4750 XP</p><p>30: 5000 XP</p><p>31: 5250 XP</p><p>32: 5500 XP</p><p>33: 5750 XP</p><p>34: 6000 XP</p><p>35: 6250 XP</p><p></p><p>Base encounter budget is (sum of PC XP values) above, and is a challenging encounter. To work out encounter budget, just add up XP values of monsters (no count multiplier).</p><p></p><p>If the monsters add up to x1.3 it is in the deadly range.</p><p></p><p>If the monsters add up to x0.7 it is in the easy range.</p><p></p><p>Calibrate based on past expectations of party capabilities, and how rested they are.</p><p></p><p>---</p><p></p><p>Please note: <strong>this is a first pass</strong>. There is some mathematics underlying it, but I didn't crunch all of the numbers and eyeballed a bunch. I quite possibly made the XP curve too shallow or steep (I used (L+1)*1.5-1 produces roughly 2x XP value).</p><p></p><p>Before using it, I'd both check existing monsters against it, and I'd prototype creating monsters, and compare it to a baseline D&D party.</p><p></p><p>The results are not intended to be totally accurate, but just a way to quickly make encounters in the right ballpark of difficulty level.</p><p></p><p>The underlying math (which I failed to follow perfectly) is that a monster's threat is equal to its (DPR) times its (HP), with a factor based on accuracy/AC. Two monsters with A damage and B HP are very roughly equivalent to one monster with A*1.5 damage and 2B HP, because half way through the fight with 2 monsters the first monster dies (and 4 monsters with A DPR and B HP are roughly equivalent to one monster with 2.5A DPR and 4B HP).</p><p></p><p>To make comparing "more monsters" to "bigger monster" easy, we want to balance N times as many monsters with a monster with N^Q times as much HP and N^Q as much damage; Q values around 0.7 work reasonably well.</p><p></p><p>We want to add up XP on multiple monsters linearly (if one is worth 300 XP, two should be worth 600 XP), and not use multipliers. So we start off with that - a level 1 monster is worth 100 XP, so N level 1 monsters is worth N00 XP.</p><p></p><p>What level of monster is roughly as tough as 2 level 1 monsters? That is worth 200 XP. (In the above chart I said level 3)</p><p>What level of monster is roughly as tough as 3 level 1 monsters? That is worth 300 XP. (In the above chart I said level 5)</p><p></p><p>We then repeat the same logic with level 3 and level 5 monsters - 3 level 3 monsters is worth 600 XP. What single monster has about as much threat at 3 level 3 monsters? That is worth 600 XP. It should line up with the threat of 2 level 5 monsters if we are doing our math right!</p><p></p><p>This gives us our XP table.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="NotAYakk, post: 9334291, member: 72555"] I mean, writing up a 4e style 5e monster building system isn't hard? Around level 1 it is tricky. But beyond that Defensive Level X base stats (X from 0 to 20) (X+1)*5 HP 12+X/3 AC Offensive Level X base stats (X from 0 to 20) (X+2)*3 damage if everything hits 14+X/2 attack attribute (14 to 24) Overall level is average of Offensive and Defensive level. AOE abilities count for (1+X/2), where X the estimated number of extra targets beyond 1. Save-for-half abilities count as +50% damage. Proficiency derived from Overall level. Each +1/-1 attack modifier above target multiplies damage by +/-10%. Each +1/-1 AC modifier above target multiples HP by +/- 10%. Doing saves/resistance/invisibility/etc ends up futzing with your offensive/defensive levels. [B]Elites[/B] An Elite(N) monster has N times as much HP and (N-1) legendary actions. These legendary actions do 1/2 standard Offensive damage (or equivalent). They also have (N-1) "get out of jail free" cards (legendary resists or whatever). They count as N monsters of a given level. [B]XP Value[/B] Level X Elite(N) monsters are worth N times as much XP as a level X monster. Rough first draft XP table: 1: 100 XP 2: 150 XP 3: 200 XP 4: 250 XP 5: 300 XP 6: 400 XP 7: 500 XP 8: 600 XP 9: 700 XP 10: 800 XP 11: 900 XP 12: 1000 XP 13: 1200 XP 14: 1400 XP 15: 1600 XP 16: 1800 XP 17: 2000 XP 18: 2200 XP 19: 2400 XP 20: 2600 XP 21: 2800 XP 22: 3000 XP 23: 3250 XP 24: 3500 XP 25: 3750 XP 26: 4000 XP 27: 4250 XP 28: 4500 XP 29: 4750 XP 30: 5000 XP 31: 5250 XP 32: 5500 XP 33: 5750 XP 34: 6000 XP 35: 6250 XP Base encounter budget is (sum of PC XP values) above, and is a challenging encounter. To work out encounter budget, just add up XP values of monsters (no count multiplier). If the monsters add up to x1.3 it is in the deadly range. If the monsters add up to x0.7 it is in the easy range. Calibrate based on past expectations of party capabilities, and how rested they are. --- Please note: [B]this is a first pass[/B]. There is some mathematics underlying it, but I didn't crunch all of the numbers and eyeballed a bunch. I quite possibly made the XP curve too shallow or steep (I used (L+1)*1.5-1 produces roughly 2x XP value). Before using it, I'd both check existing monsters against it, and I'd prototype creating monsters, and compare it to a baseline D&D party. The results are not intended to be totally accurate, but just a way to quickly make encounters in the right ballpark of difficulty level. The underlying math (which I failed to follow perfectly) is that a monster's threat is equal to its (DPR) times its (HP), with a factor based on accuracy/AC. Two monsters with A damage and B HP are very roughly equivalent to one monster with A*1.5 damage and 2B HP, because half way through the fight with 2 monsters the first monster dies (and 4 monsters with A DPR and B HP are roughly equivalent to one monster with 2.5A DPR and 4B HP). To make comparing "more monsters" to "bigger monster" easy, we want to balance N times as many monsters with a monster with N^Q times as much HP and N^Q as much damage; Q values around 0.7 work reasonably well. We want to add up XP on multiple monsters linearly (if one is worth 300 XP, two should be worth 600 XP), and not use multipliers. So we start off with that - a level 1 monster is worth 100 XP, so N level 1 monsters is worth N00 XP. What level of monster is roughly as tough as 2 level 1 monsters? That is worth 200 XP. (In the above chart I said level 3) What level of monster is roughly as tough as 3 level 1 monsters? That is worth 300 XP. (In the above chart I said level 5) We then repeat the same logic with level 3 and level 5 monsters - 3 level 3 monsters is worth 600 XP. What single monster has about as much threat at 3 level 3 monsters? That is worth 600 XP. It should line up with the threat of 2 level 5 monsters if we are doing our math right! This gives us our XP table. [/QUOTE]
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