TheDungeonMathster
Villager
I am doing a full conversion of the Shackled City adventure path (and have been doing so for quite some time). It was due to this conversion that I began to seek out alternative creature crafting systems as there are over 200 unique creatures and NPCs in the Shackled City that need to be converted and I quickly found the O5E monster creation "rules" to be too loose (and off-target when it comes to CR). After several monster creation systems, I landed on A5E. I really like how well A5E's monster crafting rules work and, so far they have been pretty solid for high-level play.
The issue I am running into is discerning when to make an NPC an elite or legendary (or both). Almost each chapter of the adventure path has several "big bad guys." If meant to be encountered as solos, it's a no-brainer that these bad guys should be legendary; however, when should I consider making them elite instead of legendary, or both elite and legendary? I think I understand the narrative differences between the two:
The issue I am running into is discerning when to make an NPC an elite or legendary (or both). Almost each chapter of the adventure path has several "big bad guys." If meant to be encountered as solos, it's a no-brainer that these bad guys should be legendary; however, when should I consider making them elite instead of legendary, or both elite and legendary? I think I understand the narrative differences between the two:
- Legendary creatures are apex monsters that often rule the region around them. They can battle an entire party by themselves and hold their own. They have legendary actions to balance the action economy (my rule of thumb is one less legendary action than the number of PCs). They are often meant as solo opponents, or to be surrounded by low-HP minions.
- Elite creatures are just plain tougher and deal more damage. They do not have any other action economy-balancing characteristics.
