Increasing/Decreasing a Monster's lvl

[mysticknight232]

I want to take a higher lvl 13/14 monster and turn him into a lvl 8 monster. How do I do this? All I have is the MM1 and I do not see any rules in there for adjusting character lvls. My initial thought was to simply subtract 1 from TH, Dmg and Defenses for each 2 lvls i'm decreasing the monster, but how do I handle HPs? I do have access to the Monster Builder but when I decreased the lvl of a mob, most of the attacks didn't reduce in any way and this seems like it would be too hard of a fight for my party when the Mob would be hitting on rolls of 5+

Also, I want to turn a regular lvl 9 creature into a Solo mob for a single encounter. How do I do that?

Thanks and happy hunting!

 

[the Jester]

Rules for adjusting monster levels are in the DMG. The short version is, reduce the monster's attacks and defenses by 1/level, adjust the damage by roughly 1/3 level and watch out for special effect that aren't appropriate to the new level. Also, reduce its hps based on role (again, see the DMG, somewhere around pg. 184?).

 

[MrMyth]

I want to take a higher lvl 13/14 monster and turn him into a lvl 8 monster. How do I do this? All I have is the MM1 and I do not see any rules in there for adjusting character lvls. My initial thought was to simply subtract 1 from TH, Dmg and Defenses for each 2 lvls i'm decreasing the monster, but how do I handle HPs? I do have access to the Monster Builder but when I decreased the lvl of a mob, most of the attacks didn't reduce in any way and this seems like it would be too hard of a fight for my party when the Mob would be hitting on rolls of 5+

Also, I want to turn a regular lvl 9 creature into a Solo mob for a single encounter. How do I do that?

As the Jester mentions, most info is in the DMG.

If you don't have that on hand, here would be what to do:

Reducing a Level 14 Monster to Level 8: Subtract 6 from all Defenses (AC, Fort, Ref, Will) and Attacks. Reduce damage, skill checks, and initiative by 3. For hitpoints, subtract 48 hitpoints (8 x 6); if the monster is a brute, instead subtract 60 hp (10 x 6); if the monster is a Lurker or Artillery, instead subtract 36 hp (6 x 6).

The rules recommend being careful if you are reducing a monster's level by more than 5, since they may start having abilities balanced against higher level PCs - a monster might have more attacks that Stun, for example. I suspect you are safe going from level 13 or 14 to level 8 - just look the abilities over carefully to make sure nothing seems too strong.

To create a solo, going purely by the numbers, you would multiply the creature's hitpoints by 4 or 5 (to represent it being as tough a fight as 4-5 enemies). Of course, if that is all you do, it is a boring enemy, since it still only has one normal attack. Here, unfortunately, is where you might need to get creative and come up with new abilities on your own - perhaps letting it act twice a round, for example, or giving it the ability to take multiple attacks, or counterattack when someone hits it, etc.

My advice, generally, would be to look at existing solo monsters of around that level and see what they can do, and try and figure out appropriate abilities for your own monster. If you have the details for the Level 9 Monster you have in mind, I'm sure people might have suggestions for way's to adapt it into a Solo fight.

 

[mysticknight232]

Thank you guys very much. I should have thought to look in the DMG...I mean, why would stuff about monsters be in the MM anyway? But good advice all around. I do have a DMG and will look through there for the specifics this evening.

 

[Jhaelen]

The short version is, reduce the monster's attacks and defenses by 1/level, adjust the damage by roughly 1/3 level and watch out for special effect that aren't appropriate to the new level. Also, reduce its hps based on role (again, see the DMG, somewhere around pg. 184?).

Yup. However, since the July update changed the damage progression table for monsters, damage should also be adjusted by 1/level, just like attacks and defenses. For brutes and limited damage expressions you may want to adjust them by 1.25 times the level or even easier:
Just pick the damage expression for the target level from the revised table.

Check out this thread for some example tables.