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L&L 5/21 - Hit Points, Our Old Friend
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<blockquote data-quote="Sunseeker" data-source="post: 5917946"><p>And I think it's reasonably fair to consider that not all creatures will be a specific level. Depending on the world populations of the creature there could be very high variances, like with dragons in that you could fight whelplings or elders, or with oozes of which there may be few, and they could only be +/-2 their expected level.</p><p></p><p>Personally I find it reasonable that there could be a sampling of any creature at any level. Perhaps there is an elder gnoll shaman who utilizes their ties to the world to extend their life and end up with 20 class levels.</p><p></p><p>I think all creatures should be given a level range of X to Y, with Y being their maximum expected potential. The monster that you actually encounter would then be somewhere within that range. Even the CR9 Drider had to presumably start out as a fledgling drider just getting a feel for their spidery limbs after their transformation and would at best be a CR2 creature. CR12 Gelatinous Cube would likely have had to start out somewhere as a CR 1/2 jello pudding.</p><p></p><p>I think part of what bothers me about much of monster math is that the obvious progression that a creature must have undergone to get to their current state is entirely disregarded with the exception of a few monsters(such as dragons). In order to have big, mean beasties, they must have at one time been small, squishy beasties, yet we never see any of those even though rationally, they must exist.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>---certainly there's probably a few exceptions just as evil souls that manifest into demonic entities such as Maraliths, but I'd imagine even if a Maralith is a CR17, when it first formed it may have only been a CR13. A powerful entity to be sure, but perhaps not so powerful as her more experienced sisters.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Sunseeker, post: 5917946"] And I think it's reasonably fair to consider that not all creatures will be a specific level. Depending on the world populations of the creature there could be very high variances, like with dragons in that you could fight whelplings or elders, or with oozes of which there may be few, and they could only be +/-2 their expected level. Personally I find it reasonable that there could be a sampling of any creature at any level. Perhaps there is an elder gnoll shaman who utilizes their ties to the world to extend their life and end up with 20 class levels. I think all creatures should be given a level range of X to Y, with Y being their maximum expected potential. The monster that you actually encounter would then be somewhere within that range. Even the CR9 Drider had to presumably start out as a fledgling drider just getting a feel for their spidery limbs after their transformation and would at best be a CR2 creature. CR12 Gelatinous Cube would likely have had to start out somewhere as a CR 1/2 jello pudding. I think part of what bothers me about much of monster math is that the obvious progression that a creature must have undergone to get to their current state is entirely disregarded with the exception of a few monsters(such as dragons). In order to have big, mean beasties, they must have at one time been small, squishy beasties, yet we never see any of those even though rationally, they must exist. ---certainly there's probably a few exceptions just as evil souls that manifest into demonic entities such as Maraliths, but I'd imagine even if a Maralith is a CR17, when it first formed it may have only been a CR13. A powerful entity to be sure, but perhaps not so powerful as her more experienced sisters. [/QUOTE]
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L&L 5/21 - Hit Points, Our Old Friend
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