Monster bonus damage on multiple attacks?

[Kzach]

I have a monster that gets 1d6 extra damage on any ranged attack it has combat advantage for against the target. The monster also has a recharge power that allows it to make three ranged attacks.

Do monsters follow the same rules for bonus damage that players do? In other words, does he add the bonus damage to all three attacks or only one?

 

[Maleketh]

If you're designing the monster, that decision is left entirely up to you. If you're asking about an existing monster, it gets the bonus damage of every attack for which it qualifies unless something in its writeup says otherwise.

 

[Kzach]

If you're designing the monster, that decision is left entirely up to you. If you're asking about an existing monster, it gets the bonus damage of every attack for which it qualifies unless something in its writeup says otherwise.

No, it's the Halfling Slinger.

That's insane then. A 1st-level standard monster that can do 6d6+12 damage to three separate targets or just one target.

 

[DracoSuave]

No, it's the Halfling Slinger.

That's insane then.

For artillery? That's nothing special. Artillery are supposed to do high damage. And Strikers are supposed to -deal- with them. If your striker won't, then the artillery will do a number to the party, and said number will be unpleasent.

 

[Blackbrrd]

The three attacks from the halfling slinger doesn't do very much damage if they don't hit... +4 to hit, or +6 with combat advantage isn't exactly stunning... A level 1 Paladin starts with 20 AC - that just a 35% hit chance per attack... The chance that all three attacks miss is 27%

 

[DracoSuave]

Yeah... granted when they -do- hit, you're hurting hard....

...but Strike the Darn Artillery! That's what you pay them Strikers for!

 

[keterys]

Even with its poor chance to hit, if it has a friend who dazes or something similar it can really tear things up. Its damage potential is way out of line for a level 1 monster. I actually peg it as more damaging than all other level 1 critters, more than double the damage of the Kobold Slinger (the other level 1 artillery) or the average damage I'd expect from a level 1.

 

[Kzach]

Even with its poor chance to hit, if it has a friend who dazes or something similar it can really tear things up. Its damage potential is way out of line for a level 1 monster. I actually peg it as more damaging than all other level 1 critters, more than double the damage of the Kobold Slinger (the other level 1 artillery) or the average damage I'd expect from a level 1.

This.

It's not that I didn't expect an artillery to be good at damage, it's that it stood out as being way too good for the level.

A +6 to hit isn't that shabby for a ranged attack and the damage potential can kill any 1st-level PC. Even against 3rd or 4th-level PC's where you're averaging an AC of about 17-18, that's a damn good chance you're going to kill a PC in one turn, even if they're on full health.

6d6+12 averages to 21 damage, which could easily kill a PC outright if it happens in the middle of a combat when they're already down a few hit points.

If it was a once off attack, maybe I could let it pass, but it's a recharge 5 so it's likely to happen at least 2-3 times in a combat just by having one of these buggers in there, let alone having multiples of them.

 

[keterys]

6d6+12 averages to 21 damage

33 damage, actually. Enough to bring a wizard from full to dead, and enough to drop almost anyone into dying at that level.

Its chance of getting all of them to connect is pretty low of course, but I've seen several level 1 combats that featured multiple of them. Three of them fairly spaced out in a woods can be hard for a party to track down and kill, easier to snipe, and live long enough to get a couple recharges off.

If it was a once off attack, maybe I could let it pass, but it's a recharge 5 so it's likely to happen at least 2-3 times in a combat just by having one of these buggers in there, let alone having multiples of them.

Even if I drop it to 1/enc instead, it's actually still really high damage for a level 1 and its average damage drops less than you'd think.

 

[Kzach]

33 damage, actually.

Yah, in my head I added the dice average to the static bonus damage but my fingers didn't keep up