Jester David
Hero
It might also be a good idea to slip in some monsters from Tome of Beasts. Classical monsters are neat, but most players have an idea of their weaknesses. Surprising them with something new might be very effective.
I'm not sure what you mean by that. A stone golem in 5E is as vulnerable to Fireball than a troll is, or nearly so, because Magic Resistance is practically worthless when you don't have a decent save bonus to back it up.It wasn't fun for wizards to be useless against a golem, so now they are of limited use, but still are useful.
In the old days, a fireball did nothing to a golem. Now they have magic resistance, which means that your spells are less useful against them than other foes with similar abilities... pretty straight forward. You don't seem to be missing anything.I'm not sure what you mean by that. A stone golem in 5E is as vulnerable to Fireball than a troll is, or nearly so, because Magic Resistance is practically worthless when you don't have a decent save bonus to back it up.
My point is that wizards aren't limited against golems at all, unless you're specifically playing an enchanter. For wizards who would normally react to a strong enemy by casting Fireball, they are still operating at nearly 100% capacity against golems, because Magic Resistance is a non-factor.In the old days, a fireball did nothing to a golem. Now they have magic resistance, which means that their spells are less useful than against other foes with similar abilities... pretty straight forward. You don't seem to be missing anything.
Has anyone examined the pros/cons of home-brewing iconic monsters to more resemble their original forms?
Yes.Monsters - older edition more challenging?
Yes.
At higher levels, this is a significant issue and problem with the edition.
Golems are a prime example. When your regular tactic of "bash them till they're dead" can't work, you were forced to be creative. A wizard might Dig a pit or create an illusion of a bridge over the pit of acid, and so on to defeat the golem. While I suppose that all still could work today, there's not an incentive to be creative when it's much easier to blast it down.
We could go on: Drow once were fearful. Well armed, armored, with poison and solid magic resistance. They used to be an oh-crap encounter. And that's just the foot-soldier. Now, they're slightly weaker than a hobgoblin. Glorified elves with a faerie fire spell.
Anyways, my point was that monsters with unique abilities and immunities were created to challenge players to be more creative, cautious, and devious in facing them, and largely (not entirely) that's been taken away. Of course, there is absolutely nothing prohibiting me from putting it back. The DM is always right, right?