Only due to unwillingness to make it work
Possibly. But in speaking to Gary 25 years ago he noted that at the time he was ousted he was planning a book that reworked all the 'big bads' so they all had d12's for Hit Dice and were notably a tougher challenge.
So its clear that making them "do-able" for a Level 10 party is massively underselling them and simply does not make sense.
If your argument is Elder Vampires should be greater than CR 15 then I might agree...although a properly done CR 15 should be on average more powerful than a Level 20 PC...even if, if WotC-land they are not.
Personally I think the depiction of Vampires in 5e is awful. In 4E I think I had Ghoul (Vampire Spawn) as Level 3, Vampire Level 5, Vampire Courtesan Level 8, Vampire Lord Level 12 and Elder Vampire Level 17; maybe even that was underselling things a bit.
If the monster is epic, make it CR 17 or up.
Don't dumb it down so you can put it in a level 1-10 adventure.
No
The strongest vampire in 5e is CR 15.
That's the problem. Elder Vampires should be more powerful.
Maybe, but what should it be stronger than?
If Lich > Mummy Lord > Vampire Lord > Wraith Lord, then I'd probably peg Elder Vampire around the Mummy Lord strength (ie. CR 15-17). Now admittedly I'd also think one should be stronger than a Death Knight (CR 17)...maybe they would be a better fit for CR 13.
Then you forgot. Giants go from level 13 to 24
Storm titans are above level 25.
I was specifically thinking of a Fire Giant L18 and Fire Titan L21 Elite (IIRC).
Individually that is not threatening a Kingdom...a CL25 Storm Titan...maybe but by that point we are way outside the Paragon Tier.
No. It's not a trick
A street level threat is a threat to a street.
A city level threat is a threat to a city.
A kingdom level threat is a threat to a kingdom.
A world level threat is a threat to a world/plane.
A minor gang boss is just a threat to a street. If the city guard wanted to take him or her out, they could take him out
A major mob boss is a city level threat. It means they threaten a city. A city's power players are threatened by his existence.
The problem lies when someone says the Elder Vampire threatened the country. They can raise and command an army. BUT they are so weak they are obviously local
Dracula controls a country and threatens a continent. If you want to make a monster that is like a Dracula, it should be high level enough to do so or using a McGuffin to elevate itself.
Dracula controls a small country in the same way any Monarch does. Individually he is not a threat to a Country without his forces.
Therefore a CR 15 Dracula himself is not a threat to a Country just like a CR 15 Purple Worm is not a threat to a country.
In 5e a better breakdown might be:
CR 16 Threat to Village (as in easily wipe it out in one night)
CR 20 Threat to Town
CR 24 Threat to City/Small Country
C 28 Threat to Country
Even if we take the example of the CR 30 Tarrasque it does not individually threaten "The world" because the world has enough heroes that if they banded together would eliminate it easily. Its maybe a threat to challenge the best heroes in a given Country, but not the world.
The issue is people lie. If the world is extinct you better be above level 15 and that's the very minimum..
WOTC and many 3PP writers don't know how to write "If we don't stop X, the World as we know it will end" adventures.
Agreed.
Everything beyond the kingdom red level requires whole new style of adventure.
Or a whole new type of threat...
