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DM fiat. Make it up on the spot when needed (like when it starts its death roll I guess).

Yep. Just seems weird that it even needs to make a bite attack. Doesn't seem like it'd miss if it's holding someone in its teeth. Though I guess a natural 1 (fumble) could mean it chips a tooth and lets go...damn plate armor. EDIT: There are probably a few exceptions, like the Marilith. It can...

So, if a character is grappled by say a giant crocodile (using it's bite attack), shouldn't it take bite damage each round it's grappled? I doubt the giant croc is grabbing an opponent just to hold it and keep it all warm and cozy in its jaws.

DMs don't cry. They get even.

You sir, win the internet.

Terra cotta golem, with a flower pot-shaped head, and a poisonous flower (miniature tri-flower frond or something) growing out of its head could be....cool? Well, interesting for sure.

Looks like 3.5 got close with the stone golem using these formulas. The clay golem though, little less than half what it should be (if you figure the average large clay golem stands 8 feet tall).

No worries. :) Just need to feed the ogres more.

So the 1e/2e ogre (9 feet tall, 300-350 pounds) needed to eat more adventurers to reach average weight?

Unless I am misremembering the order of the steps, doesn't the bump to CR for a higher than average attack bonus get added to the offensive CR before you average Off/Def for final CR? Which means, it bumps to 7. Def CR stays 10. So, overall CR remains 8 (or I guess 9 if you round up).

Ran Saltmarsh as a one-off. No major modifications and it worked fine.

More or less yep. But, IMC, it's a single layer, just split up into provinces/domains/whatever you want to call them.

One Hell, ruled by Asmodeus currently. The other arch-devils (same ones from 1e) rule over certain areas of Hell. I guess a "modern" fantasy example would be Game of Thrones. Each area ruled by a king or whatever, with each owing fealty to the "one true king".

Yep this. Always split evenly, if they contribute, and no matter the level differences.

Technically, you can vary AC or attack bonus up or down by +/- 1 and still be the same CR. Only adjusts if it is +/- 2 points higher/lower. So this CR 2 guy could have an attack bonus of +2 to +4 and an AC of 12-14.

Yep. Brown bear falls into this category I believe. Like around CR 3 for Offensive CR (damage output, attack bonus), but CR 1/8 for Defensive CR (hit points, nothing it has modifies its effective hp).

Interesting thing about that, and maybe it is resistances, etc. is that the average CR 1 monster in the MM has 31 hp or so (removing the quasit and imp from the equation since both hit points on those are extremely low). (If you remove the kuo toa whip, 65 hp, the highest CR 1 in the MM, the...

And even then, there's some other tweaking going on not found on the tables, which much like last edition and PF means eyeballing it and playtesting the crap out of it til it feels right. For example, try building the MM Ogre from the tables. It doesn't line up. CR for DPR is 1. HP is like CR...

Monsters heal when the DM says they heal; no healing rules needed.

Basically, you have two options for building NPCs. You can build an NPC using the monster building rules or you can build an NPC as you would a PC. If you build it as a PC you can skip selecting a background and pick two skill proficiencies instead. There's an "NPC Features" table as well for...