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True. Heh. Or a combination of all of the above. :) Same here. Yeah, that’s a bit of a big one, too. Although one might suppose it is “fairly easily” solved for human NPCs (leader types of men, NPC parties)—which it actually isn’t because cavemen vs, say, berserker leader types vs, say...

You know, I've always wondered whether Gygax actually was the sole author of the DMG. As far as I can see, he was rather good at putting his name on things and he may have been a good editor--or at least someone who ruled what he published with an iron hand--but I do believe that, for example...

Yeah. And there you're probably touching on the very reason why Appendix E is so incomprehensible (like I believe you did earlier): the notion that there is a relativity to it all, that one monster will get an SAXPB/EAXPA for one thing when another just doesn't. And so I guess the big question...

Agreed. It's certainly what I would do. But I'm afraid I'm gonna have to take a back seat until I find out what they were thinking when they made Appendix E. 🤓 If ever.

Interesting. Also: Heh, so it's exactly the other way round! :cool: I'm certainly leaning heavily in the direction of all of this, and much of the list of unknowns is there because I'm hoping this little project will dig up some info in the DMG/MM/PHB I wasn't aware of/had forgotten about, or...

AD&D 2E, Nineteen Bells (ETA - 7 Nov 2025) Zizis buys a silver ring.

Finishing Trying to finish the EAXPAs for non-magical special attacks, or: Massive damage EAXPA-wise, that leaves us with just the “massive damage” categories. You’d say this would be pretty straightforward… but it isn’t. First, how does one treat monsters capable of, say, both “causing...

Duergar & Daemons Part XVIII: The Silk Road – Continued “Do you have a queen?,” the chevalier asks the last duergar to remain standing. “Someone like it?” “Throw down your weapons!,” Sir Eber yells at him after knocking out the duergar whining on the floor. The duergar throws down his weapons...

Possibly. But DMG, p. 85 says that double values should only be awarded in case of "otherwise weak monsters", which complicates things. Though I’m not aware of DMG, MM, or PHB actually defining what a “spell-like ability” is, distinguishing between spell-like abilities in general and use of...

Absolutely. The notion of restraint being a thing does pop up when you’re trying to deal with crush/constriction… and the “continuing constriction” of the giant constrictor snake. I’ve thought a lot about that, and arguably the main problem here seems to be that there should probably be a...

Definitely. In fact, if Appendix E has taught me anything, it’s that eyeballing it is the only sane thing one can do when allocating the xp value of any monster. :) :cool: Sort of. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that the "crush" special attack on p. 85 actually means "constriction"*, which...

Drat. I can't believe I've literally never seen that table before. From what I gather, it appears to be a very rough guideline for including your own monsters in encounter lists. Which Gygax then immediately goes on to declare null and void by making the ghoul—which would have to be a level I...

OK. Gotcha. Extremely curious to know where to find this table!

eah, I’d also go for the spittle being a missile discharge. In which case it wouldn’t be a “breath weapon” (well, dammit, it might, as @Celebrim suggests with his notion of a breath weapon being an alternative to a bite attack). If it isn’t, I’d say its effect would start counting, as it...

Agreed. There’s a lot going on in Appendix E, and virtually nothing of it makes any sense. In fact, there’s only about two dozen monsters in it with an xp value that corresponds to the “rules” laid out in the EXPERIENCE POINTS VALUE FOR MONSTERS table on p. 85—and the vast majority of these are...

Trying to avoid the “splitting” effects territory—and failing miserably Breath weapon or major breath weapon? DMG, p. 227: “Breath Weapon — Special attack of certain creatures like dragons, chimerae, etc. causing any of several different effects. For saving throw purposes the “Breath Weapon”...