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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Reynard" data-source="post: 4014945" data-attributes="member: 467">If the DM can predict the outcome, so can the players.  My original point about monster design based on the Des&Dev article was that, in combination with the level/tier system, there are concrete number associated with any given monster.  the players, who have as ready access to the DMG and the MM as the DM does, are aware of this.  So, even if the DM has a toll with which to more easily create custom creatures, those custom creatures will fall within a predictable range of power and ability.  The article also states that there's a list of abilities from which the DM will be able to choose for a monster within the appropriate role/level/tier range.  More predictability.  Even if an experienced DM chooses to create something from whole cloth, his design will be informed by the guidelines set forth and, again, the new creature falls easily in a predictable range of ability that the players can use to their advantage.  Is this a bad thing?  Not necessarily, from a player's perspective: knowledge is power, after all, and having a clear idea of the capabilities of any particular threat ("there's four of us and only one of it -- it's an Elite!) provides the players with a distinct advantage in play.  The advantages to the DM are all in prep time -- nothing to sneeze at, but hardly the same thing.Contrast this with the 3E CR system and you can see how it has changed (which is why I call the level/role/tier system the successor of the CR system, though "evolution of" is probably more accurate).  A CR 3 creature is intended to be a reasonable challenge for a 3rd level party of 4.  Beyond that, though, no account is taken for what the actual capabilities of that creature might be.  So even if the players can assume with some degree of certainty that the encounter is appropriate to their level, and therefore judge the CR, they have little information above and beyond that.  Just for reference, a large animated object, a cockatrice, an ogre and an ethereal marauder are all CR 3 creatures and every one has very different abilities that would have a huge impact on whether or not it is actually an appropriate encounter for any given level appropriate party.This is absolutely true, but the argument goes with the baseline assumption that we are talking above "level appropriate" from a rules/mechanics perspective.</blockquote>

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