D&D 5E 5e Hobgoblin stat block

[Klaus]

What if the CR is 7? What does that mean?

It means a party of four 7th-level adventurers would find the creature a moderate-to-challenging fight. It would probably be very difficult for 6th-level PCs and mop the floor with lower-level ones.

What is the interaction between level and number of PCs and CR?

CR is a guideline for when the creature enters the game without causing a TPK.

If you have fewer PCs, combats will be slightly harder. If you have more, it will be easier.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

I watched the interview, and the way CR works is pretty much the way I was hoping it would. A monster's CR tells you that it is a moderate challenge for a party of that level. However, you can also build encounters by determining the XP value for the level of challenge you want for your party (which the DM will have clear guidelines on), and then just using your XP budget to pick monsters for the encounter.

Because of bounded accuracy we know you'll be able to get more mileage out of lower level monsters, since they won't become automatically irrelevant once their CR is 2 or 3 lower than the power. I'm also hoping the upper boundary will be more forgiving also. Mike mentioned using a CR 7 monster as a difficult challenge for a level 5 party, which sounds a bit like 3e. So not perfect, but at least sounding hopeful in terms of the limited info we have.

Also, it sounds like the MM will give us more fluff and such on monsters.

Huh. So then the other levels will be "slowing the progression down" then? Is it going to be a slow plateua?

The impression that I get is that after level 3 or 4 your level progression becomes consistent.

 

[1of3]

Has anyone grokked the "Challenge" descriptor yet? Is "Challenge 1/2" meant to imply a single hobgoblin is worth "half" a 1st level PC in a fight, so I should assume a 1st level PC should have a fair fight against 2 hobgoblins?

I have a rough idea about defenses, but not about offense. I suggest:

CR = How many rounds does it take a five person party of first level characters to whack that thing down.

Assuming a first level PC does about 10 damage average on a hit, that works for the Ogre and the Hobgoblin.

 

[Kobold Stew]

Mearls has said that CR represents the level of the [four-person] party for whom the monster is appropriate.

EDIT: more:
Quote Originally Posted by http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/dndqa/20140425

The CR of a monster is based on the level at which a party of four player characters could fight that monster and have a moderate-to-challenging fight. So, for the big, solo monsters that you fight, four-on-one serves as the baseline for the CR system, and CR represents about the level at which the monster starts to pop up in adventures (there’s some leeway in this, of course; you could fight something of a higher CR, but it becomes significantly more challenging). If you’re fighting monsters in larger numbers, they’re almost certainly of a CR that is lower than player character level.

As for calculating the CR of a villain, you’ll do that just like you would with any other monster: by comparing the villain/monster that you’ve designed to a set of baseline values to determine its CR, similar to how monster design worked in 4th Edition. We’re going to present a set of guidelines that you can use to gauge the CR of a monster, whether built like a player character or built just as a normal monster.

 

[GX.Sigma]

What is the interaction between level and number of PCs and CR?

If you're trying to balance an encounter, you use the XP value. CR is mostly there to tell the DM "this is the level when you can start using this monster."

 

[UngeheuerLich]

CR: Is it ok to use the monster without great risk to kill a single character in the fight.

An ogre vs a lvl 1 party of 10 people would still be able to kill a PC once he is in melee, although his xp budget seems ok for a party that size.

So the xp budget tells you how many monsters you use, the CR warns you not to use a single creature that may be too dangerous.

 

[Blackbrrd]

Mearls has said that CR represents the level of the [four-person] party for whom the monster is appropriate.

EDIT: more:
Quote Originally Posted by http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/dndqa/20140425

Your quote misses the question, so it's kind of misleading, it only applies to 'solo' monsters. With the question it becomes a bit clearer:

How does CR work for what should be big ‘solo’ monsters? How would a DM calculate CR for a big villain that he or she has created? The CR of a monster is based on the level at which a party of four player characters could fight that monster and have a moderate-to-challenging fight. So, for the big, solo monsters that you fight, four-on-one serves as the baseline for the CR system, and CR represents about the level at which the monster starts to pop up in adventures (there’s some leeway in this, of course; you could fight something of a higher CR, but it becomes significantly more challenging). If you’re fighting monsters in larger numbers, they’re almost certainly of a CR that is lower than player character level.

As for calculating the CR of a villain, you’ll do that just like you would with any other monster: by comparing the villain/monster that you’ve designed to a set of baseline values to determine its CR, similar to how monster design worked in 4th Edition. We’re going to present a set of guidelines that you can use to gauge the CR of a monster, whether built like a player character or built just as a normal monster. (More on this in the next answer.)

Building an encounter should be done more or less like this:
a) Select monsters. No monster should have a CR higher than the average level of the party.
b) Add enough monsters to fill a certain xp budget (currently unknown)

The one monster of CR = average party level only applies if it's a "Big 'solo' monster". You can have monsters with the same CR with totally different xp values, depending on if they are 'solo', 'elite' or 'normal'.

What @UngeheuerLich says is correct

 

[ExploderWizard]

I can see it now:

First level fighter runs into combat with 3 hobgoblins on his own.

"When I defeat you, I gain a level! Stupid designers!"

A round later, fighter lying dead on the ground, after having taken 14 damage in one hit from one of the hobgoblins with martial advantage.

Player: "Stupid designers!"



Cheers!

Who says they all have to be fought at once?

 

[Thaumaturge]

Who says they all have to be fought at once?

The DM?

Thaumaturge.

 

[FireLance]

So, how long do you think it will take before the first player of a fighter character asks to "learn to fight like a hobgoblin"?

And will 5e have an option for that apart from "take 5 levels of rogue"?