A tool to aid in monster creation
- Thread starter Asmor
- Start date
GoodKingJayIII
First Post
Asmor said:
Aha! That's why I can't use it at work. Just as well, I prefer Firefox, and it's better in every way.
TarionzCousin
Second Most Angelic Devil Ever
:sniff: That's beautiful!Asmor said:
Magus Coeruleus
Explorer
I'm confused on the ability scores. It says the highest of each pair is 13 + 1/2 level except for the primary stat, which is 16 + 1/2 level. Well, what about the lower of each pair? In your calculator, Asmor, I see it makes both scores of one pair 16 + 1/2 level and all others 13 + 1/2 level. That's not how I'm reading the DMG but maybe I'm missing something.
By the way, as I've been saying in other threads, I'm getting very frustrated trying to understand how that DMG p. 184 table is supposed to help because it does not look like it gives a good approximation of the MM monsters. I know it's guidelines and everything gets tweaked, but I would hope that the tables would generate something close to the mean. Instead, take as an example Artillery monsters. I looked through every single one. DMG table says Attack vs. AC should be Level + 7. Looking at non-solo, non-elite Artillery, there is ONE that has an attack at level + 7 (goblin sharpshooter). There is ONE that is one point less (i.e. level +6, the dwarf bolter). All other Artillery in the MM are 2+ points below Level + 7 for their Attacks It's usually 2-3 points below, sometimes less. So why doesn't the table say Level + 5 like it does for Skirmisher, Lurker, and Controller? Mind you, I haven't checked to see if all other monster roles also have attack mods 2+ lower than expected from the table. I'd like to use these lovely monster-generating tools but I don't trust the table at this point. Does anyone see something I'm missing to explain this?
By the way, as I've been saying in other threads, I'm getting very frustrated trying to understand how that DMG p. 184 table is supposed to help because it does not look like it gives a good approximation of the MM monsters. I know it's guidelines and everything gets tweaked, but I would hope that the tables would generate something close to the mean. Instead, take as an example Artillery monsters. I looked through every single one. DMG table says Attack vs. AC should be Level + 7. Looking at non-solo, non-elite Artillery, there is ONE that has an attack at level + 7 (goblin sharpshooter). There is ONE that is one point less (i.e. level +6, the dwarf bolter). All other Artillery in the MM are 2+ points below Level + 7 for their Attacks It's usually 2-3 points below, sometimes less. So why doesn't the table say Level + 5 like it does for Skirmisher, Lurker, and Controller? Mind you, I haven't checked to see if all other monster roles also have attack mods 2+ lower than expected from the table. I'd like to use these lovely monster-generating tools but I don't trust the table at this point. Does anyone see something I'm missing to explain this?
Asmor
First Post
Paradisio said:
Correct, for the most part.
Also, as I've said before, the stats I generate are only meant to be a jumping off point, and once you've got the monster's level and primary stat set, you should uncheck the box to update the scores and then edit them to what you want.
The DMG doesn't tell you what to do with the lower score of the pair, so I had a few options:
1: Assign it the same value
2: Assign it a 10
3: Assign it some other value
Assigning is the same value has 2 big advantages over the other two approaches.
First, it's a lot simpler. You only pick one of three pairs to be primary, rather than picking one of six stats to be primary.
Second, it makes at least as much sense as the other two methods, and frankly I think it makes more sense. The DMG doesn't say what the value should be, might as well start it near the norm. As has been noted, the other scores really don't matter. The only thing it matters for are skills, for the most part.
