AC and description

[UngeheuerLich]

I have bought KotS and i am a bit worried about monster descriprion, stats and defenses:

I know, they don´t add up... but a bit more consistancy would be nice:

So why do kobolds with Dex 17 and lether armor have an AC of 13?, and a kobold with 13 dex and only a dragonscale as a shield have AC 18?

also: why is slingers AC lower than reflex although they wear lether armor? I am a bit irritated...

 

[med stud]

Why not? If you need an explanation, you can always settle with kobolds being special cases.

 

[Phaezen]

This is a feature, not a bug. From what I understand of monsters for 4e they have ac and defenses appropriate for thier level and role. This is independant of any armour or equipment they are carrying, unlike 3.x where the ac was worked out by a formula depending on dex, armour, shield, magical equipment and class abilities.

The main advantage of this is not having to load monsters up with minor magical items to bump thier ac to a reasonable level to challenge the pc's, with the knock on effect of bags of holding full of +1 armour, shields, amulets etc. The same aplies for thier attacks and damage.

I hope this helps

Phaezen

 

[UngeheuerLich]

This is a feature, not a bug. From what I understand of monsters for 4e they have ac and defenses appropriate for thier level and role. This is independant of any armour or equipment they are carrying, unlike 3.x where the ac was worked out by a formula depending on dex, armour, shield, magical equipment and class abilities.

The main advantage of this is not having to load monsters up with minor magical items to bump thier ac to a reasonable level to challenge the pc's, with the knock on effect of bags of holding full of +1 armour, shields, amulets etc. The same aplies for thier attacks and damage.

I hope this helps

Phaezen

nope, it doesn´t.

I have actually no problem with AC so high without armor, i don´t even want a formula, but i want SOME kind of consitancy:

slingers don´t need that lether armor. They would also do fine, if their description doesn´t mention it. Dragon shields would not suffer if they are described wearing hide armor:

now it looks like this: those kobolds wear hide armor and a small shield (AC 15) they are followed by naked goblins wearing only a dragon scale shield (AC 18)
very agile kobolds stand at the back, wearing lether (AC 13)

it would be much better when armors are swapped a bit (hide on dragonscales, lether on minions).

 

[mach1.9pants]

Yep in 4E their armour is just window dressing or costume. It is just there to give them a look. NPCs etc do not follow the PCs rules. If it bothers you describe them in the appropriate armour to get the number in the stat block but it really makes no difference to how they interact with the PCs. And after all, that is all the monsters are for. Interacting with (/dying for) PCs.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Why not? If you need an explanation, you can always settle with kobolds being special cases.

That wearing armor reduces AC?

Yeah, i will just describe dragon shields with scale armor or something... doesnt´t hurt anyone, would fit their role and i would not consider checking if then numbers would add up

 

[AZRogue]

I think Defenses are more affected by the creatures Role and Level than by what he's wearing. I think their armor is basically window dressing. We'll know more, of course, when we can see the tables used to create the monsters, but I'm pretty sure that we shouldn't worry so much about how the equipment the monsters are wearing are affecting them and, instead, concentrate more on making sure the monster has viable numbers for his Role and Level.

 

[That One Guy]

According to some dated stuff I read, the Kobold Dragon Shields wear Scale Armour and Heavy shields. Is this different in KotS?

 

[UngeheuerLich]

They are described without scale armour^^ and i don´t have much more to complain... really...

I actually think that the description text is nicer than the equipment text we have seen in the MM excerpts^^ But they really should be more careful when editing texts...

and once again: minion stats are lower than epected for a monster of their level, and some minions of the same type have different abilities...)

 

[Kzach]

Yeah, like others have said, just make it up if it's an issue.

For instance, the minions with low AC could be the runts of the kobold litters. Sure, they have decent Dexterity, but they might have knobly knees. So they're generally quick to react but may not be fast on their feet. And the dragonshields are like the tough guys, born with thicker skin, honoured by their dragon ancestors.

Or something like that. Whatever works