D&D 5E Are solo monsters weaker in 5e?

[MostlyDm]

No, you can do it at first level. The Tarrasque has 40' speed (140' total movement if it Dashes and uses three Legendary Actions to move 20' each time) and no ranged attacks. Use your starting gold to buy a riding horse (60' movement) and cast Longstrider on it to give it 140' for an hour. During that hour, the Tarrasque cannot close the range to you, and you can cast Acid Splash 600 times. The Tarrasque has +0 on Dex saves but advantage because of Magic Resistance, so it will succeed on its DC 13 saving throw 384 out of 600 times, which means that it takes 216d6 = 756 HP of damage during the first hour, and it has only 676 HP.

I know this is just a thought experiment, but I have to say... Better hope your horse never gets bogged down by a steep hill or a thicket in that full hour of riding.

Also that it doesn't get tired.

And that the Tarrasque never throws anything at you.

 

[MARCVS AVRELIVS]

I know this is just a thought experiment, but I have to say... Better hope your horse never gets bogged down by a steep hill or a thicket in that full hour of riding.

Also that it doesn't get tired.

And that the Tarrasque never throws anything at you.

Given that the range on Acid Splash has a range of 60', and the Tarrasque causes fear out to 120', there's a pretty good chance you get off one shot, move away (so it won't be able to reach you) and never get back into range because your horse gets too afraid to close range anymore. Or your 1st level wizard also gets afraid and decides to get out of Dodge, while the getting is good.

I do think the Legendary actions help solo monsters compete in the "action economy", but the PCs definitely have things titled in their favor when going up against one bad guy.

 

[MostlyDm]

The more I think about it the more I realize that even by a boringly strict rules lawyer-ish interpretation of what options are available to the Tarrasque, this strategy doesn't work at all.

Even if we don't give the Tarrasque a special "throw boulder" ability, he can just pick up any old thing. A rock, a tree, or an unfortunate horse that lacked longstrider. He can chuck it at you as an improvised weapon. Even without proficiency, his strength bonus is the ludicrously high +10 and you're a level 1 wizard with 15 AC (very generously, we'll give you Mage Armor and good dex).

Improvised weapon deals 1d4 times 4 due to size, for 4d4+10 total damage. You are a 1st level wizard with (very generously) 8 HP, so minimum damage kills you instantly.

You didn't even last a single round, man. So much for that bit cheese.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

The more I think about it the more I realize that even by a boringly strict rules lawyer-ish interpretation of what options are available to the Tarrasque, this strategy doesn't work at all.

Even if we don't give the Tarrasque a special "throw boulder" ability, he can just pick up any old thing. A rock, a tree, or an unfortunate horse that lacked longstrider. He can chuck it at you as an improvised weapon. Even without proficiency, his strength bonus is the ludicrously high +10 and you're a level 1 wizard with 15 AC (very generously, we'll give you Mage Armor and good dex).

Improvised weapon deals 1d4 times 4 due to size, for 4d4+10 total damage. You are a 1st level wizard with (very generously) 8 HP, so minimum damage kills you instantly.

You didn't even last a single round, man. So much for that bit cheese.

That's not a boringly strict Rules Lawyer interpretation at all. If it were, you'd be able to point to the rule you're using to give him an improvised throwing weapon with 60' range.

I think you made up your "1d4 times 4 due to size" rule, too. Mind you, I'd rule the exact same way... but a rules lawyer wouldn't care.

 

[MostlyDm]

The monster manual (I think; could be DMG, away from book) specifies increased damage dice for larger than medium weapons. Double, triple, quadruple respectively. No reason this would not apply for an improvised weapon as well.

You might be right about the range though, I'll have to see if I can find any justification when I have my books.

 

[MostlyDm]

A quick Google search suggests 60 feet is long range for an improvised weapon. Can a book holder confirm? If so... Even with disadvantage he's still likely to hit, so I think your wizard is still boned.

 

[NotActuallyTim]

The monster manual (I think; could be DMG, away from book) specifies increased damage dice for larger than medium weapons. Double, triple, quadruple respectively. No reason this would not apply for an improvised weapon as well.

You might be right about the range though, I'll have to see if I can find any justification when I have my books.

I cannot find this in the DMG or the MM. I think you're thinking of Hit Die type.

 

[MostlyDm]

Nope, I just stopped off in a game store to double check this! It's in the DMG, page 278, paragraph 5. Starts "big monsters typically wield..."

And while I'm at it, page 148 of the PHB confirms that improvised weapons have a long range of 60 feet.

Even by the strictest RAW, it's not looking good for this level 1 wizard.

 

[NotActuallyTim]

Nope, I just stopped off in a game store to double check this! It's in the DMG, page 278, paragraph 5. Starts "big monsters typically wield..."

And while I'm at it, page 148 of the PHB confirms that improvised weapons have a long range of 60 feet.

Even by the strictest RAW, it's not looking good for this level 1 wizard.

Huh. Step 11 of designing a monster...

Ok that's in the book. Well, the DMG, not the Monster Manual. You could have also gone with 'Improvising Damage' on pg 249 DMG, which could have easily given you 10d10 damage for having a house chucked at character, because making stuff up is RAW in 5E.

 

[MostlyDm]

Oh for sure, which is why I came back to D&D at all. I would never condone this level of slavish adherence to some pedestaled concept of RAW.

But I wanted to be as strictly within the explicit RAW as possible in this case, just to maintain the hypothetical white room, never ever happen in a million years kinda feel.