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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Neonchameleon" data-source="post: 9093431" data-attributes="member: 87792">The same as what? Because the big question is MM1 style and unchanged or MMotM style?Nah. The monsters are outright bad largely thanks to the structure of 5e. They've all the speed of 4e monsters and less in the way of basic tactical engagement than AD&D monsters. All they are lacking is the fiddliness of 3.X monsters. Fundamentally four issues cripple the tactical element and thus the actual engagement during combat of 5e as compared to 3.X or 4e:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Finesse weapons using Dex to hit and damage means that an archer with a shortsword or rapier (and no feats or magic weapons) does almost exactly the same damage in melee as at range. There's no point maneuvering to run something like a <a href="https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Bandit#content" target="_blank">bandit</a> down and force them into melee other than the increased focus fire.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Thrown weapons using Str to hit and damage means that there's not much point entangling or kiting a monster like an <a href="https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Ogre#content" target="_blank">ogre</a> other than for focus fire; their javelins do almost as much damage as their clubs and are just as accurate. So kiting them mostly opens up their target selection.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The penalty for being in melee being Disadvantage rather than opportunity attacks means that if you get a mage in melee they can still throw around fireballs or lightning bolts with impunity</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The lack of default flanking again means that focus fire is just about the only thing, and no one is baited into going deep into enemy lines for Advantage.</li> </ul>AD&D didn't have this, of course, but on the other hand combat was much much faster and less bloated; in 1e an ogre had 19hp, in 3.X 29, and in 5e 59. Does this mean that all 5e monsters are bad? No. They've inherited 4e's ability format so a goblin with Nimble Escape moves and behaves differently from an orc with Aggressive, and the legendary monsters with lair actions can be pretty good. But their "starting quality" is the lowest of any edition due to some design choices that work fine for PCs not being so good for NPCs. This means it takes more work to make a good monster and that the quality of monsters in the MM is lower.</blockquote>

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