Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="DinoInDisguise" data-source="post: 9438903" data-attributes="member: 7045806">Just claiming math doesn't work isn't persuasive when people are literally using it in practice. It's the basis for Sly Flourish's wonderful Forge of Foes. The fact WotC failed to use that math in their own monster designs is perplexing to me, and likely more of a commentary on WotC's bad monster balancing than anything.I will go through a few examples, just to make it very clear that the math is very sound, and very predictable. Unfortunately, dislike for a system doesn't change that. A level 3 PC with an 18 in the primary stat is going to have a +6 to hit. This is from +4 from the ability and +2 from profieciency. This means with a 16 ac monster, that PC hits 50% of the time. This is again, proven math. Generally you want the players to hit more than they miss, for psychological reasons. So you probably want to be closer to a 14 AC. If you play with lower powered starts, the PC may only have a 17 in that stat which would lower the bar by one. All of this is easily predictable. All of it is simple math. These are trends you will see repeated as we go.You can do the exact same with "to hit" on the monster. This is because, again, AC is predictable. You know the armors given out, and therefore have the AC of each PC. Building a monster to the average is a good starting point here. At level 3, a +5 is probably good.Save DCs are also predictable and can scale very similarly to AC on a monster. As are saving throws, if you know the class. This can also be adjusted to reach certain percentages of success and failure on each side. Each +1 or -1 is a 5% change. This works in reverse, as the PC save DC is predictable, and from that number you can easily decide on a saving throw for the monster.The math is so tight that you can tailor encounters to specific rounds. Assuming your PCs build close to the average HP wise, you can predict the round the PCs lose without ever seeing their characters by adjusting monster damage. There is an average PC hp chart on google if you wish. This gives you a clear benchmark. A monster that deals 20 damage per round, after adjusting for a 60% to hit, kills a party with 200 combined hp in roughly 10 rounds.Player damage is also predictable. The weapon dice variation is limited, and only ability scores are ever really added consistantly. You can fairly accurately predict the damage per round of a PC using the same math as the monster. Spells don't even mess it up that bad, as you can predict the success of saving throws, and even make educated guesses on number of targets a spell is likely to hit - that chart is also freely available online.This is literally math. It's demonstrable. The only variables are the players craftiness, and the dice. We can poo-poo 5e for any reason that suits our fancy, but once we start denying mathematics I begin to wonder.Edit: Either way, I have very little more to say on this topic. I encourage people to check out Sly Flourish's book.</blockquote>

Verification