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General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Complete Disagreement With Mike on Monsters (see post #205)
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<blockquote data-quote="Mustrum_Ridcully" data-source="post: 3766137" data-attributes="member: 710"><p>They are doing that in D&D 3.x, and it works sometimes, and sometimes not.</p><p>The Beholder is not by any means a playable creature. It's 10 eye rays will ramp up its Level Adjustment so high that you could as well say you can't play the creature. D&D 4 will explicitly tell you and not bother giving you guidelines to do it differently. If you want a beholder that serves as a minion, you either make up the statistics yourself or they are provided by the MM.</p><p></p><p>Ever looked at how many attacks a Dragon has per rounds, and at what attack bonuses they are? A Dragon _is_ the functional equivalent of 4-5 characters - at least if he gets a full round attack. If not, this might change (but he has area attacks and spells to make up for that). And that can be a problem, because it can turn into a glass jaw syndrom (it doesn't in the case of the dragon because dragons have little ways how you could exploit their "weaknesses" - high saves, great size, spell resistance, ability to fly)</p><p>It's also next to impossible to play a dragon, because HD and LA will jump its ECL into the high level to epic level region.</p><p></p><p>--</p><p>A lot of these problems can also be solved by assuming that there are some standard guidelines for monsters: </p><p>- Unless noted otherwise, a monster has a skill modifier equal to one half its level (plus its ability modifier)</p><p>- Unless noted otherwise, a monsters attack deals bludgeoning damage according to size seen on the following table. [...] A game master may decide that a specific creature might deal slashing or piercing damage instead. Apply the creatures strength modifier to the attack as with a one-handed weapon. Use this damage if no other natural weapon is provided and the monster is disarmed of its usual weapon.</p><p>- Unless noted otherwise, a monster attacks bonus is equal to its level + its relevant ability modifier. Use this modifier if the monster has been disarmed of a weapon or uses a weapon not listed in its description.</p><p>- Unless noted otherwise, a monster statistics do not include any magical item or spell based modifiers. </p><p>These are the most obvious ones, but others might add:</p><p>- Unless noted otherwise, a monsters armor class against touch attacks is reduced by 5 points, and a monsters armor class when flat-footed is also reduced by 5 points. These modifiers stack.</p><p></p><p>Using such guidelines, all interaction with the characters is easy to adjudicate. You don't have to write anything in the stat block.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Mustrum_Ridcully, post: 3766137, member: 710"] They are doing that in D&D 3.x, and it works sometimes, and sometimes not. The Beholder is not by any means a playable creature. It's 10 eye rays will ramp up its Level Adjustment so high that you could as well say you can't play the creature. D&D 4 will explicitly tell you and not bother giving you guidelines to do it differently. If you want a beholder that serves as a minion, you either make up the statistics yourself or they are provided by the MM. Ever looked at how many attacks a Dragon has per rounds, and at what attack bonuses they are? A Dragon _is_ the functional equivalent of 4-5 characters - at least if he gets a full round attack. If not, this might change (but he has area attacks and spells to make up for that). And that can be a problem, because it can turn into a glass jaw syndrom (it doesn't in the case of the dragon because dragons have little ways how you could exploit their "weaknesses" - high saves, great size, spell resistance, ability to fly) It's also next to impossible to play a dragon, because HD and LA will jump its ECL into the high level to epic level region. -- A lot of these problems can also be solved by assuming that there are some standard guidelines for monsters: - Unless noted otherwise, a monster has a skill modifier equal to one half its level (plus its ability modifier) - Unless noted otherwise, a monsters attack deals bludgeoning damage according to size seen on the following table. [...] A game master may decide that a specific creature might deal slashing or piercing damage instead. Apply the creatures strength modifier to the attack as with a one-handed weapon. Use this damage if no other natural weapon is provided and the monster is disarmed of its usual weapon. - Unless noted otherwise, a monster attacks bonus is equal to its level + its relevant ability modifier. Use this modifier if the monster has been disarmed of a weapon or uses a weapon not listed in its description. - Unless noted otherwise, a monster statistics do not include any magical item or spell based modifiers. These are the most obvious ones, but others might add: - Unless noted otherwise, a monsters armor class against touch attacks is reduced by 5 points, and a monsters armor class when flat-footed is also reduced by 5 points. These modifiers stack. Using such guidelines, all interaction with the characters is easy to adjudicate. You don't have to write anything in the stat block. [/QUOTE]
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Complete Disagreement With Mike on Monsters (see post #205)
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