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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kraydak" data-source="post: 3768246" data-attributes="member: 12306">That depends on the monster's BaB/AC/Saves in addition to his hp/damage.I disagree strongly.  10 actions/round will 1 round a PC far more often than 5 actions/round.  The latter gives people more time to react and try to survive.  A 1 round monster with 10 actions is a very dangerous trap.  A 2 round monster with 5 attacks, is more interesting (but still extremely hard to use as a DM).I noted that the cognitive load on the DM of 1 monster with many abilities will be similar to that of many monsters with few abilities.  Now, any claims that the Beholder, as designed in 3e, is designed to be the functional equivalent of 5 PCs is fairly absurd.  If you compare it to 5 PCs with a beholder's level of offense, it is made of tissue paper.  If you compare it to 5 PCs with its level of defense, it is armageddon incarnate.  Another thing to think about is that 5 different PCs are unlikely to all have a good line of fire on a single opponent.  If a monster with 5 actions has a line of fire on a PC, it has 5 lines of fire on that PC.  Spreading out the opposition in multiple bodies also spreads it out on the battlemat... avoiding focused fire and the gibbage that is all to often its consequence.  There is precious little reason to try and make a single monster the funcitonal equivalent of 5 PCs, and plenty of reasons not to.Why should a beholder (or and ettin, or a hydra) be designed to be the functional equivalent of 5 (or 2, for the ettin) PCs?  They aren't in 3e (if the designers intended to, they failed miserably).OMs don't compare to wizards.  Their defense is *pathetic*.  A 9th level wizard (who can also cast cone of cold CL 9) will have more hp (made up for by regen, maybe), higher AC (I mean, 18?!) and better saves (even fort).  In DnD, you can't protect a glass cannon whose offense is PC appropriate, mooks or no mooks.  You can't survive a glass cannon whose defense is PC appropriate, even without mooks.  Note that in 3e, wizard offense is not *that* high compared to other PCs, nor their defense that low.  Wizard level offense/defense splits aren't that big a deal.Glass cannons are very, very hard to use as a DM.  The margin between cakewalk and TPK is razor thin for them.  Glass cannons should be *rare*, come with DM warnings, and should be party (and partly) customized.  This means that your default monster design protocol doesn't need to be usable for a glass cannon.</blockquote>

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