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Message: <blockquote data-quote="AbdulAlhazred" data-source="post: 5412867" data-attributes="member: 82106">Basically it goes like this:MM1/DMG1 established basic math for monsters and provided a framework for how they were designed, monster roles (soldier,brute,skirmisher,lurker,artillery, and controller), and types (minion, standard, elite, and solo). DMG1 has a section on monster design which tells you the hit points, defenses, and expected damage output for monsters. It establishes some guidelines for monster powers, etc as well.MM2/DMG2 made a few changes to that. Solo monsters in paragon and epic have less hit points and elite and solo monsters no longer get defense boosts vs standard monsters. Minions also got more damage, roles, and better guidelines, as well as paragon and epic solos being made cheaper (5 or 6 being equal to a standard instead of 4).MM3 and the latest errata made some more substantial changes. All monsters get approximately 25% higher damage output and there are some changes to attack and defense numbers for most monster roles. They also introduced a new stat block format for monsters that is easier to use. MM3 solo monsters and to a lesser extent elites also generally have 'anti lockdown' mechanics, but there's no specific rule for how that works.The differences, at least at heroic tier, aren't huge. They break down to the purely numeric adjustments, which are pretty easy to categorize, and a general shift in monster design philosophy. They moved away from using resistance and immunity so much, reduced the use of the stun condition considerably, and just generally MM3 grade monsters have better mechanics overall. MV, and to a lesser extent some other later books like Demonomicon that have monsters in them, continue with this newer and more polished monster design. In general, since MV overlaps a lot with MM1 as to what kinds of monsters it covers, you're usually best off using the MV versions of monsters. MM1 monsters, especially heroic ones, generally still work fine, but they can benefit from adjusting their numbers in keeping with the latest errata. Many of the old monsters will work fine as-is though. You can upgrade their damage output easily enough if desired. The basic rule of thumb seems to be MM3 grade monsters do about level + 8 damage, with around 25% more for brutes. Doubling static damage in damage expressions usually gets you pretty close to that and is a decent quick way to do it. You may also want to drop soldier defenses a point or two (mostly AC), increase brute defenses to the same as skirmishers, and increase brute accuracy to the same as skirmishers too, but that isn't really critical.FYI the newest compiled errata can be downloaded here <a href="http://www.wizards.com/dnd/files/UpdateCompiled.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.wizards.com/dnd/files/UpdateCompiled.pdf</a> (this provides ALL the most current errata for all books, there isn't any for Essentials yet, but it does have the newest charts for monster damage, defenses, and to-hits in there somewhere in the DMG1 section).</blockquote>

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