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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lancelot" data-source="post: 4407479" data-attributes="member: 30022">Context: Party of 4x level 1st or 2nd level characters; good balance of classes, experienced players. They've encountered deathjump spiders (MM 246) three times now, two spiders in each encounter with no other monsters. In all three encounters, they have been utterly pasted by the spiders... the most recent case being a TPK.Deathjumps are level 4 skirmishers, 175 xp each. Two spiders should theoretically be a manageable (maybe even easy) encounter for a 1st/2nd level party of 4 PCs.However, compared to other level 4 skirmishers (or even level 4 brutes), deathjumps seem wayyy over-powered. Their "Death from Above" ability, usable at will, gives them a +6 attack for 3d6+3 damage, plus knocks the target prone, plus inflicts ongoing 5 poison. That means they're typically doing 18.5 damage on a hit (13.5 from the initial hit, plus at least the first round of poison), plus prone, plus more damage if the PC doesn't save against the poison. On a crit, it's a lethal 26 damage (again, counting 1st round of poison). Additionally, they have AC 20.Compare to other 4th level skirmishers. They have the same Stealth and hit points, but dark creepers only do max 8 damage (+1d6 sneak), fey panthers do max 10 damage (+1d6 charge), greenscale hunters do max 11 damage, and rotwing zombies do max 10 damage (+2d6 if flying charge). Further, deathjumps have +2 or +3 AC over all of their peers.I'd be interested to hear others experiences. Are my players just unlucky, or are the deathjumps overpowered for their level?</blockquote>

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