Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mustrum_Ridcully" data-source="post: 4278176" data-attributes="member: 710">Maybe we should have some kind of "How can I use the DMG guidelines to create monsters at least as awesome as those in the MM" thread?I was working on a Diamond Throne conversion (and I promise I will open a Thread one day for that...), and created a few Paragon Tier Giant monsters, just to get a feel for the system and how I could replicate the "flavor" of Arcana Evolved Giants.Using just the straight guidelines gives very good looking result. But I think there is much tweaking possible still.(Slightly Off-Topic)1) Ability ScoresRemember, they only list "averages" for the highest stat of each ability pair (STR/CON; DEX/INT; WIS/CHA). This means if you really want to, you could probably increase one pair and decrease another pair. So, if Giants really don't need an INT or Dex of 18 as level 15 monster, don't give it to them. They need more WIS/CHA anyway.2) DamageThe damage expression basically work to nearly 100 % with the suggested ability scores by level. If you increase a Brutes Strength, you should probably adjust the damage it deals accordingly - reduce the dice size and increase the bonus number.3) Breaking GuidelinesIf you feel like it, you can "break" the guidelines even more. Mearls once posted he created a monster that basically dealt double damage for its level, but had only half the HP, for a swingier combat. You could so similar adjustments. Use the baseline, and, say, increase the average damage by 20 % and reduce HP by 20 %. Or reduce all its defenses by 4 (increasing to hit-chance and thus average damage against the monster by 20 % - but notice that controller-like effects become more effective, too) The math will still work out similar on "average".(back to topic)The templates basically add abilities that make the monster work best in the new role. A template that, for example, would give a monster the ability to become insubstantial or invisible would make a monster a good lurker automatically, since switching between a "hard to hit" form and a "agressive" form is basically their shtick.</blockquote>

Verification