D&D 5E How are the Monster challenge ratings matching up in game?

[Sitara]

For those with some playing experience with 5e now, how are the monsters from the official Monster Manual (5e) holding up with respect to their challenge levels? Now I know there will never be 100% accuracy because too much can change depending on party makeup- for instance as an extreme example a party of all Wizards will perform different against a certain challenge level than a party of all Fighters against the same foe.

However, do you feel the CRs are an accurate assumption as written? Or should DMs be very careful in applying CRs and go more by their own instinct and experience i.e. err on the side of caution if you will.

 

[DaveDash]

Anything that is 'offensive' based, things that do a lot of damage = hard for its CR.
Spells and Spell like abilities = hard for its CR.

Anything that is 'defensive' based = weak for its CR.
No spells or spell like abilities = weak for its CR.

The Solar or NPC Assassin fall into the former category, Non spell casting Dragons fall into the later.

DM's should go with instinct. Numbers, party composition, and terrain are bigger factors on encounter difficulty than CR. Monsters seem to be balanced more around story and ease to DM more than anything else.

 

[sithramir]

A group of 4 4th level beat a CR 6 wyvern. One guy got knocked out but otherwise simple because nothing special. But things like breath weapon seem to be a huge game changer if its a dragon instead (TPK)

 

[Tormyr]

The CR ratings have held up pretty well so far. I have used chimeras, mimics, doppelgangers, invisible stalkers, assassin, displacer beasts, owlbears, lizard folk, kobolds, and a few creatures I modified to make something different.

 

[SilverfireSage]

I've found them to be very rough estimates of the power of a monster, whereas the experience points and encounter generator have worked far better.

 

[Lancelot]

I'm pretty happy with what I've seen, although the CR 1/2 thug NPC is a nasty bit of work. Decent HP (30+) and multiattack. A 1st level party running into a pair of those guys might be in real trouble. I think the thug is the only creature that's really got a bit of side-eye from me around the CR. I think it's more dangerous than the hobgoblin, and I sort of pegged the hobgoblin near the top of dangerous CR 1/2 creatures.

I know my players would probably nominate some other creatures. They lost initiative to a chasme demon a couple weeks ago. CR 6 creature versus 4x 5th level characters. The chasme scored a crit on its first attack. For the record, that's 22d6 damage. It clean back-doored the target PC, not even counting it's "instant death if necrotic damage reduces to zero" ability. But then, the chasme's comparatively low AC and HP meant the surviving three characters killed it in two rounds, easily. As one of the players commented to me: "It's rocket tag. You get hit, you die. But same goes for the demon." Similar situation with the NPC assassin, or the intellect devourer, or the flameskull. If the party loses initiative (or, worse yet, gets surprised), they might be dead. But if they win initiative, the creature might be dead without even taking an action. So, the CR is probably appropriate.

The DM just needs to be aware that certain creatures are built to be extremely swingy. I wouldn't change that, by the way. I think it's great that there are "glass cannon" options in the game (as opposed to 4e, where there were virtually no glass cannons, and the players could be almost assured that no fight was going to be over in only 1-2 rounds). It gives the DM more tools to run the sort of game they prefer.

 

[the Jester]

So far it seems roughly correct, but I run a sandbox, so instead of encounters designed for the party, I create encounters with an eye toward how they fit in the world instead. So I haven't really paid a ton of attention to the CRs and such.

But yeah, CR seems to be a very rough gauge.

 

[Zardnaar]

I'm pretty happy with what I've seen, although the CR 1/2 thug NPC is a nasty bit of work. Decent HP (30+) and multiattack. A 1st level party running into a pair of those guys might be in real trouble. I think the thug is the only creature that's really got a bit of side-eye from me around the CR. I think it's more dangerous than the hobgoblin, and I sort of pegged the hobgoblin near the top of dangerous CR 1/2 creatures.

I know my players would probably nominate some other creatures. They lost initiative to a chasme demon a couple weeks ago. CR 6 creature versus 4x 5th level characters. The chasme scored a crit on its first attack. For the record, that's 22d6 damage. It clean back-doored the target PC, not even counting it's "instant death if necrotic damage reduces to zero" ability. But then, the chasme's comparatively low AC and HP meant the surviving three characters killed it in two rounds, easily. As one of the players commented to me: "It's rocket tag. You get hit, you die. But same goes for the demon." Similar situation with the NPC assassin, or the intellect devourer, or the flameskull. If the party loses initiative (or, worse yet, gets surprised), they might be dead. But if they win initiative, the creature might be dead without even taking an action. So, the CR is probably appropriate.

The DM just needs to be aware that certain creatures are built to be extremely swingy. I wouldn't change that, by the way. I think it's great that there are "glass cannon" options in the game (as opposed to 4e, where there were virtually no glass cannons, and the players could be almost assured that no fight was going to be over in only 1-2 rounds). It gives the DM more tools to run the sort of game they prefer.

Very rocket tag lol. Also check out the gladiator NPC at CR 5.

 

[DaveDash]

Here are some monsters I have used, and my impressions based on their CR.

Dragons:
Dracolich (Adult Black): Underwhelming. Don't get into melee, try and grapple + drop between waiting for breath.
Adult Blue Dragon: Underwhelming. Don't get into melee, try and grapple + drop between waiting for breath.
Ancient Red Dragon: Underwhelming against prepared foes (fire resistance easy to come by). Don't get into melee, try and grapple + drop between waiting for breath.
Ancient White Dragon: Underwhelming. Don't get into melee, try and grapple + drop between waiting for breath.

Undead:
Mummy Lord: Useless against Cleric or Paladin with Elemental Weapon.
Mummys: Meh.
Non-Spellcasting Vampires: Good if played smart, beware of melee - give them a bow.
Spellcasting Vampires: Divide and conquer. Again, be careful of melee.
Skeletons: Enough of these using bows can even cause a high level character to have a very bad day.
Wraith: Not too sure about this, as it was used in a high level fight as a minion.
Banshee: Fun if you can land a possession, or age a PC.

Humanoids:
Elite Drow Warrior: Solid. Pretty deadly in melee range. Beware of Hold Person.
Drow Mage: Deadly based on initiative and spell selection. Beware of Hold Person.
Drow Priestess: Underwhelming. Beware of Hold Person.
Bugbears: They hit hard for their CR.
NPC Assassin: Very deadly if they get to go first.
NPC Archmage: Very tough foe to fight, especially if protected by minions.

Giants (Titans?):
Fire Giants: Pretty happy with these guys. Good AC, good hitpoints, good ranged damage, good melee damage.
Ogres, Owlbears: Underwhelming bags of hitpoints, unless they can get close (unlikely).

Magical Beasts:
Beholders: Annoying, but ultimately by themselves they lack the ability to follow up on their annoying abilities. Give these guys minions and terrain to hide behind for the ultimate headache fight for your players.
Elementals: Pretty decent actually. They ability to move through anything makes them annoying to fight against. Good HP for their CR.
Winter Wolves, Hell Hounds, Chimeras: Their breath does nice damage.
Roper: Pretty annoying challenge for players with their massive reach.
Stone Golem: Wasn't too impressed to be honest, bag of hitpoints.
Rakshasa: heh, these guys will annoy the hell out of your spell casters.
Medusa: Party focus fired on this and killed it before it could do anything.
Genie + invisible Stalker: Aggravating for a party to fight against.

Outsiders:
Solar: Amazing for its CR, just don't let it take too much damage. This thing is all about death dealing burst damage.Pit Fiend: Good for its CR, ability to fly and spam fireballs makes it a hard foe.
Balor: Crap by itself. Mixed with lesser demons though that can cast darkness and/or power word stun, it's pretty awesome. The best thing about it is when it dies.
Marilith: Cant stand up on its own to martial classes of its CR. Give it support.
Most lesser demons: Awesome unless your party has banish.
Erinyes: Pretty annoying to shoot and hide with. Good solid ranged units are rare in the MM.
Yuan-Ti (the one with the bow): See above.

Beasts:
Most Swarms: Annoying amount of hitpoints to deal with.
Giant Beasts in the back of the book: Pretty lame for their CR most of the time.

 

[transtemporal]

Death Knights aren't tough enough. They need another +10 to attack so they can teach these bounded-accuracy-breaking cheats a lesson. Plus, Lord Soth was a death Knight and he was suuuuuuper tough. No one would be able to beat him!