D&D 5E (2014) How would adjust a monster's CR for 4 levels of exhaustion?

[the Jester]

So I have a monster stashed away deep in a dungeon that is pretty darn bad-ass, but it's starving, sort of perpetually. In 5e, starvation uses the exhaustion rules, so I'm going to give this poor thing 4 levels of exhaustion. That means:

• Disadvantage on ability checks, attacks and saves;
• Its speed is halved (and this thing is already particularly slow);
• Its hit point maximum is halved.

How would you adjust the CR of a monster with these drawbacks? Does it matter what the monster's starting CR is?

 

[Uder]

Same CR (so the stat block stays the same), but award less xp.

 

[Paraxis]

I would think it would depend on the creature, if it mostly uses spells or special abilities that don't need attack rolls it wont reduce it as much if it solely relies on physical attacks.

My first instinct is to cut the xp in half, I mean it has half health and hits only half the amount it should. So an encounter with two of these creatures would be about the same as just one of them.

Obviously that isn't perfect because action economy and such but it would be where I would start.

 

[1of3]

I wouldn't use Exhaustion in this case. Disad is meant for temporary effects that might apply. Just lower the base stats. That's easier in execution; less rolling.

 

[Eejit]

Same CR (so the stat block stays the same), but award less xp.

Indeed. And to clarify this, that would mean the encounter difficulty changes. Take that into account when budgeting.

I'd say give maybe half XP, or a quarter? Those are pretty huge weaknesses for a monster to have. Of course if it has dangerous special abilities which won't be affected (e.g. Dragon Breath isn't modified by exhaustion) you'll have to factor that.

 

[Tormyr]

I would start with the normal creature, modify its stats as appropriate, and cut its CR. The archmage in the MM has some spells that are pre-cast, and the stat block was modified accordingly. The CR of the archmage reflects those modifications from the spells. Exhaustion levels are mildly more permanent than spell effects (insert some vague analysis of Dispel Magic vs. Greater Restoration here), so I think that the exhaustion effects should be reflected in the stat block and the CR adjusted appropriately.

Now what should the CR be adjusted to? I don't know. Because the hit point maximum is halved, it could be as bad as half of normal CR, even with its cool abilities. All of its rolls are at disadvantage, it is slow. There is the potential this creature could be wiped in a round or two. Since this is the default condition for the monster, I think that should be reflected in the CR. As for what the CR should be, in these situations where I just don't know, I roll up a standard 4 character party of what I think is the appropriate level and see how they do through a couple of battles.

 

[the Jester]

I wouldn't use Exhaustion in this case. Disad is meant for temporary effects that might apply. Just lower the base stats. That's easier in execution; less rolling.

Well, by the RAW, starvation explicitly uses the exhaustion rules.

A character can go without food for a number of days equal to 3 + his or her Constitution modifier (minimum 1). At the end of each day beyond that limit, a character automatically suffers one level of exhaustion. A normal day of eating resets the count of days without food to zero.

 

[Boarstorm]

I really feel like it depends on the monster. The exhaustion levels are going to be way more detrimental to something that is primarily a brawler than something that has a breath weapon or other such abilities.

Please tell me its a tarrasque down there. Please.

 

[the Jester]

I really feel like it depends on the monster. The exhaustion levels are going to be way more detrimental to something that is primarily a brawler than something that has a breath weapon or other such abilities.

Please tell me its a tarrasque down there. Please.

Any of my players who wander into this thread, kindly don't read what's in the spoiler block here.

[sblock]It's a starving ironmaw, a sort of lower planar tree. Its normal stats are here, in the Monsters Database.[/sblock]

 

[trentonjoe]

I really feel like it depends on the monster. The exhaustion levels are going to be way more detrimental to something that is primarily a brawler than something that has a breath weapon or other such abilities.

This.

An Ogre with 1/2 movement, disadvantage and 1/2 HP goes from like a CR 2 to a 1 or 1/2.

A 9th level caster with the ability to mask its weaknesses with spells might only drop 1 CR or none at all.

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Also, with a very low speed, if the creature is unable to defend itself from range attacks, the CR should be dropped considerably. The encounter setting also should be factored in as well. IF the thing only moves 10' but the fight is in a 30'X30' it isn't a real disadvantage. If the same monster is fought in a forest it's a different story.