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Knight Denizen 5E equivalent?
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<blockquote data-quote="Stormonu" data-source="post: 9278693" data-attributes="member: 52734"><p>I agree trying to convert a 1E-2E monster to 5E is confusing and a straight conversion rarely works. I've sort of figured out you start with the HD, using that for your target CR, adding 1 to the CR for every special ability the creature had. Then everything is sort of "build backwards".</p><p></p><p>My (somewhat convoluted) method</p><p>[spoiler]</p><p>1) take the expected hit point for the target CR, divide by 4.5 to get the creature's new base HD*. </p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">If the creature has Damage Resistances, multiply the new base HD by .75.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">If the creature has Damage Immunity, multiply the new base HD by .5.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">If it's HD is more than 150% the original HD, increase your divisor by 1 until you get in that range of no more than 150%. For every increase of your divisor, treat that as a +2 to Con (max 30).</li> </ul><p></p><p>2) Subtract the target's expected Proficiency Bonus (PB) from the creature's expected Attack Bonus on the CR calculator chart. Use the difference to calculate the character's Strength or Dexterity. (10 + twice the difference)</p><p></p><p>3) Take the creature's expected damage per round and break it across the creature's old attack routine, until the average damage and expected damage per round match. </p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">You will probably have to get creative here, tacking on extra attacks via multiattack or damage/effect carriers to the base attack. (example, for a CR 10 creature, you want to shoot for ~66 damage per round. If the old creature had a claw/claw/bite that did 1d6/1d6/1d10 (ave 12.5 damage), you might want to add a carrier attack that deal an extra 17 damage to each attack (don't forget ability modifiers may help you get part of the way; for a CR 10 monster it would have around a 16 STR (+3), reducing the carrier attack an extra 14 damage - say a 4d6 carrier attack)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">If the creature has multiple ways to attack (like a breath weapon vs. claw/claw/bite) make sure that either method hits the expected damage per round (example, for a CR 10 creature, the breath weapon* needs to do about 66 damage on a failed save and the claw/claw/bite needs to do about 66 damage)</li> </ul><p></p><p>4) Sprinkle with features and abilities that thematically match the creatures lore and/or old abilities.</p><p></p><p>* Remember that special abilities will affect the target CR so for every special ability you need to account for consider taking off 1 HD for every 4 HD you'd normally end up with.</p><p></p><p>** Remember that area effects can hit more than one target. In those cases, assume two targets will get hit, so in the example above the breath weapon would actually need to do an average of 33 damage</p><p>[/spoiler]</p><p></p><p>I find this <a href="https://5e.tools/crcalculator.html#0,13,1,3,false,Medium,1,10,false,0,false,0," target="_blank">tool</a> pretty helpful for building or reverse engineering monsters, but a lot of times it just flat out is easier to find a creature similar or adjacent that already exists in 5E and use it - maybe with a little reskinning.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Stormonu, post: 9278693, member: 52734"] I agree trying to convert a 1E-2E monster to 5E is confusing and a straight conversion rarely works. I've sort of figured out you start with the HD, using that for your target CR, adding 1 to the CR for every special ability the creature had. Then everything is sort of "build backwards". My (somewhat convoluted) method [spoiler] 1) take the expected hit point for the target CR, divide by 4.5 to get the creature's new base HD*. [LIST] [*]If the creature has Damage Resistances, multiply the new base HD by .75. [*]If the creature has Damage Immunity, multiply the new base HD by .5. [*]If it's HD is more than 150% the original HD, increase your divisor by 1 until you get in that range of no more than 150%. For every increase of your divisor, treat that as a +2 to Con (max 30). [/LIST] 2) Subtract the target's expected Proficiency Bonus (PB) from the creature's expected Attack Bonus on the CR calculator chart. Use the difference to calculate the character's Strength or Dexterity. (10 + twice the difference) 3) Take the creature's expected damage per round and break it across the creature's old attack routine, until the average damage and expected damage per round match. [LIST] [*]You will probably have to get creative here, tacking on extra attacks via multiattack or damage/effect carriers to the base attack. (example, for a CR 10 creature, you want to shoot for ~66 damage per round. If the old creature had a claw/claw/bite that did 1d6/1d6/1d10 (ave 12.5 damage), you might want to add a carrier attack that deal an extra 17 damage to each attack (don't forget ability modifiers may help you get part of the way; for a CR 10 monster it would have around a 16 STR (+3), reducing the carrier attack an extra 14 damage - say a 4d6 carrier attack) [*]If the creature has multiple ways to attack (like a breath weapon vs. claw/claw/bite) make sure that either method hits the expected damage per round (example, for a CR 10 creature, the breath weapon* needs to do about 66 damage on a failed save and the claw/claw/bite needs to do about 66 damage) [/LIST] 4) Sprinkle with features and abilities that thematically match the creatures lore and/or old abilities. * Remember that special abilities will affect the target CR so for every special ability you need to account for consider taking off 1 HD for every 4 HD you'd normally end up with. ** Remember that area effects can hit more than one target. In those cases, assume two targets will get hit, so in the example above the breath weapon would actually need to do an average of 33 damage [/spoiler] I find this [URL='https://5e.tools/crcalculator.html#0,13,1,3,false,Medium,1,10,false,0,false,0,']tool[/URL] pretty helpful for building or reverse engineering monsters, but a lot of times it just flat out is easier to find a creature similar or adjacent that already exists in 5E and use it - maybe with a little reskinning. [/QUOTE]
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