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<blockquote data-quote="Mustrum_Ridcully" data-source="post: 9231482" data-attributes="member: 710">The interesting was also how it interacted with the CR. WotC didn't say Level = Challenge Rating, possibly because they realized that despite their standardization of PC and NPC mechanics, it just didn't work. But you see hints of what in 4E became Elite and Solo monsters.Dragon was a type with a d12 hit points, decent skill poins, great saves. Except for the lack of feats, a Dragon HD were better than a Fighter HD. Obviously the mechanics tried to support the fiction that Dragons are really dangerous monster. a CR x Dragon however would usually have way more than x hit dice, and they would have several natural attacks,, great natural armor bonuses, and sorcerer spells. The latter actually could significantly improve the dragon even further than what it mere stat block would suggest - since it's not wearing armor, Mage Armor and Shield would easily boost its AC even further (IIRC up to 8 points, which is a big swing in a d20 system), and that's just 1st level spells. A CR X dragon usually wasn't really a CR challenge. But that was presumably deemed okay because of course you're going to fight the dragon alone, it's not like you're going to drop into a dragon bandit camp or something. Of course, it kinda defeats the purpose of challenge ratings if one CR describes a solo challenge for a player group of that level, and another describes a monster that can be part of a group of enemies for a player group of that level.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mustrum_Ridcully, post: 9231482, member: 710"] The interesting was also how it interacted with the CR. WotC didn't say Level = Challenge Rating, possibly because they realized that despite their standardization of PC and NPC mechanics, it just didn't work. But you see hints of what in 4E became Elite and Solo monsters. Dragon was a type with a d12 hit points, decent skill poins, great saves. Except for the lack of feats, a Dragon HD were better than a Fighter HD. Obviously the mechanics tried to support the fiction that Dragons are really dangerous monster. a CR x Dragon however would usually have way more than x hit dice, and they would have several natural attacks,, great natural armor bonuses, and sorcerer spells. The latter actually could significantly improve the dragon even further than what it mere stat block would suggest - since it's not wearing armor, Mage Armor and Shield would easily boost its AC even further (IIRC up to 8 points, which is a big swing in a d20 system), and that's just 1st level spells. A CR X dragon usually wasn't really a CR challenge. But that was presumably deemed okay because of course you're going to fight the dragon alone, it's not like you're going to drop into a dragon bandit camp or something. Of course, it kinda defeats the purpose of challenge ratings if one CR describes a solo challenge for a player group of that level, and another describes a monster that can be part of a group of enemies for a player group of that level. [/QUOTE]

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