Marking by Monsters

[Montkiva]

Hi all,

How does marking by monsters work? I can't find it in the Monster Manual. When a monster marks a PC, does the PC simply have a -2 to attack other targets? Or is a monster's mark the same as a fighter's mark (i.e. the monster can attack if the marked PC shifts or attacks a different target)?

Thanks!

 

[Kordeth]

"Marked" is a condition, just like "stunned" or "unconscious." A marked creature suffers a -2 to hit any target other than the creature that marked it. The fighter's Combat Challenge is a unique class ability of the fighter and has nothing to do with being marked by a non-fighter.

 

[Kaelkatar]

Some monsters (Only example I can think of off the top of my heard is the shardsoul in the Warlock's Knights section of the FRCG) have abilities that emulate either parts of the fighter or paladin's mark. These often take up a secondary ability line and are often worded as:

Name (immediate interrupt, when an adjacent enemy
marked by the creature shifts; at-will)
The creature makes an attack against that enemy.

 

[Ulorian - Agent of Chaos]

Marked is a condition, whose description you can find in the PHB, p.277.

 

[darkbard]

All righty, here's a follow-up question. Do monsters with attacks that mark their targets confer marked status to enemies hit or to enemies merely attacked, the latter being the case with fighters. It doesn't appear spelled out clearly in the various monster stat blocks I've encountered.

 

[Kaelkatar]

Hits only, if it was the other way around it would likely be preceded by the phrase Hit/Miss.

+12 vs. AC, 2d8+4 damage
Hit/Miss: Mark the Target

Is roughly what an entry that marks regardless would look like.