Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Minion House Rules
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="ImperialParadox" data-source="post: 4652802" data-attributes="member: 45495"><p>I took the time today to crunch some numbers. First I came up with a chart showing the presumed average damage for a wizard's Scorching Burst power as well the average damage for the best minion-clearing encounter power available to a wizard level by level. </p><p> </p><p>When I calculated the wizard's damage, I assumed a starting Intelligence of 18, which was increased at every available chance. I also assumed the wizard got a +1 implement by level two, and that he upgraded/replaced said implement with a better version at levels 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25.</p><p> </p><p>Next, I took these values and compared them to the results of different MDT formulas I was kicking around.</p><p> </p><p>Originally, I was trying to utilize a minion's Constitution modifier in the formula for MDT. This method took into account the hardiness of the monster, but it was also a bit more complicated to calculate. In the end I decided that what I wanted was a formula that I could perform on the fly, without having to break down any of the monster's stats or having to perform any calculations that took more than one step.</p><p> </p><p>What I settled for is MDT = 5 + minion's level.</p><p> </p><p>Let's examine the chart below:</p><p> </p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10px">Wizard </span></strong><strong><span style="font-size: 10px">Scorching Burst </span></strong><strong><span style="font-size: 10px">Encounter Power </span></strong><strong><span style="font-size: 10px">Minion </span></strong><strong><span style="font-size: 10px">MDT</span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10px">Level </span></strong><strong><span style="font-size: 10px">Damage (Average) </span></strong><strong><span style="font-size: 10px">Damage (Average) </span></strong><strong><span style="font-size: 10px">Type </span></strong><strong><span style="font-size: 10px">(Level+5)</span></strong></p><p><span style="font-size: 10px">1 </span><span style="font-size: 10px">1d6+4 (7) </span><span style="font-size: 10px">Burning Hands 2d6+4 (11) </span><span style="font-size: 10px">Goblin Cutter </span><span style="font-size: 10px">6</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10px">3 </span><span style="font-size: 10px">1d6+5 (8) </span><span style="font-size: 10px">Shock Sphere 2d6+5 (12) </span><span style="font-size: 10px">Hobgoblin Grunt </span><span style="font-size: 10px">8</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10px">5 </span><span style="font-size: 10px">1d6+6 (9) </span><span style="font-size: 10px">Shock Sphere 2d6+6 (13) </span><span style="font-size: 10px">Orc Drudge </span><span style="font-size: 10px">10</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10px">8 </span><span style="font-size: 10px">1d6+7 (10) </span><span style="font-size: 10px">Fire Burst 3d6+7 (17) </span><span style="font-size: 10px">Hobgoblin Warrior </span><span style="font-size: 10px">13</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10px">11 </span><span style="font-size: 10px">1d6+8 (11) </span><span style="font-size: 10px">Fire Burst 3d6+8 (18) </span><span style="font-size: 10px">Ogre Thug </span><span style="font-size: 10px">16</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10px">13 </span><span style="font-size: 10px">1d6+8 (11) </span><span style="font-size: 10px">Thunderlance 4d6+8 (22) </span><span style="font-size: 10px">Horde Ghoul </span><span style="font-size: 10px">18</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10px">16 </span><span style="font-size: 10px">1d6+10 (13) </span><span style="font-size: 10px">Thunderlance 4d6+10 (24) </span><span style="font-size: 10px">Ogre Bludgeoner </span><span style="font-size: 10px">21</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10px">18 </span><span style="font-size: 10px">1d6+10 (13) </span><span style="font-size: 10px">Combust 5d6+10 (27) </span><span style="font-size: 10px">Abyssal Ghoul Hungerer </span><span style="font-size: 10px">23</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10px">21 </span><span style="font-size: 10px">2d6+12 (18) </span><span style="font-size: 10px">Combust 5d6+12 (29) </span><span style="font-size: 10px">Legion Devil Legionnaires </span><span style="font-size: 10px">26</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10px">26 </span><span style="font-size: 10px">2d6+13 (19) </span><span style="font-size: 10px">Combust 5d6+13 (30) </span><span style="font-size: 10px">Lich Vestige </span><span style="font-size: 10px">31</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10px">27 </span><span style="font-size: 10px">2d6+13 (19) </span><span style="font-size: 10px">Black Fire 6d6+13 (34)</span></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Analyzing the chart I see that I got what I wanted. Generally speaking, I wanted a slightly more than even chance that a wizard could kill a minion with one spell. Looking at the chart, I see at the lower levels a wizard has a good chance of accomplishing this goal with at-will powers such as Scorching Burst. As the wizard and his minion opponents rise in level however, the wizard has to rely more on his encounter powers to clear out minions. I liked this result, I wanted minion-clearing to be fairly but not overly challenging, and as the wizard rises in level and gets access to more powers I don't think having to use an encounter power to clear the room of minions is an unfair tax. Better yet, this formula is very easy to calculate and really doesn't require any prep work to institute the change.</p><p> </p><p>Thus this seem like a good formula to you guys?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="ImperialParadox, post: 4652802, member: 45495"] I took the time today to crunch some numbers. First I came up with a chart showing the presumed average damage for a wizard's Scorching Burst power as well the average damage for the best minion-clearing encounter power available to a wizard level by level. When I calculated the wizard's damage, I assumed a starting Intelligence of 18, which was increased at every available chance. I also assumed the wizard got a +1 implement by level two, and that he upgraded/replaced said implement with a better version at levels 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25. Next, I took these values and compared them to the results of different MDT formulas I was kicking around. Originally, I was trying to utilize a minion's Constitution modifier in the formula for MDT. This method took into account the hardiness of the monster, but it was also a bit more complicated to calculate. In the end I decided that what I wanted was a formula that I could perform on the fly, without having to break down any of the monster's stats or having to perform any calculations that took more than one step. What I settled for is MDT = 5 + minion's level. Let's examine the chart below: [B][SIZE=2]Wizard [/SIZE][/B][B][SIZE=2]Scorching Burst [/SIZE][/B][B][SIZE=2]Encounter Power [/SIZE][/B][B][SIZE=2]Minion [/SIZE][/B][B][SIZE=2]MDT[/SIZE][/B] [B][SIZE=2]Level [/SIZE][/B][B][SIZE=2]Damage (Average) [/SIZE][/B][B][SIZE=2]Damage (Average) [/SIZE][/B][B][SIZE=2]Type [/SIZE][/B][B][SIZE=2](Level+5)[/SIZE][/B] [SIZE=2]1 [/SIZE][SIZE=2]1d6+4 (7) [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Burning Hands 2d6+4 (11) [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Goblin Cutter [/SIZE][SIZE=2]6[/SIZE] [SIZE=2]3 [/SIZE][SIZE=2]1d6+5 (8) [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Shock Sphere 2d6+5 (12) [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Hobgoblin Grunt [/SIZE][SIZE=2]8[/SIZE] [SIZE=2]5 [/SIZE][SIZE=2]1d6+6 (9) [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Shock Sphere 2d6+6 (13) [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Orc Drudge [/SIZE][SIZE=2]10[/SIZE] [SIZE=2]8 [/SIZE][SIZE=2]1d6+7 (10) [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Fire Burst 3d6+7 (17) [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Hobgoblin Warrior [/SIZE][SIZE=2]13[/SIZE] [SIZE=2]11 [/SIZE][SIZE=2]1d6+8 (11) [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Fire Burst 3d6+8 (18) [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Ogre Thug [/SIZE][SIZE=2]16[/SIZE] [SIZE=2]13 [/SIZE][SIZE=2]1d6+8 (11) [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Thunderlance 4d6+8 (22) [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Horde Ghoul [/SIZE][SIZE=2]18[/SIZE] [SIZE=2]16 [/SIZE][SIZE=2]1d6+10 (13) [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Thunderlance 4d6+10 (24) [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Ogre Bludgeoner [/SIZE][SIZE=2]21[/SIZE] [SIZE=2]18 [/SIZE][SIZE=2]1d6+10 (13) [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Combust 5d6+10 (27) [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Abyssal Ghoul Hungerer [/SIZE][SIZE=2]23[/SIZE] [SIZE=2]21 [/SIZE][SIZE=2]2d6+12 (18) [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Combust 5d6+12 (29) [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Legion Devil Legionnaires [/SIZE][SIZE=2]26[/SIZE] [SIZE=2]26 [/SIZE][SIZE=2]2d6+13 (19) [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Combust 5d6+13 (30) [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Lich Vestige [/SIZE][SIZE=2]31[/SIZE] [SIZE=2]27 [/SIZE][SIZE=2]2d6+13 (19) [/SIZE][SIZE=2]Black Fire 6d6+13 (34)[/SIZE] Analyzing the chart I see that I got what I wanted. Generally speaking, I wanted a slightly more than even chance that a wizard could kill a minion with one spell. Looking at the chart, I see at the lower levels a wizard has a good chance of accomplishing this goal with at-will powers such as Scorching Burst. As the wizard and his minion opponents rise in level however, the wizard has to rely more on his encounter powers to clear out minions. I liked this result, I wanted minion-clearing to be fairly but not overly challenging, and as the wizard rises in level and gets access to more powers I don't think having to use an encounter power to clear the room of minions is an unfair tax. Better yet, this formula is very easy to calculate and really doesn't require any prep work to institute the change. Thus this seem like a good formula to you guys? [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Minion House Rules
Top