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ShortQuests -- individual adventure modules! An all-new collection of digest-sized D&D adventures designed to plug in to your game.

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="frankthedm" data-source="post: 3158694" data-attributes="member: 1164">It is only because these HD don’t add that much to a monster that most critters gets 3 or 4 HD per CR point raised.Adding HD adds in BaB, skills and feats at the same rate as characters so just look to the splat books the players take their feets from for more monster oomph. Adding in certain amounts of HD increases size and bumps CR by one.The dire animal in general were given a few beanies to boost their power, often bumping damage dice as if they had improved natural attack, thus the large dire bear has a 2d8 bite. Adding Special AbilitiesYou can add any sort of spell-like, supernatural, or extraordinary ability to a creature. As with a class level, you should determine how much, or how little, this ability adds to the creature’s existing repertoire. A suite of abilities that work together should be treated as a single modifier for this purpose. If the ability (or combination of abilities) significantly increases the monster’s combat effectiveness, increase its CR by 2. Minor abilities increase the creature’s CR by 1, and truly trivial abilities may not increase CR at all. If the special abilities a monster gains are not tied to a class or Hit Die increase, this CR increase stacks. A significant special attack is one that stands a good chance of incapacitating or crippling a character in one round. A significant special quality is one that seriously diminishes the monster’s vulnerability to common attacks. Do not add this factor twice if a monster has both special attacks and special qualities. Make sure to "scale" your evaluation of these abilities by the monster’s current CR. </blockquote>

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