NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ccooke" data-source="post: 6418759" data-attributes="member: 6695890">A few things: 1) The Scout NPC is at least as dangerous as the Thug. Half the hit points, but AC13 and either two shortsword attacks (which using your NAD formula would get 11 damage) or two longbow attacks (13). They have a decent Stealth bonus and advantage on Wisdom[Perception] - in any circumstance they're going to be used, they are good at hitting from ambush, good at peppering the PCs with ranged attacks while staying under cover and good at getting away to summon help if things go badly.2) forget comparing the Thug to the Lion. Compare Lions and Worgs.They both have 26hp. they both get +5 to attack. The worg does 2d6+3 damage, with a chance to knock prone. It has an AC of 13, 1 point more than the lion.The lion, however, gets pack tactics, pounce and leap. the druid in one of my games has been shifting into a lion in the last few games. She's getting to use Pounce about one round in three, but always picks something to pounce on that has an ally adjacent to it - which means the Pounce claw attack is with advantage. However, she's getting the extra attack from Pounce more often than you would think, because the extra bit attack happens any time the target is prone - even if it's been knocked prone by someone else. Such as the other lions she's concentrating on Conjure Animals for. Three or more lions are a serious threat, since they have a very good chance of taking people down then attacking with advantage. Extra attacks happen on somewhere between 50% and 70% of Pounces, if there's more than one lion or other creature that can knock people prone around.Conclusion: The lion is a much greater offensive threat than the Worg.3) Compare the Thug to the Worg. I've used both recently (a pack of thugs who were raising worgs, in fact).They're both CR1/2. The Worg has AC 13 and does a lot of damage on its single hit. The Thug attacks twice, often with Pack Tactics. It's noticeably easier to hit, though, with an AC of 11. They play differently, but at about the same threat level - the Worg is self-sufficient, since it has a slightly higher AC and can knock people prone. The Thug needs an ally to work well, but is able to match the Worg's damage output and might survive for one or two more hits than a Worg.In terms of numbers, I used five Thugs and three Worgs. The Worgs were mobile, running in to attack the first wave of the PCs. With a DC13 strength save to knock prone, they went for weaker party members while the thugs ran in and engaged the front-line fighters. With the granted advantage, the Thugs were a reasonable force - however, almost every attack hit on them and they did go down quickly. As soon as there was only one Thug left, its damage output dropped by about a third. One of the Worgs was trapped by good player strategy, but the other two outlived all the thugs. Targetting the non-front-line fighters, they were able to knock their targets prone around half the time, which meant they could attack with advantage next turn. Notably the two that survived attacked together. the 50% of the time when the first attack knocked their target prone, the second Worg's attack had advantage. Less precise there, since I don't recall enough exact numbers. In terms of feel, Worgs and Thugs definitely "feel" about right for power levels.</blockquote>

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