Monster Power Creator... ?

[wlmartin]

I want to create an entirely new monster and although there are guidelines to creating a power damage based on level, I am unsure as to how that effects things when you add in an effect.

If I want the power to daze, slow, immob. or something similar in a power, what has to change to the damage calculation for it to work?

Are certain condition effects more potent when it comes to costs than others (ie would you need to give up more damage for a Daze than a slow?) and if so how do you calculate that?

Ideally I am looking for a simple creator / generator or wizard that lets you type in the type of attack (Melee, Ranged, Close or Area), the level of the creature, perhaps the role of the creature and then lets you add in effects and figures it all out for you?

I know that one can assume a monster of the same role and level as you want has a similar attack... so if a 12th lvl brute baddie can do 3d12 + 6 (and daze) on an Encounter Melee attack.. transferring this to another baddie of the same role and level is pretty much safe to do but what if you want to construct your own power and not just rip it off from another source?

Anyone know of either
: An offline / online creator / generator that does the sums for you
: A breakdown of the formulas used to figure these things out

 

[OnlineDM]

I don't know of an actual rule, but I'll tell you what I do when I'm creating monsters in MapTool.

I use "damage notches" of 25%. So, 100% of "expected" damage, 75%, 125% and 150%.

The "expected damage by level" amount is assigned to single-target at-will attacks for my monsters. That's the 100% amount.

If it's a multi-target attack, I lower the damage by a notch (to 75% for at-will).

If it's a recharge power, I up it by one notch (to 125% for single-target).

If it's an encounter power, I up it by two notches (to 150% for single-target attacks).

If it applies a solid effect like dazing or immobilizing, I lower the damage by one notch.

If it applies something like stunning or dominating, I lower the damage by two notches.

If it applies ongoing damage, I treat the attack as dealing that damage once and adjust the static damage appropriately (so if it would normally be 2d6 + 8 damage but this one deals ongoing 5 damage, I'll make it 2d6 + 3 damage and ongoing 5 damage).

All of these things stack in my world:
-Single target at-will deals an average of, say, 12 damage.
-Single-target recharge deals 15 damage (+1 notch for recharge)
-Multi-target recharge deals 12 damage (+1 notch for recharge, -1 notch for multi-target)
-Multi-target recharge with a daze deals 9 damage (+1 notch for recharge, -1 notch for multi-target, -1 notch for daze)
-Multi-target encounter with a daze deals 12 damage (+2 notches for encounter, -1 notch for multi-target, -1 notch for daze)
-Single-target encounter with a stun and ongoing 5 damage deals 7 damage (+2 notches for encounter, -2 notches for stun, -5 damage for ongoing)

I don't think this is official, but it works well for me.

 

[mudlock]

I think the best guidelines WotC has given for this (outside of "look at existing monsters and steal liberally") is from the Terrain Powers article:

Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Official Home Page - Article (Tutorial: Terrain Powers)

The kind of "notches" OnlineDM was talking about correspond well to "terrain conditions" list by tier and action type.

Epic Standard: Dominate, stun, or petrify
Paragon Standard or Epic Move: Blind, daze, immobilize, restrain, or weaken
Heroic Standard, Paragon Move, or Epic Minor: Grant combat advantage, allow a mark, or penalize a defense by up to –2
Heroic Move, or Paragon and Epic Minor: Avoid intervening obstacles during a move; grant concealment and/or cover; knock prone; push, pull, or slide enemy up to 4 squares; deafen; or deal level-appropriate ongoing damage
Heroic, Paragon, and Epic Minor: Add a damage type to an attack or allow a 1-square shift
​

Something that would be a minor action at the monster's tier is worth less than a notch, while a move is worth about a notch, increasing up from there. So a stun at heroic tier would cost four notches, which is 100%; i.e., it shouldn't do any damage, unless it's got some other restrictions on it. Meanwhile, an epic monster's attacks should could be throwing you around the battlefield and still be doing level-appropriate damage. (Although ignore "allow a mark" unless you're giving it to a non-soldier.)

It's not a flawless method, but this is the only place I've ever seen WotC rank the effects in any sort of order of power.

 

[wlmartin]

The notch system is useful but I tried doing some sums and couldnt get it to work

Does anyone have something more formula based or a generator of some kind??

 

[OnlineDM]

The notch system is useful but I tried doing some sums and couldnt get it to work

Does anyone have something more formula based or a generator of some kind??

Do you have an example of what you couldn't make work with the notch system?

Here's my formula:
-Base Damage = Monster Level + 8 (average damage - convert to dice however you like)
-Notch value = Base Damage / 4
-Multi target adjustment: -1 notch
-Dazed/Immobilized adjustment: -1 notch
-Stunned/Dominated adjustment: -2 notches
-Recharge power adjustment: +1 notch
-Encounter power adjustment: +1 notch
-Ongoing damage adjustment: -amount of ongoing damage

 

[S'mon]

I don't think WoTC follow any sort of consistent guidance. Monsters have tended to get nastier through time, eg last night my Flesh Hungry Zombies (level 4 standard skirmisher) had an at-will bite for 2d6+5 & Daze, which was nasty when they managed to bite the Fighter and the big pile of zombies he was holding off could then overrun his position due to no-opportunity-attacks. The Daze at will costs it nothing, it does full damage.

edit: here's the stat block.

Flesh-Crazed Zombie
Medium natural animate (undead)
Level 4 Skirmisher XP 175HP 55; Bloodied 27 Initiative +6
AC 18, Fortitude 17, Reflex 16, Will 14 Perception+3
Speed 6 (8 when charging) Darkvision
Immune disease, poison

TraitsFlesh-Crazed Charge

While the zombie is charging, its movement does not provoke opportunity attacks.

Zombie Weakness

A critical hit automatically reduces the zombie to 0 hit points.

Standard Actions Club At-Will

Attack: Melee 1 (one creature); +9 vs. AC

Hit: 1d8 + 6 damage, or 2d8 + 6 if the zombie charged the target.

Bite At-Will

Attack: Melee 1 (one creature); +9 vs. AC

Hit: 2d6 + 5 damage, and the target is dazed until the end of the zombie’s next turn.

Triggered ActionsDeathless Hunger Encounter

Trigger: The zombie is reduced to 0 hit points, but not by a critical hit.

Effect (No Action): Roll a d20. On a 15 or higher, the zombie is instead reduced to 1 hit point.

Str 18 (+6) Dex 15 (+4) Wis 13 (+3)
Con 15 (+4) Int 1 (-3) Cha 3 (-2)

Alignment unaligned Languages -
Equipment: club .

 

[wlmartin]

Do you have an example of what you couldn't make work with the notch system?

Here's my formula:
-Base Damage = Monster Level + 8 (average damage - convert to dice however you like)
-Notch value = Base Damage / 4
-Multi target adjustment: -1 notch
-Dazed/Immobilized adjustment: -1 notch
-Stunned/Dominated adjustment: -2 notches
-Recharge power adjustment: +1 notch
-Encounter power adjustment: +1 notch
-Ongoing damage adjustment: -amount of ongoing damage

NOTCHES isnt really a formula
If you said for example built the way you want to work into a spreadsheet and asked the user to input say the monster level and PICK an ability, it would then pump the correct information

 

[OnlineDM]

NOTCHES isnt really a formula
If you said for example built the way you want to work into a spreadsheet and asked the user to input say the monster level and PICK an ability, it would then pump the correct information

Ah, I see your confusion. There actually is a formula. For a level 4 monster, average damage is 12 and a notch is therefore 3. You move the average damage up or down in increments of 3 for the various modifications I listed.

For me, I do this in MapTool. My monster tokens have damage variables that are basically 100% of base damage, 75%, 125% and 150%, and I use the appropriate variable depending on which adjustments I'm making. So, if it's multi-target (-25%) recharge (+25%) that applies a daze (-25%), I use the 75% of base damage variable.

I guess I could put this in a spreadsheet; I'll take a stab at doing so this evening.

 

[Mengu]

I don't worry about such formulas. I just go by the standard damage expressions. One monster may make two attacks with high crit, another may dominate and daze, another may deal extra damage with CA and inflict ongoing damage, and two of them might push and knock prone. I don't feel a need to adjust damage expressions. Standard damage expressions already take into account that monsters will be doing things other than just damage. It works for me.