Level Up (A5E) Monster preview thread!

[Morrus]

U can only be for one thing.... Unicorn!

 

[dave2008]

U can only be for one thing.... Unicorn!

I definitely like the UA unicorn, but I am curious why is it no longer a Legendary creature?

 

[Faolyn]

How does it refuse entry to celestials and fiends so much more powerful than it? Is this just a Narrator fiat thing?

So "domains" is the LU equivalent of regions?

Pretty cool. A good job straddling the divide between celestial and fey.

 

[Stalker0]

The Unicorn is an interesting design, and its one where I think you really have to read the entire description to get an understanding of its power. At base, its hard to tell which Unicorn (LU or O5e) is the superior creature....the LU has generally better stats, the O5e can get more attacks with its legendary actions (and can in theory always heal to full in an attrition battle), but the LU one does have a lot more damage with the horn on a "charge".

But besides that point, the Unicorn domain is where the action is:

• Control Weather at-will
• Can literally keep out any fey, celestial, or fiend of CR 14 (14!!!) from even entering, and always knows when they enter.
• Can Scry at-will within its domain (aka it knows everything)

So in terms of a grove guardian, that's a pretty sweet list of powers.

 

[Stalker0]

I definitely like the UA unicorn, but I am curious why is is no longer a Legendary creature?

So it looks like the LU one absorbed a lot of the legendary characteristics. The healing is a part of its action suite and they just increased the AC by 2 instead of the shimmering shield.

 

[dave2008]

So it looks like the LU one absorbed a lot of the legendary characteristics. The healing is a part of its action suite and they just increased the AC by 2 instead of the shimmering shield.

Yes, I noticed that as well. I was just wondering why the change. I have an idea of why you might, but I was just wondering what their rationale was.

 

[Kozos]

I see an increase in hp and armor class all over the board. I cannot say that this pleases me unless there is an equivalent effect in the output of the pcs. HP bloat is an issue with this edition. Will LU increase it even further?

 

[dave2008]

I see an increase in hp and armor class all over the board. I cannot say that this pleases me unless there is an equivalent effect in the output of the pcs. HP bloat is an issue with this edition. Will LU increase it even further?

Obviously everyone's experience is different, but the general consensus on this forum is that monster's from WotC (and in particular the MM monsters) are too weak for their stated CR. Personally I am less worried about HP and AC and would like to see them inflict more damage. Regardless, do not expect LevelUp to bloat or buff PCs more, it is just not needed (IMO and the majority of people on this forum).

However, LevelUp will be provided adjust monster creation guidelines and encounter building guidelines that should compensate for any perceived imbalances.

Final note: The LevelUp Bestiary is completely optional. You can use the MM or any monster from WotC with LevelUp. They only made the Bestiary because people requested revised monsters. So, I would expect them to be revised!

 

[Morrus]

I see an increase in hp and armor class all over the board. I cannot say that this pleases me unless there is an equivalent effect in the output of the pcs. HP bloat is an issue with this edition. Will LU increase it even further?

Our resident monster expert Paul Hughes has completed revised the monster math throughout from the ground up, ensuring that monsters match their CR and the encounter building tables are correctly balanced. This means that every monster has had changes, some small, some much bigger. In many cases, monsters were too weak for the CR and were adjusted accordingly, including new abilities or changes to HP, AC, damage output, attacks, DCs, and more. The values are all carefully calculated for the monster's CR.

 

[dave2008]

So it looks like the LU one absorbed a lot of the legendary characteristics. The healing is a part of its action suite and they just increased the AC by 2 instead of the shimmering shield.

Yes, this is an interesting design choice that I actually like a lot. I also like (I think) how they integrated the charge damage with the attack.