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<blockquote data-quote="JThursby" data-source="post: 8657327" data-attributes="member: 7025596">You're getting into very tricky territory with tweaking monsters like this.&nbsp; The first thing you should know with monster building in 5e is that the <a href="http://blogofholding.com/?p=7283" target="_blank">DMG guidelines are lies</a>.&nbsp; Monsters built for publication consistently have much lower HP and much higher attack bonuses than the guidelines would lead you to believe.&nbsp; They also deal less damage on average.&nbsp; Having resistances has no practical impact on their HP.&nbsp; The only statistic that the DMG guidelines accurately predict in the MM is Armor Class.&nbsp; Then there is the ongoing revision of old material into the new core books coming out in a few years.&nbsp; From what we know about <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/us1p51/a_way_too_soon_review_of_the_monster_design_in/" target="_blank">monster changes in Multiverse</a> the changes are skewing towards nerfed higher level monsters, especially casters.So let's whiteroom this attack, ignoring what the books say about balance and just drawing our own conclusions from <a href="https://5thsrd.org/gamemaster_rules/monster_indexes/monsters_by_cr/#8" target="_blank">observing published monsters of a similar CR.</a>+9 will hit on 7's against AC 16, the lowest AC we can expect from mid level PCs like Monks and unarmored Casters.&nbsp; It will hit on 11's vs AC 20, which is full plate + shield.&nbsp; So the band of accuracy we should expect without resource expenditure is 50%-70% accuracy.&nbsp; That's hitting pretty frequently.&nbsp; The only CR 8 creature I can find that shares a +9 to hit is the Frost Giant, whose only gimmick is making attacks.&nbsp; Most other creatures have a +7 at this CR.&nbsp; Since there is an obnoxious rider on this attack that drains HP, I would recommend lowering the accuracy to +7 to bring it in line with other CR 8 monsters.&nbsp; Similarly, I would reduce the DC on the HP drain to 15 for the same reasons.Greater Restoration is a 5th level spell.&nbsp; Most campaigns end before this spell is even available to cast.&nbsp; I would add that a long rest can restore the hit point maximum unless you want to force your PCs to find an NPC to give them back their HP maximum.The damage roll is in line with monsters of this CR.&nbsp; That can stay the same.Most monsters of this CR are getting two attacks off.&nbsp; You will want to include a Multiattack option that allows this attack to be used twice.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="JThursby, post: 8657327, member: 7025596"] You're getting into very tricky territory with tweaking monsters like this. The first thing you should know with monster building in 5e is that the [URL='http://blogofholding.com/?p=7283']DMG guidelines are lies[/URL]. Monsters built for publication consistently have much lower HP and much higher attack bonuses than the guidelines would lead you to believe. They also deal less damage on average. Having resistances has no practical impact on their HP. The only statistic that the DMG guidelines accurately predict in the MM is Armor Class. Then there is the ongoing revision of old material into the new core books coming out in a few years. From what we know about [URL='https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/us1p51/a_way_too_soon_review_of_the_monster_design_in/']monster changes in Multiverse[/URL] the changes are skewing towards nerfed higher level monsters, especially casters. So let's whiteroom this attack, ignoring what the books say about balance and just drawing our own conclusions from [URL='https://5thsrd.org/gamemaster_rules/monster_indexes/monsters_by_cr/#8']observing published monsters of a similar CR.[/URL] +9 will hit on 7's against AC 16, the lowest AC we can expect from mid level PCs like Monks and unarmored Casters. It will hit on 11's vs AC 20, which is full plate + shield. So the band of accuracy we should expect without resource expenditure is 50%-70% accuracy. That's hitting pretty frequently. The only CR 8 creature I can find that shares a +9 to hit is the Frost Giant, whose only gimmick is making attacks. Most other creatures have a +7 at this CR. Since there is an obnoxious rider on this attack that drains HP, I would recommend lowering the accuracy to +7 to bring it in line with other CR 8 monsters. Similarly, I would reduce the DC on the HP drain to 15 for the same reasons. Greater Restoration is a 5th level spell. Most campaigns end before this spell is even available to cast. I would add that a long rest can restore the hit point maximum unless you want to force your PCs to find an NPC to give them back their HP maximum. The damage roll is in line with monsters of this CR. That can stay the same. Most monsters of this CR are getting two attacks off. You will want to include a Multiattack option that allows this attack to be used twice. [/QUOTE]

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