Optimum CR spread in Monster Books.

[Upper_Krust]

Howdy Gez matey!

Well, no. Why?

Well because I think its common practice/courtesy for all monster books and supplements to cover a good spread of opponents for all core class levels (Technically CR 1/8th to CR 28).

I believe its misleading to market a book that doesn't cater for one facet of core rule gaming without properly advertising its contents.

Yeah, for example.

The size should depends uniquely of the number of creatures.

You mean:

The size should depend uniquely on the number of creatures.

*In joke between Gez and myself there*

Run-down:
CR: Number of creatures
Fractional: 8
1: 12
2: 9
3: 6
4: 7
5: 5
6: 13
7: 6
8: 2
9: 7
10: 2
11: 4
12: 3
15: 1
20: 1
25: 1
49: 1
60: 1
66: 1

CR Boost: Number of template
+1: 9
+2: 5
+3: 1
+4: 1

Thanks for that Gez mate.

The book seems to have a good coverage of Low to Low/Mid-level, with a few Epic monsters thrown in for good measure.

What did you think of it?

 

[Gez]

CR 66 you say, interesting. Is it as powerful as a Great wyrm Prismatic Dragon I wonder?

You be the judge. Colossal Dragon (Fire), 48 HD (1032 hp), Speed 40 flight 200, all dragon attacks, the bite is at +68, bite damage 4d8+20, blindsight 360 ft, Str 50, Dex 10, Con 40, Int 33, Wis 30, Cha 35, DR 20/+3, breath weapon adhesive naphta 28d10 points of fire damage, then 15d10 fire damage on the following rounds, Ref DC 49 to half damage the first round, and to extinguish the flames on subsequent rounds; miasma deal 5d10 points of acid damage to everything within 180 feet...

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hello again mate!

Somehow, I'm picturing a hackmaster-like encyclopedia of monsters.
Volume 1: CR 1/2 and less
Volume 2: CR 1
Volume 3: CR 2
...

I'd start buying it when they got to CR 20.

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hi Impeesa mate!

Well, to rip off someone else's quote, "If it isn't 100 feet tall, 1000 years old, and moving mountains with its mind, it's not Krusty." [credit to Bob Fitch, originally referring to partner-in-crime Chris Metzen].

I take that as a compliment.

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hi Pants matey!

However, how many have the Extraplanar subtype?

Notably less than 50%.

I think the current spread of the MM3.5 is a good spread, with maybe a bit more focus on higher CR/Epic stuff.

I think if we were to subtract the necessity that is the Animals and Vermin from the spread, and as you mention, included a few more high CR or perhaps epic encounters that it would indeed be perfect.

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hi Nightfall matey!

LOL! Yeah well that's Krusty for you. But we all love the old mug.

I love you too dude!

 

[Wicht]

Hi Wicht mate!

Wouldn't that mean you would appreciate a few more High-level Monsters in your books then?

I don't really mind the work of conversion upwards. Converting backwards though is a bit more of a chore.

 

[Gez]

Hiya!

What did you think of it?

I've just skimmed it (borrowed to peek at, I don't own it), and it's not really my cup of tea. There are lots of flavorful bits, sometimes overwhelming -- it's a setting book more than a monster book. There are bits on cosmology, culture, prestige classes, etc. For playing in the Iron Kingdoms, it's a must-have. In other setting, portability is hard, or require to ignore all the flavorful stuff, which is kinda sad.

I havn't analyzed the stat blocks, but noticed errors or omitions sometime. Like, there are guidelines and sample to create creatures called dragonspawn, but nothing to tell you what size and CR they are. It seems it's "pick a size and guess the CR".

Some sample templated monsters are missing their CR, or the listed CR don't match the value it should have.


My main peeve is, of course, discovering too late it contains a creature with the same name as one of my CC4 submissions. Argh!

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hi Gez mate!

You be the judge. Colossal Dragon (Fire), 48 HD (1032 hp), Speed 40 flight 200, all dragon attacks, the bite is at +68, bite damage 4d8+20, blindsight 360 ft, Str 50, Dex 10, Con 40, Int 33, Wis 30, Cha 35, DR 20/+3, breath weapon adhesive naphta 28d10 points of fire damage, then 15d10 fire damage on the following rounds, Ref DC 49 to half damage the first round, and to extinguish the flames on subsequent rounds; miasma deal 5d10 points of acid damage to everything within 180 feet...

By WotCs measure of CRs I'm not sure CR 66 is appropriate...no Spells of Spell-like Abilities of note?

 

[Upper_Krust]

Nice subject, Upper_Krust.

Hi Clint, thanks!

I like lower CR creatures because you can always advance them through hit-die advancement, add templates to them, or give them class levels to make them tougher. A game can use a weaker base creature across the playing board, but a strong base monster can only be used in really high-level games.

So I like the way that it is now, I guess.

You can also reverse engineer the High-level Monsters for Low-level campaigns...or just say the monster is in a coma.