D&D 5E Pros and Cons of using the average damage on the Monster's stat block.

[S'mon]

I would certainly let the players use average damage too - I'd be delighted if the players in my 24th level game used average damage! For monsters, I think it's a good idea if lots of dice are being rolled (I esp hate attacks with different sorts of dice in 1 attack), but for weak 1-damage-die monsters the average-round-down is a significant nerf, I'd probably only ever use it if masses were attacking.

 

[Psikerlord#]

I looked to see if this had been talked about in the last 2 months and I couldn't find anything.

I find myself in this edition using the average damage notation in the monster's stat block when I assign damage. The only time I really do something different is when I crit, and then I roll the dice the second time and add that to the average damage. One of my players said that it wasn't quite fair because they all have to roll their damage, and they can get low or high depending. I said to him that I would think about it.

So, with that, I have been wondering if I should implement any of the following:

1) roll all the damage like they do for each monster's successful hit.

2) when critting use the average points for the dice instead of rolling.

3) Allow the players to take the average damage for their characters.

The con for 1 is that I will have to do much more rolling, which then takes more time, and I already have problems with combat taking too long. The pro for 2 would be that my crit damage is also averaged so I am at least consistent, but the con is that the players miss out on the possibility of a crappy crit. The pro for 3 is it would speed up combat even more, but the con is that it takes away the dice rolling aspect of damage, the luck factor, and I think that would be wrong.

So should I start rolling my monster's damage or not? What do others do?

I find average damage too predictable and less fun. I recommend rolling your damage at the same time you roll to hit. If you miss, just ignore the damage.

Randomness adds to the fun for me. I roll monster HP for the same reason, to differentiate between the runt Ogre and the Big Badass One. Keeps players on their toes, too. I tried average damage in 13th AGe - it's ok, I can live with it, but i much prefer rolling.

I dislike passive perception for the same reason (and I dont use it. I always roll if a roll is indeed required).

 

[Hussar]

We use average monster damage in our current Dragonlance 5e game. After several levels of this, I'm still not really convinced that I like it. Players, of course, roll damage, but, I do find it takes something away when you just do average damage on every attack. I dunno, it's just kinda boring. I'd rather we rolled damage, even though that will make things more swingy. Maybe that's the point.

 

[Shiroiken]

I don't like to use average damage or hp for monsters, but have done so on occasion. I mostly play on Roll20, and if I didn't have a macro ready for a special damage source (exploding Ice Mephit for example), then I often went with the average to save time.

 

[Agamon]

I roll the damage at the same time as the d20 to hit. There's a lot of tension as I shake the dice. I often explain what's happening as I grab dice and begin to shake them in my hand (hands for more than a few dice). When the PC getting attacked is close to dropping, it really creates some tension.

I get that average damage dice normalizes damage so PCs don't drop from some unexpected variance, but if that's really a problem, I'd rather just get rid of crits. PCs hit hard and are tough to hit, so I don't mind some swingy-ness.

 

[Charles Wright]

Pro - It's fast.
Con - I find it to be no fun.

 

[S_Dalsgaard]

It depends on the situation in my case. At the start of combat I mostly use average damage for the monsters, but I may change to rolled damage against PCs who are close to dying, for tension. My players doesn't seem to have a problem with it.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

Suggestion for the OP as an alternate method for randomizing monster damage: Have the players "roll their own doom". You can still roll the to-hits behind the screen and keep hidden factors hidden.

GM: Calgon the Paladin, the orc points at you and utters something in orcish about your uncle as he charges and unleashes a huge swing.

*GM rolls behind the screen and gets a hit*

GM: Calgon is hit by the axe, which springs into a shower of sparks as impacts his armor. Blue ozone smelling sparks. Steve (Calgon's player) you are going to take d8+4 slashing plus 1d6 lightning damage.

*GM moves on while Steve rolls in the background*

GM: Metamucil, you see three skeletons draw back bows and fire in your direction...

*Rolls behind screen*

 

[Celebros]

I've been using the average damage for monsters (or varying the average damage +/- 1) at levels 1-2 as a way of enabling more interesting/difficult combat encounters without running the risk of a few hot dice killing off a party member. Seems to work well and once the party gets their feet under them (at levels 2-3, depending on the party), so to speak, I transition to rolling out all the damage rolls.

 

[Grakarg]

I use average damage, while my players roll.

I find that using average damage speeds up my combat turns significantly, and helps keep the focus on the players and their actions. I'm usually running lots of creatures at different spots in the initiative order, so anything I can do to get the focus off of me doing everything/taking too long and getting it back over to the players helps.

Plus, using the average damage helps me tweak encounters. For example, using average damage helps me keep an eye on the damage output on special attacks (i.e. dragon breath) so that I don't accidentally set up something where the attack can wipe everyone out in a single attack. I'd rather set up an encounter that increases the tension, rather than ensures defeat of the players.

Actual example from the last game session: I'd created a conversion of a Greenspawn Razorfiend for my Red Hand of Doom campaign. Instead of setting the creature's acid breath at 45 damage, I set it at 35 damage, knowing that 45 damage would have dropped most of the party in one shot. So in the first round of combat, the creature managed to breathe on the entire party putting them in GREAT danger and allowing them to react, rather than just dropping everyone but the tank. This allowed the rest of the team to scramble and assist each other, as players began to drop in the subsequent rounds. As it was, the players manages to squeak out a close win with no deaths. If I'd rolled damage, a low roll on the breath weapon wouldn't have been as exciting, and a high roll on damage would have just killed everyone (no fun for anyone).

I actually like the fact that my players are starting to watch the damage output and metagame the damage on standard creatures (like your average hobgoblin). It allows me another way to surprise them when they think they know what something does, and then I switch it up. Set up an expectation, then change it.

That said, either roll dice or use average damage as you see fit for your table. Picking up and rolling a big fistfull of dice in front of the players definitely creates a LOT of dramatic tension.

As always, try to keep things fun first. There is nothing quite like having your players high-five each other at the table after they overcome your carefully crafted obstacles.

Game on!