Rules for reducing monster HP while raising their damage
I've given it a lot of thought in the past weeks and came to the same conclusion as you: monster HP is too high and their damage is too low. I've DMed two 4E campaigns so far: one at levels 1-6 (about 13 games) to try the system and to stretch it to its limits and then one at levels 11-13 (12 games and ongoing), a straight conversion of our long-lasting 3E campaign.
Cutting monster HP in half is way too extreme and throws balance out of the window. About 75%, as you suggest, is much more reasonable.
However, the clean damage boosts you propose would obviously be crippling to the players: can you imagine the lowly kobold skirmisher having its damage raised from 1d8+1 to 1d8+6 or 1d8+11? Not to mention how deadly the Soldier and Artillery monsters would become.
I've noticed that early levels, while crazily more manageable than in 3E, are quite deadly even so. They're also way more difficult than Paragon, where my players haven't found a real challenge (until I made changes).
But I digress. Here are some simple (and hopefully balanced) changes I strongly encourage anyone to try in their game. Thses changes
do not affect monster XP values.
(Heck, monster XP is unbalanced too. Monsters get a much bigger boost HP-wise from level 1 to 6 than from level 21 to 26, but their XP does not reflect that. Be careful sending higher-level monsters against low-level parties. But I digress again.)
Reduce monster HP by 2 + 2 per level
No matter the monster role. Essentially, monster HP per level (plus level 1) goes down to 4/6/8 from 6/8/10 (according to role).
(Obviously, Elites ans Solos need appropriate adjustments: lower Elite HP by 4 + 4/level, Heroic tier Solo HP by 8 + 8/level and later tier Solo HP by 10 + 10/level.)
(Also, lowering monster HP to 80% instead would not offer the same balance. It would make Heroic fights go by faster but not affect Epic ones as much. Monster roles would not be highligthed as much HP-wise either.)
Considerations
- Monster HP is lowered to about 80%, which is enough in my opinion. Don't underestimate the players' damage output and ability to stunlock.
- Artillery and Lurkers are hit hard while Brutes are less affected. This reinforces monster roles, which I like as a matter of opinion.
- This affects monsters less at low levels and more at high levels. Monster HP is considered too high, especially at high levels (in general opinion), and this change aims to correct the problem.
Raise monster damage by half of their level
This might not seem like much, but I believe it is enough. From about level 6, this bonus damage amounts from 20% to 40% more damage, especially at paragon, where monster damage lags far behind player HP.
Be careful, though. While most monsters simply have low damage output for their level and role, some are simply out of balance. Here are two examples:
Helmed Horror (level 13 Standard Soldier, p. 155)
vs. Greater Helmed Horror (level 18 Elite Soldier)
Compare the Greatsword damage: just about the same. Goes from average 18 to average 19 and somehow manages to lose 1 relative point of attack on the way.
Luckily, the GHH's Elemental Burst seems to bring it up to par... its poor attack bonus and easily shrugged off damage keep the power in check.
Then you realize that the GHH is supposed to be an Elite monster. Oops. Either it's way underpowered or the regular HH is grossly overpowered.
(I think it's the latter: just look at the sheer Soldier damage output. The GHH is a fine Elite monster, maybe a little too powerful for its level and role. I'd wish the regular HH being a Standard was a mere typo, but its HP indicates that its gross overpowered-ness is intended.)
Skeletal Tomb Guardian (level 10 Standard Brute, p. 235)
vs. many
Its HP, defenses and attack bonus are very, very balanced. No problem here.
The problem lies in its
four attacks for 1d8+4 each.
I
know it's a Brute. 34 average damage is way too much regardless. It outdamages the Dire Bear (level 11 Elite Brute), the Ogre Warhulk (level 11 Elite Brute) and comes close to the Fen Hydra (level 12 Solo Brute, p. 164). I think the numbers speak for themselves.
Oh, and look at the regular Helmed Horror again? 36 average damage, and its attacks are accurate, unlike Brutes'.
But again, I digress. 4E is right on so many levels that I hate those obvious oversights. Just keep in mind that my proposed changes are to be applied to existing monsters, and mainly to compensate for their lowered HP. Unbalanced monsters will remain unbalanced. And as levels go up, monsters will stay as deadly as they're supposed to. (Why would D&D get
easier as players fight tougher monsters?)
(My eventual goal is to provide an accurate "damage target" for monsters according to level, role, elite-ness and average player HP at that level and considering status effects, so we'll see later.)
Back to the crunch.
Obviously, the 1/2 level damage bump is only applied to
Standard monster
single-target attacks
that require an attack roll.
Monster role can affect the bonus damage, such as Brutes getting a bigger bonus than Controllers. I figure high-damage roles should get a 20% higher bonus, but for simplicity, my examples do not include this calculation.
As far as elite-ness is concerned, Elites get 1/level and Solos 2/level. Minions get the same 1/2 level bonus as Standards (see "Considerations").
Since auras do their damage automatically, they should get only half the damage bonus. Same thing for auto-hitting attacks. Ongoing damage stays the same as it is as its triggering attack gets the boost.
(I prefer boosting the direct and ongoing damage evenly, personnally. I consider that adding 2 ongoing damage is equivalent to adding 3 direct damage. First, since there's roughly a 1/2 chance that ongoing damage will continue, it should average out to 4 damage. Second, ongoing damage from the same source does not stack with itself, reducing its efficiency compared to direct damage. Third, players have many ways of eliminating ongoing damage before it reaches its expected effect.)
As far as multiple attacks are concerned, split the damage bonus between attacks. Zone effects should get a lower bonus according to their size and how many players they are expected to affect (but err on the high side). Minor and Immediate attacks should get their share depending on how much damage they usually do (but they could stay unchanged for easier calculations).
"Limited" powers, such as those that can recharge, get the same bonus as at-will powers so that the raw average damage output stays the same.
(They could get a bigger bonus at the expense of the at-will ones. For example, a level 10 monster (5 damage bonus) that deals 20 damage on odd turns and 10 damage on even turns could simply boost both to get 25/15 instead, but 27/13 would be just as appropriate. Dragons' breath weapons are hard to balance this way, though. Actually, the only benefit would be staying closer to relative power damage, so... let's keep this simple.)
Considerations
- Low-level monsters only have their HP lowered, not seeing much of a change in the damage department. I think everyone will agree that early Heroic is sufficiently deadly and enough of a grind.
- The damage raise starts to be felt quite early on, just as monster damage stops keeping up with player HP.
- Damage from Elites should not be twice the damage from Standards, as they have more staying power and can use an action point. They do get twice the Standards's proposed damage bonus anyway as their damage is usually lacking. Same for Solos.
- About minions: player HP is essentially multiplied by 6 along their 30-level carreer. With this damage bonus, minion damage goes from 4 to 24 (times 6) over the levels (but they still become crazily easy to kill as players gain levels).
- The damage from monsters' critical hits will scale with their new base damage values if the bonus is added a second time on a critical.
Examples
Skeleton (level 3 Soldier, p. 234)
- HP 45 -> HP 37
- Longsword 1d8 + 2 -> Longsword 1d8 + 3
- Opportunity attacks + 1d6 damage -> Opportunity attacks + 1d6 + 1 damage
Little change here. I've used a lot of these, though, and I assure you that they're still as deadly as they need to be.
Human Mage (level 4 Artillery, p. 163)
- HP 42 -> HP 32
- Quarterstaff 1d8 -> Quarterstaff 1d8 + 2
- Magic Missile 2d4 + 4 force -> Magic Missile 2d4 + 6 force
- Dancing Lightning 1d6 + 4 lightning -> Dancing Lightning 1d6 + 5 lightning
- Thunder Burst 1d8 + 4 thunder -> Thunder Burst 1d8 + 5 thunder
Again, little change. The 2 bonus damage are directly applied to Quarterstaff and Magic Missile attacks. Dancing Lightning and Thunder Burst can be expected to hit 3 targets each and thus deserve only a 2/3 damage boost, so it is rounded up to 1.
Orc Bloodrager (level 7 Elite Brute, p. 204)
- HP 194 -> HP 162
- Greataxe 1d12 + 5 (crit 1d12 + 17) -> Greataxe 1d12 + 10 (crit 1d12 + 22)
- Warrior's Surge only gives back 40 HP
- Blood for Blood + 5 damage, regain 10 HP -> Blood for Blood + 6 damage, regain 8 HP
Greataxe is the Orc Bloodrager's only attack; however, his Elite status is achieved through Wounded Retaliation, which allows him an immediate Greataxe attack against an enemy that hits him in melee.
He needs 7 bonus damage. By adding 5 to his Greataxe attack, I make the assumption that it will be used as an immediate reaction 2/5 of the time for a total of 7.
Blood for Blood didn't really need a change, but since this an example, I might as well be thorough.
Skeletal Tomb Guardian (level 10 Brute, p.235)
- HP 126 -> HP 104
- Scimitar 1d8 + 4 -> Scimitar 1d8 + 5 (4 attacks)
I'll suppose this skeleton is balanced in the first place. Since it can attack four times with his scimitars, his +5 bonus is divided in four.
Fen Hydra (level 12 Solo Brute, p. 164)
- HP 620 -> HP 490
- Bite 1d8+5 -> 1d8+11 (4 attacks)
As a level 12 Solo, its bonus is 24, split amongst its four heads for 6 apiece.
I admit, action point use can raise its average damage to 124 if all 8 attacks hit (compared to 76 before the change), and even more in case of criticals. Luckily, as a Brute, it will miss more often than not.
Legion Devil (minion, p. 64)
- Level 6: Longsword 5 -> Longsword 8
- Level 11: Longsword 6 -> Longsword 11
- Level 16: Longsword 7 -> Longsword 15
- Level 21: Longsword 8 -> Longsword 18
Sure, at level 21, they may die before their initiative comes up, but at least the survivors will make as much as a difference as the low-level kobold minions used to. I know that such minion damage runs contrary to what 4E has used us to, but do you think level 21 players care for a second about 8 damage? That's only twice what Decrepit Skeletons used to do!
Ghaele of Winter (level 21 Artillery, p. 103)
- HP 134 -> HP 90
- Winter's Touch 2d8 + 9 cold -> Winter's Touch 2d8 + 19 cold
- Freezing Ray 2d8 + 9 cold -> Freezing Ray 2d8 + 19 cold
- Chilling Defiance 10 cold, regain 2 HP -> Chilling Defiance 13 cold, regain 2 HP
As a high-level Artillery, the Ghaele is hurt hard by the HP drop.
The 10.5 bonus damage is added directly to Winter's Touch and Freezing Ray. Imperious Wrath does no damage and thus does not change.
Chilling Defiance is a Close Burst 3, but since the Ghaele is an Artillery, it will probably use it as soon as 2 enemies are in range, so 5.25 bonus damage. Since it's an automatic hit, 2.625 damage. The two other powers' bonus was rounded down, so I round this one up.
Tarrasque (level 30 Solo Brute, p. 83)
- HP 1420 -> HP 1110
- Bite 1d12 + 16 and ongoing 15 -> Bite 1d12 + 31 and ongoing 25
- Rending Bite 3d12 + 16 -> 3d12 + 46
- Tail Slap 3d12 + 16 -> 3d12 + 46
- Trample 1d12 + 16 -> 1d12 + 36
As a level 30 Solo, its bonus is 60 (don't panic!).
On a typical turn, the Tarrasque uses Bite or Trample. On 1/3 of the turns, the Tarrasque uses Bite and adds either Rending Bite or Tail Slap. Once bloodied, it either uses Bite against every player in range or uses Trample as usual.
Trample gets all the 60 damage bonus to itself. With the Tarrasque's speed and size, it easily attacks 3 players (keep in my that these are always estimates), so the bonus is divided by 3.
Let's balance Bite against itself. It's either used alone, alongside another attack or multiple times. I'll err on the side of making the Tarrasque deadlier when bloodied, so the Bite gets 30 bonus damage split evenly between direct and ongoing damage.
Rending Bite and Tail Slap, always being in addition to Bite, get the 30 bonus left from Bite. If Bite had been granted 40 bonus damage, their bonus would have been lowered to 20. That would also have made the Tarrasque even deadlier when bloodied.
Ancient Red Dragon (level 30 Solo Soldier, p. 83)
- HP 1390 -> HP 1080
- Inferno aura 20 fire -> Inferno aura 25 fire
- Bite 2d12 + 12 plus 6d6 fire -> Bite 2d12 + 32 plus 6d6 + 20 fire
- Claw 2d12 + 12 -> Claw 2d12 + 32 (2 attacks)
- Tail 4d10 + 12 -> 4d10 + 52
- Immolate Foe 4d10 + 10 fire and ongoing 15 fire -> Immolate Foe 4d10 + 35 fire and ongoing 25 fire
- Breath Weapon 4d12 + 10 fire -> Breath Weapon 4d12 + 25 fire
This beast is hard to adjust (except for the HP). Where to begin?
Tail Strike is always in addition to the dragon's other attacks, so it deserves to be analysed separately. Its damage is quite high regardless and it's "limited" in that it needs a player to move into a flanking position. Quite complicated. From another point of view, let's say it usually accounts for 1/6 of the dragon's damage output: it thus takes 10 bonus damage, 1/6 of the total bonus, leaving 50. However, it probably only activates 1/4 of the turns, thus multiplying that bonus to 40.
The Inferno aura is another additional damage source: as is, it might be responsible for 1/6 of the damage too. I fully expect players to have fire resistant gear by then, but it does not affect the calculations. As an automatic effect, the aura only gets half its part of the damage bonus, leaving 40 for the main attacks.
The main at-will attack is Double Claw: since it attacks twice, both claws get a 20 damage bonus.
The Bite attack gets the 40 bonus damage (split evenly between its two damage types) even though it makes for very powerful opportunity attacks.
Immolate Foe gets the full bonus too. Just for kicks, I've raised the ongoing damage to 25, expecting 15 more damage from the ongoing that way and leaving 25 bonus damage for the direct damage.
Breath Weapon is a Close Blast 5. It gets the same 40 damage bonus as the other standard attacks, but as it can be expected it to hit 2 or 3 players, 15 bonus damage will do the trick.
Concluding words
Lowering monster HP and raising their damage to compensate should make combat more dynamic and remove part of the "grind" feeling players feel quite early on.
I believe the values I suggest are the most fun and balanced, but some probably want to go farther. I could see monster HP being lowered even more, by 3 per level, maybe. (But think of the poor Lurkers and Artilleries!)
As for the damage increase, it might seem especially high for high-level Solos, but keep in mind all the Epic powers characters get. Few groups have seriously attempted Epic play, but optimizers revel in abusing it. The Ancient Red Dragon I modified just above might seem overpowered, but the lowest possible character HP at level 30 is 136, enough to handle two Claw attack criticals (but beware the action point!), not to mention the many powers that would be used to prevent such an eventuality.
(Epic gameplay has other problems, namely the inability of player attacks and defenses to keep up with monsters'. An easy fix is to introduce "masterwork" weapons, implements and neck items with the same rules as masterwork light armors, effectively halving the gap between players and monsters.)
I am already using my "fixes" in a 12th-level game that has been running for a while. The players absolutely love the apparent added effectiveness of their big attacks -- especially the Cloaked Crossbow Sniper and the crit-optimized Wizard -- and they fear monster damage again as if they were 3rd-level.
Criticism and thoughts are welcome.
