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<blockquote data-quote="Aenghus" data-source="post: 6300451" data-attributes="member: 2656">No, no it doesn't. The players don't have access to the monster's stats generally and so long as the referee does a plausible job of describing what happens it doesn't necessarily matter what stats he's using for the monster behind the screen. What is acceptable from campaign to campaign varies hugely.It's a consequence of increasing PC power due to level advancement. You see, in maybe every version of D&amp;D monsters are usable within a certain range of PC levels, and tend to be too strong to use against PCs under that level range and too weak to be any threat to people over that level range (this is a matter of maths and the level ranges vary with PC stats, magic items and houserules etc).&nbsp; So any single stat block has limited usefulness. I remember old high level modules with hordes of useless orcs that all needed 20's to hit the PCs, typically all taken out with the first fireball.(That the orcs can't be harmless to high level PCs is a separate argument I won't address here. Again thats a matter of taste.)Solo/elite/standard/minion is one approach to assigning different stat blocks to the same monster to extend the level range it can be effectively used in. A level 8 solo probably needs 20's to hit level 25 PCs, and isn't a threat to them. The level 8 stat block is a waste of valuable DM time in a level 25 fight. The level 25 minion is much easier for the DM to run, has a much better chance to hit the PCs for some damage, and won't overstay its welcome. This solution sacrifices rigid worldbuilding consistency in favour of reducing the DM workload, possibly improving gameplay(subjective judgement) and providing a different sort of consistency(obsolete monsters don't suddenly disappear from the game or uselessly clog up fights like the orcs of old).</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Aenghus, post: 6300451, member: 2656"] No, no it doesn't. The players don't have access to the monster's stats generally and so long as the referee does a plausible job of describing what happens it doesn't necessarily matter what stats he's using for the monster behind the screen. What is acceptable from campaign to campaign varies hugely. It's a consequence of increasing PC power due to level advancement. You see, in maybe every version of D&D monsters are usable within a certain range of PC levels, and tend to be too strong to use against PCs under that level range and too weak to be any threat to people over that level range (this is a matter of maths and the level ranges vary with PC stats, magic items and houserules etc). So any single stat block has limited usefulness. I remember old high level modules with hordes of useless orcs that all needed 20's to hit the PCs, typically all taken out with the first fireball.(That the orcs can't be harmless to high level PCs is a separate argument I won't address here. Again thats a matter of taste.) Solo/elite/standard/minion is one approach to assigning different stat blocks to the same monster to extend the level range it can be effectively used in. A level 8 solo probably needs 20's to hit level 25 PCs, and isn't a threat to them. The level 8 stat block is a waste of valuable DM time in a level 25 fight. The level 25 minion is much easier for the DM to run, has a much better chance to hit the PCs for some damage, and won't overstay its welcome. This solution sacrifices rigid worldbuilding consistency in favour of reducing the DM workload, possibly improving gameplay(subjective judgement) and providing a different sort of consistency(obsolete monsters don't suddenly disappear from the game or uselessly clog up fights like the orcs of old). [/QUOTE]

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