The Dragon mag with ECL in it.

[Dagger75]

Which Dragon Mag had the ECL for a bunch of the monsters?? Half mine are packed away from the move, the other half is not and I don't wanna work that hard so I am asking ya'll to do some of it for me

 

[Richards]

That would be Dragon #293. The article you're looking for is "Monsters With Class," by Rich Redman and the R&D Staff.

Johnathan

 

[Dagger75]

Argghghghghg I found 292 and 294, also 290,291 and 295 but no 293. What the hell is on the cover??

 

[Crothian]

World Building is in big text on the left side. On the Right side is a female god carving out the Earth.

 

[Emiricol]

Personally, I think they were way too conservative. Those ECLs should be taken with a grain of salt...

 

[Kesh]

I'm holding off for the hardbound 'monsters as PCs' book due in Feb. Those ECLs need serious work for the most part.

 

[Bonehoard Taffer]

I don't understand the thought process on this article, myself. Example, they have a skeleton with an ECL of 5. Seems a little high to me.

The article does say that there's a difference in ECL's & CR, because the challenge rating more or less assumes the monster will only be around a short time. However, ECL's are more for characters who will be in scene after scene of the game. I can see their point, there's definatly some considerations to be made in the interest of balance. In the case of the skeleton, though, I still think a 5 ECL is stretching it.

The article could be very useful, except for the fact that it seems that they grosly exxagerated the effects of having some of the characters as monsters and in many cases gave them too much credit.

 

[drnuncheon]

In the case of the skeleton, though, I still think a 5 ECL is stretching it.

Well, assuming an intelligent skeleton, they do get a lot of bonuses: a whole flock of immunities (poison, disease, mind-affecting spells, etc), half damage from piercing and slashing (a big one there), decent stat mods...

J

 

[Breakstone]

Yeah, but they're made of bone. I mean, look at the cons:

-Every single dog in town will be chasing them
-They need a LOT of milk
-They don't have the guts to do anything! (Get it? Ha!)

then again, they can say "I've got a bone to pick with you" and crack up...

Hm...

 

[Bonehoard Taffer]

Well, assuming an intelligent skeleton, they do get a lot of bonuses: a whole flock of immunities (poison, disease, mind-affecting spells, etc), half damage from piercing and slashing (a big one there), decent stat mods...

J

No, the article assumes a No INT score.