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Message: <blockquote data-quote="CapnZapp" data-source="post: 6856877" data-attributes="member: 12731">I really think some kind of Mob Attacks are meant as a standard tool more than some obscure DMG variant. When the party starts to approach the third tier of play you really can't expect to handle waves of orcs and dwarfs and gnolls and other fractional CR as business as usual. That would slow down gameplay to a crawl.But, one thing I don't like with the DMG variant - it takes away rolling d20s COMPLETELY. I would much rather use a variant where you roll once for each mob, and the result gives you zero or more hits, with a nice boost when you roll a 20.Remember, if you roll ONCE for a mob of half a dozen critters, that might still save you up to a dozen rolls (if the critters have two attacks each). A considerable time saver. In contrast, doing away that final last d20 save you very little extra time, but makes you lose out on considerable variety and excitement, IMHO.So, let's repurpose the Mob Attacks table (DMG page 250). First off, any mob with less than three critters isn't a mob. The savings isn't worth the effort, so we'll draw a line at three. If a creature somehow hits you fairly easily, that's a strong hint not to let it "mob" you...Then we'll use a unified d20 table for ALL mobs. The only difference is the size of the mob, which we'll determine in a similar way to the DMG variant (the harder it is to hit you, the more critters in each mob). Mob Attack d201-9: Miss (no hits)11-14: Single damage15-17: Double damage 18-19: Double damage, plus you're grappled and prone20: Quadruple damage, plus you're grappled and prone For each hit, use the multiattack routine of the most dangerous foe of the mob, just like the DMG tells you to.For simplicity, we'll simply assume our table is about as dangerous as the DMG's "one auto hit" approach.This results in the following Mob Attacks table13-14: 3 monsters in each mob15-16: 4 monsters in each mob17-18: 5 monsters in each mob19: 10 monsters in each mob20: 20 monsters in each mob(Do note this table is pretty much the same as the DMG one, only we're using it differently)EXAMPLE 1For example, eight orcs surround a fighter. The orcs' attack bonus is +5, and the fighter's AC is 19. The orcsneed a 14 or higher to hit the fighter. According to the table, this means each orc mob needs three orcs, or it isn't a mob. Six orcs form two Orc Mobs that attack the fighter. The remaining two orcs do nothing effective now, but as the fighter starts to kill off orcs, they will act as replacements.Each of the two orc mobs make a single Mob Attack. The first one rolls 9, and so deals no damage. The second one rolls 18, meaning the mob overruns the fighter. The fighter takes 18 (2d12 + 6) slashing damage, which is double that of an Orc's damage. The fighter is now prone, and grappling an orc.EXAMPLE 2Another example: another fighter (hopefully a high-level one) is fighting a dozen Owlbears.The owlbears' attack bonus is +7, and the fighter's AC is 25 (thanks to a spell from a helpful ally). The owlbears need a 18 or higher to hit the fighter. According to the table, this means each owlbear mob needs five owlbears. Ten owlbears form two Owlbear Mobs that attack the fighter. Remaining owlbears substitute as normal.Each of the two owlbear mobs make a single Mob Attack. The first one rolls 9, and those five Owlbears do absolutely nothing. The second one rolls a 20, however. The fighter takes four times the damage of an Owlbear, which amounts to a healthy 40 (4d10+20) for the beak and 112 (16d6+40) for the claws, remembering the Owlbear's multiattack gives two claw attacks for each beak attack. That's gonna sting! Also, the fighter is prone, and grappling an Owlbear.As this last example shows, mob attacks are probably best reserved for low-CR mobs...Don't worry about the fighter though. His buddy has also cast Stoneskin on him, so he doesn't take more than 76 average damage even on that crit, which doesn't even bloody him. The next thing that happens is that somebody drops a Fireball or whatever right on top of the fighter, which singes him a bit but wipes out ten out of the twelve Owlbears! Presto, fight won. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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