Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Mustrum_Ridcully" data-source="post: 5067451" data-attributes="member: 710">Well, I actually used this as an example of how far the definitions of &quot;compatibility&quot; between games can be defined in another thread.D&amp;D 4 monster stats have two major components: 1) The statistics all follow a &quot;benchmark&quot;. You put in your role and your level, and you get suggested values for attack, damage, hit points and ability scores.2) D&amp;D 4 monsters have a far smaller amount of special abilities as most 3E monsters. These special abilities all fit into the stat block, so you do never have to reference other rulebooks to figure out what a power does. (Well, once you learned the core concepts of the game - how do attacks and defenses work, what's a save, what does slowed or dazed mean.)Regarding 1) The problem is the benchmark is based on 4E rules and expectations on how PCs improve with levels. It's pretty much meaningless compared to 3E values. If you want to create your own, two products come to mind that might offer some advice:- Mastering Iron Heroes. More specifically, villain classes. You basically set the desired CR, and you pick a few abilities from a menu.- Trailblazer. Trailblazer discusses the math and advancement in 3.x and comes up with a benchmark equivalent on its own.2) You can apply this in practice with existing NPCs and monsters. Pick a small number of attack options the NPC or monster will have, and use only those. Even if it's a Level 15 Wizard, you have to constrain yourself to, say, 3 spells that he'll use. Ignore anything else. The work you might have invested in 1) might tell you whether his stats&nbsp; (like AC or Saving Throws) need a small adjustment that you can pretend to be based on his defensive spells or magical equipment. The biggest issue might be that after a combat with the Wizard, your party might want to know what kind of magic items the NPC was wearing and which spells to find in his spellbooks.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mustrum_Ridcully, post: 5067451, member: 710"] Well, I actually used this as an example of how far the definitions of "compatibility" between games can be defined in another thread. D&D 4 monster stats have two major components: 1) The statistics all follow a "benchmark". You put in your role and your level, and you get suggested values for attack, damage, hit points and ability scores. 2) D&D 4 monsters have a far smaller amount of special abilities as most 3E monsters. These special abilities all fit into the stat block, so you do never have to reference other rulebooks to figure out what a power does. (Well, once you learned the core concepts of the game - how do attacks and defenses work, what's a save, what does slowed or dazed mean.) Regarding 1) The problem is the benchmark is based on 4E rules and expectations on how PCs improve with levels. It's pretty much meaningless compared to 3E values. If you want to create your own, two products come to mind that might offer some advice: - Mastering Iron Heroes. More specifically, villain classes. You basically set the desired CR, and you pick a few abilities from a menu. - Trailblazer. Trailblazer discusses the math and advancement in 3.x and comes up with a benchmark equivalent on its own. 2) You can apply this in practice with existing NPCs and monsters. Pick a small number of attack options the NPC or monster will have, and use only those. Even if it's a Level 15 Wizard, you have to constrain yourself to, say, 3 spells that he'll use. Ignore anything else. The work you might have invested in 1) might tell you whether his stats (like AC or Saving Throws) need a small adjustment that you can pretend to be based on his defensive spells or magical equipment. The biggest issue might be that after a combat with the Wizard, your party might want to know what kind of magic items the NPC was wearing and which spells to find in his spellbooks. [/QUOTE]

Verification