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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 9182449" data-attributes="member: 42582">Because it is being represented as a 9th level minion rather than a 1st level standard. The numbers for AC, hit points, to hit and to damage are all just conventions, that taken together and as a whole express (in some rough fashion) the combat prowess of the creature/NPC.We can hold the toughness of a creature constant, but step up its to hit while dropping its damage. Or vice versa. Or by stepping up its AC while dropping its hp. Or vice versa. (Again, this is [USER=6696971]@Manbearcat[/USER]'s point about the purely conventional nature of using one or another mode of representation.)This is why I regard 4e D&D as the pinnacle of Gygax's mechanical design: it fully embraces the abstract and often metagame nature of AC, hp, to hit, to damage, the action economy, etc, and in doing so produces full-blooded D&D-esque fantasy that works from village heroes fighting Goblins up to demigods confronting Orcus. I regard it as a remarkable technical achievement in game design.</blockquote>