D&D 5E What is Elite in 5E?

[Hriston]

D&D inherited a system of troop classifications from Chainmail, one of which was "Elite". Swords and Spells defined it as "troops who are specially selected and given above average training," and are said to typically have better armor (from chain up to plate and shield). It also said that Elves, Gnolls, Hobgoblins, Veterans, and all Knights were classified as elite. You found "Elite" troops in AD&D as someone with a bonus to morale. I gather other editions that I am less familiar with have their own definitions of Elite. The word is used in 5E to describe at least one monster, but I'm wondering what others might consider to be Elite.

Personally, following those older editions and supplements, I would attempt to define it in terms of AC and weapons. I'd say that a creature with an AC of 15 and a martial ranged weapon, or an AC of 18 without a martial ranged weapon would be my best estimate, but I'm sure there are different criteria that others might use, perhaps based on more recent editions.

So, what do you consider Elite?

 

[fjw70]

I would use a CR definition of elite. I think Orc and hobgoblins would be more standard troops (1/2 CR) so I would put elite at CR 1 and above.

 

[The Grassy Gnoll]

But the hobgoblin martial ability (not near books, can't recall name) kinda sings out that they are. Elite warriors...maybe use that adv rule for elite

 

[jgsugden]

It is all relative. To me, elite would be the creature that gets a 2 to 4 point bump in AC, a 50%+ bump in HPs, a 2 to 4 point bump in attack bonus / Save DC, and a reasonable bump in damage OVER the other creatures in the combat pool. In other words, it just means 'better'. An elite enemy in a fight against a kobold clan would be different than an elite enemy in a fight Against the Giants.

 

[BlueBlackRed]

Elite in 5E is not a special distinction, but more of a relative view point from the PCs' perspective.

If 2 of a certain monster is an equal fight to the party's ability, that would probably be considered elite (YMMV).

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

So, what do you consider Elite?

It's context-dependent. Anyone the other troops look up to--the point of the spear and the keystone to enemy morale. Hobgoblins among goblins. Oni among hobgoblins. Vampires among Oni.

Another way to look at it is "anyone equipped to operate independently in small units." Special forces, as it were, who can pack 30 troops' worth of punch into five bodies. PCs are nearly always elite by this definition, and so are most monsters above CR 2 and some below.

 

[Larac]

In Wargaming it was Training and sometimes had Morale lumped in.

Green
Trained
Elite

Are the simple 3.

So Green was your untrained or poorly trained.
Trained was your Base Line troops.
Elite was Highly Trained, Solider for life, The Kingsguard, that sort of thing.

Green could also mean Trained Soldiers that were tired, broken, or were poorly lead.
Trained could be New Troops, with little training but very high Morale, or Great leaders.
and so on

Some war games break the Morale and Training apart some do not.

Mostly it was Training though.

So in D&D Terms,
The Village Guards are mostly Green.
Little Training. But the SGT might be Trained as might a few others.

The Town Guard is Trained.
Better Training, Guard all year long. But some lesser ones in the Ranks are Green.

The Personal Guard of a Lord of Neverwinter
Elite with a few unseasoned Trained in the ranks.

Green should be like -1 to hit, -1 Morale Issues
Trained +0 to +1 to Hit, +0 to +2 Morale Issues
Elite +2 and Up, Do what it takes to finish Mission +5 or Advantage on Morale Issues.

Once they become full classes then they start sliding into Hero Class.
Would say in 5th that is 3-5th Level

YMMV

 

[vandaexpress]

Yeah, kind of a vague question with all the ways you could interpret elite. For me, Elite always means maxed out hp plus a bunch of minor tweaks, like raising their main attack stat to 18 if it's not already there, etc.

That's my quick version of making an elite version of a monster. Maybe give him a bump in proficiency bonus. Mostly it boils down to maxing out their HP though. As time goes on, I find myself needing to max out the HP on most of the "boss" monsters in prepublished adventures to provide an adequate challenge.

The other way I interpret it is the guard NPC vs the veteran or knight NPC. If the PCs run into a military unit and I don't have time to build out stats, the normal guys are guards, the elite guys are veterans or knights.

 

[Hriston]

I would use a CR definition of elite. I think Orc and hobgoblins would be more standard troops (1/2 CR) so I would put elite at CR 1 and above.

For me, the problem with using CR is that it puts so many powerful monsters into the category. I was thinking of going with 1/2, because I'd consider Hobgoblins to be elite warriors, but I agree with you that Orcs are not. Also, classifying creatures like Ogres, Trolls, and Hill Giants as elite just doesn't sit right with me. So I think CR is not a good measure of whether a given monster has elite status. YMMV, of course.

 

[Hriston]

But the hobgoblin martial ability (not near books, can't recall name) kinda sings out that they are. Elite warriors...maybe use that adv rule for elite

Martial Advantage seems to suggest the kind of training that would qualify. Are there any other monsters that have this feature? I don't have my MM handy either.