Surf gets side-tracked for a while... But that's a good thing!

1. Dnd Cr Calculator 5e
2. D&d 5e Cr 7 Monsters
3. D&d 5e Dmg Pdf
4. D&d 5e Point Calculator

Part 3: Construction: CR & Size

1. So I used the DMG walkthrough for calculating the CR of a modified monster (I think calling it a 'formula' would be too generous, it's very timey-wimey wibbly-wobbly). I took an Abomination Yuan-ti, stuck 10 levels of Death Domain cleric on it, and came up with a CR of 12(ish) from an original of 7.
2. I'd increase both of these. The mummy, CR 3, has 58 hit points. An average CR 5 monster (I dumped ALL of the MM, and every other monster/NPC we've seen into a spreadsheet) has 94 hp. Average damage for a CR 5 monster is 27 per round (though probably less when it has rider effects on its attack).

Updated to use DM Basic Rules v0.3 (same method used in the DMG) on 2015-02-15. First, fill in the number of characters in your party and their level. If characters in your party are at different levels, add multiple rows and include each group of characters with the same level in their own row. CR 25: CR 30: Calculate: Reset: CR:-XP Total:-Individual XP:-More Details. CR/XP Chart Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates. Home RPG Tools Reviews Tutorials Useful Links Contact.

OK I want to open this article with a couple of apologies.

First up, some folks felt that 'two introductions' for this series was excessive. I can understand this and I'd normally agree - be assured that I agonised over this when I was writing Before Building. But in the end I decided that a process-oriented build really does demand that the conceptual pre-work be done. It is far, far more important for this kind of build than for a result-oriented build. To those who felt put-out I do apologise and can assure you that it is not how I prefer to write a series of articles, so you shouldn't expect a repeat any time soon.

Secondly, I apologise for the lateness of this article. I originally indicated I'd post it almost a week ago, but as I started writing Part 3 I realised how fundamental CR is to the process. I was faced with a choice - do some quick and dirty analysis to work around it or do some solid analysis. So I chose the latter and disappeared down a rabbit hole for a while.

I think most readers will be happy that I did... I certainly hope so!

Let's have a look at the two foundational components of a D&D 5e monster - CR and Size. Then we'll use these to fill out some peices of an example monster.

Challenge Rating

So I had committed to leaving Challenge Rating (aka 'CR') analysis until the Monster Manual hit the shelves, but as I dug into 5e monsters I developed a deeper appreciation of something I had previously suspected. While CR clearly is a measure of how appropriate a given creature is for a same-level party to fight, it is also a foundational element in building 5e monsters. When we decide to build an opponent for the PCs, regardless of the approach we use, we have an idea of how challenging it should be. We may or may not have formalised it, but we do have an idea. I starting thinking of this as Target CR in order to differentiate it from the actual final CR.

I came to this realisation as I was doing some analysis to work around using CR when building monsters. Ultimately this lead me to analyze PC data earlier than anticipated. Interested readers might check out this thread on the wizards.com forums where I posted the data I crunched about Classes.

Several key components of monsters are based directly on Target CR...

A monster's Hitpoints are the result of it's number of Hit Dice, it's size and it's Ability Score modifiers. But how many hitpoints should my monster have? Target CR yields a Target HP range towards which we can build.

Monster Damage output results from a creature's traits and actions. A combat-focussed creature's damage is influenced by it's Ability Score modifiers, it's size, the weapon it uses, the number of attacks it makes and several other factors. A creature that focusses on casting spells mainly produces damage according to it's caster level. Creatures with other approaches produce their damage output via other methods. But what should this damage output be? Target CR gives us an appropriate range for this.

Proficiency for monsters is indexed directly off the creature's CR. We can simply use the Character Advancement table on page 10 of the Basic D&D v0.1 and use CR instead of level.

Ability Scores also appear to scale based on CR. We'll look at this more closely in Part 4: Construction: Abilities & HP.

Experience Points seem to be tightly bound to CR. While there are a number of gaps the XP rewards for the monsters presented in the Starter Set make it quite easy to fill in these gaps up to level 10 with a reasonable level of confidence. We can estimate values for the missing CRs using the following moderate polynomial:
XP = -0.3553xCR^3 + 60.485xCR^2 + 5.5534xCR + 155.52

It's important to note that our limited sample size makes it difficult to be confident of certain numbers past a reasonable level or CR. In this case we can have a high level of confidence that we are in the right ballpark with these XP numbers. Some of them might be a hundred XP or so out but they'll be pretty close and more than good enough for most uses. We'll revisit these as soon as there's more data, but it's what we have to use for now.

Note that I won't provide tables out past CR10 until we have at least some examples of creatures at these higher levels to analyze.

Prediction: I believe we'll see creatures up to at least CR25 in the Monster Manual, probably out to CR30 and maybe even beyond.

Size

Monster Size partners with Target CR to provide targets for most of the building blocks of a 5e monster, either directly or indirectly.

Size has a direct bearing on Hit Points (via Hit Dice), weapon damage dice and on speed. It may also influence other aspects of monsters.

Page 71 of the Basic D&D v0.1 PDF outlines the appropriate size categories in D&D 5e and Appendix B of the Starter Set shows us the HD size for most of these. Appendix B doesn't tell us the HD size for Huge or Gargantuan creatures, but it's pretty reasonable to assume that these are simply the next dice sizes up from Large.

Speed is normally thought of as an aspect of race - it's listed in the Racial Traits section of the Basic D&D v0.1 PDF, for example. I believe that this is primarily because Size is a component of Race. Note that Speed is not a 'hard' aspect of size, rather it is a starting point that can be modified and tuned to suit the specific creature you are building. Variance up to one size category above or below seems to be quite normal.

Prediction: Because of the relationship between Size and Hit Points I believe monsters of the smaller sizes will become less frequent as CR increases and that creatures past say CR10 will be predominantly Medium or bigger. We'll need the volume of data expected in the Monster Manual to confirm this.

Example: Human Pyromancer

Since this part of my blog focuses on the build-oriented approach to D&D 5e monster creation I thought it would be appropriate to provide some example monsters for illustration purposes. In these examples we'll normally omit parts of the stat block which we have not yet dealt with.

The idea behind the Human Pyromancer is a 'Glass Cannon' ranged attacker with an aracane fire theme. The intent is for this monster to blast the PCs from a distance, while receiving protection from melee type monsters and cover. Once the PCs get up close it should be all over for this guy. With some lower level meat-shield support it could be the central piece of a toughish level 5 or 6 encounter. It should have some longevity out to level 10 or so as lower-end ranged support for higher-CR melee creatures.

From a monster design perspective it will allow us to explore how spellcasting monsters are built in D&D 5e and thus also explore the math associated with casters. It will also allow us to illustrate the flexibility the CR guidelines for HP and Damage support.

Adventure Summary: In this level 6 fifth edition D&D adventure, the Pyropup salamander clan is unleashing its fiery minions into a nearby forest, reducing scores of trees to ashes in an attempt to find ashes that will be most pleasing to their deity, Pyrotheus. The Circle of Rooted Souls, a druid circle from the forest, beseeches the adventuring group to help them, a task that will require trekking into the elemental plane of fire itself.

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Dnd Cr Calculator 5e

• Magma mephit – CR ½
• Firenewt warriors – CR ½
• Fire Snake – CR 1
• Azer – CR 2
• Hell Hound – CR 3
• Flameskull – CR 4
• Salamander – CR 5

• This adventure is designed for 4 to 6 level-six characters.
• Contains treasure from 1 roll on the level 5-10 treasure hoard table in DMG.
• This adventure can take place anywhere in your world where there is a small forest nearby.

• A clan of salamanders, the Pyropups, are searching for a specific type of ash that is required in a ritual to their deity, Pyrotheus. In order to acquire this ash, they have opened a portal from the plane of elemental fire to a forest on the material plane, and denizens of the salamanders are going about burning trees in the forest in order to find this ash.

The Pyropups. A clan of salamanders on the elemental plane of fire who worship the fire deity Pyrotheus.

Cindertongue. The salamander leader.

Pyrotheus. A lesser deity of fire that appears as a pyrohydra made of flames.

The Circle of Rooted Souls. A group of druids in the forest.

Taegen Barrowood. The leader of the druids.

Acorn of Thankfulness. This magical acorn can be used once per day to create a fifteen-foot-diameter dome around the acorn that protects those in the circle from normal elements such as rain and snow. This circle lasts for 8 hours.

• 2 flameskulls
• 1 salamander and 2 fire snakes
• 4d6 magma mephits
• 1d4+2 azer

Taegen Barrowood of the Circle of Rooted Souls (group of druids) approaches the characters and explains to them that fire creatures are loose in their forest, and the druids are looking for help with the issue. If the characters help, the druids will give them 1000 gp and an Acorn of Thankfulness.

When the characters head to the forest, they can easily follow the scent of smoke and ash deeper into the forest. After some time of following this trail, read the following:

D&d 5e Cr 7 Monsters

Before you are several small creatures that appear to be made from gouts of flaming lava. They are currently burning down a pair of trees, and behind them stands a stout dwarf-like creature with flaming hair and bronze skin. Nearby is what appears to be a magical portal through which you can see a red-glowing tunnel.

Creatures. The magma creatures are 10 magma mephits and the dwarf-like creature is an azer. They are currently burning down the trees to get ash to take back to Cindertongue, the salamander leader.

Portal. The magical portal leads to the elemental plane of fire where the Pyropups have their lair.

Loot. The azer is carrying a bronze hinged box decorated with flame embossing used for collecting the ash. It contains a dozen glass jars, and several of them are already full of ash from other trees the creatures have burned down. He also carries a small iron spade.

The Pyre of Pyrotheus is a series of tunnels and chambers in the belly of a dormant volcano on the elemental plane of fire. The Pyropups and their minions dwell there now, using it has their lair and temple where they worship Pyrotheus.

Walls, Floors, and Ceiling. The tunnels and chambers are carved out of volcanic rock, glow with a soft red hue, and are warm to the touch.

Lighting. Most of the cave complex is bathed in dim light from the glowing rock.

Internal Doors. The doors in the complex are made of solid bronze crafted by the azer smiths.

This room contains the magical portal that leads to and from the material plane.

The walls of both sides of the entry hall are lined hundreds of niches in which sit flaming humanoid skulls. Almost all of the skulls were enchanted with continual flame, but two of the skulls are flameskulls that guard the entry hall against intruders.

Encounter Notes

• The flameskulls attack when the characters reach the midpoint of the entry hall, opening with two

This chamber is situated at the bottom of the mouth of a dormant volcano, and a hundred or so feet up the volcano opens up into the outside. From here the sky is visible, full of obsidian clouds of smoke that reflect red from flames and lava flows below. A large pool of lava dominates this chamber with two flows running off it and into underground tunnels.

Occupants. There are thirteen fire mephits in the lava pool; it’s their home.

Encounter Notes

D&d 5e Dmg Pdf

• A couple fire mephits exit the pool and challenge the characters’ presence in the area. If the characters are unable to give a reasonable excuse or can’t communicate with them (the mephits only speak Ignan), the mephits attack, with the rest of the mephits exiting the pool.

The azer use this chamber as their smithy. It contains a large forge that operates using lava, anvils, a quenching basin, hammers, and other blacksmith tools.

Occupants. Three azer are here creating a large bronze totem pole.

Loot. There is a pile of copper ingots in a metal bin worth 10,000 cp in total.

This is where the azer sleep. It contains stone beds with fluffy obsidian pillows, several bronze trunks, and a bronze table surrounded by several bronze chairs.

Occupants. Five azer are here. Two of them are sleeping, and the other three are dicing at the table. Once of the azer is a shaman who can cast heat metal (1 time/day) and scorching ray (3 times/day).

Trunks. In addition to trinkets and other personal items, the trunks contain 200 cp, 3000 sp, 500 gp, and a potion of fire resistance.

Three hell hounds dwell here. The room contains piles of volcanic rocks they use as beds and large obsidian chew toys shaped like bones (crafted by the azer, of course).

Three rooms make up the salamanders’ lair. One of the rooms contains two salamanders, another contains one salamander and three fire snakes, and the third room contains two dozen salamander eggs in the lava pool. The salamanders use the lava pools as their beds, though they are all currently awake.

Loot. Bronze trunks in the rooms contain a total of 700 cp, 4000 sp, 700 gp, 80 pp. One of the rooms contains a portrait of a fire salamander in a military uniform (worth 25 gp) hanging on the wall. And one of the salamanders carries an elemental gem (Red Corundum).

These small rooms are cells where the salamanders and azer can sit in quiet contemplation and worship of their deity Pyrotheus. Three of the cells are empty, one contains a salamander, and the other an azer.

This large chamber contains a pool of lava with a small island upon which stands a burnished bronze statue of Pyrotheus, a five-headed pyrohydra made of flames with rubies for eyes. Lava flows from the multiple heads into the pool as though from a fountain.

Occupants. The salamander high priest is in the chamber, sprinkling ashes into the lava pool and examining the effects to see if they’ve finally found the ashes they need or not.

Encounter Notes

• The salamander high priest as the following changes to its stat block:
  • It has 180 hit points.
  • It has the warcaster feat, meaning it has advantage on Constitution saving throws to maintain its concentration on spells.
  • The priest is a 5th-level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 13, +5 to hit with spell attacks). The priest has the following cleric spells prepared:
    • Cantrips (at will): light, sacred flame, thaumaturgy
    • 1st level (4 slots): cure wounds, guiding bolt, sanctuary
    • 2nd level (3 slots): lesser restoration, spiritual weapon
    • 3rd level (2 slots): dispel magic, spirit guardians
  • The salamander high priest casts spirit guardians immediately when combat breaks out.
  • On round two, four firenewt warriors emerge from the lava pool and join the fight.
  • On initiative count 20 each round, the statue of Pyrotheus shoots three streams of lava at three random characters in the room. Each stream of lava has a +8 to hit and deals 2d6 fire damage.
  • If things go south, the salamander high priest flees into the lava pool.

D&d 5e Point Calculator

Loot. The statue of the pyrohydra has ten rubies for eyes, and each ruby is worth 100 gp. Draped around the neck of one of the heads is a necklace of resistance (fire).

When the salamander high priest is defeated, the salamanders stop opening portals into that part of the material plane, resolving the problem at hand.

In return, the druids give the characters an Acorn of Thankfulness as promised.

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