All Questions
23
questions
25
votes
4
answers
4k
views
Monster Manual 1 - Is it balanced? Should I balance it?
I've been DM'ing a little lately 4 edition D&D and of course I'm confused again:
My first adventure was a big question mark, I didn't use the exact guidelines for creating an encounter and ...
- 251
20
votes
2
answers
8k
views
Is the earth elemental's Earth Glide trait as potentially game-breaking as I think it is?
I'm DMing a campaign themed around monsters based on the elements, so making use of the Elementals naturally came to mind.
Taking a look at the Earth Elemental, it strikes me that there is some very ...
- 209
18
votes
3
answers
3k
views
How can I avoid accidentally deadly encounters from monsters that are more deadly than their challenge rating suggests?
Monster Deadliness: In the DMG (p.82) there is guidance about the calculating encounter deadliness. This is entirely based on the XP of the monsters encountered, and each challenge rating (CR) has a ...
- 129k
17
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Why would anyone kill a dragon rather than subdue it in OD&D?
The rule for subdual in OD&D says (Monsters & Treasure, p. 12/13):
Subduing Dragons: Any attack may be to subdue rather than to kill, but this intent
must be announced before melee begins. ...
- 129k
11
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Corroded Metal vs Magical Armor, should it melt it?
The DM in our game homebrewed something called a Dire Otter Swarm and had the Corroded Metal attribute that can destroy nonmagical items, but he gave it a buff that allowed them to destroy Magical ...
- 111
11
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Are oozes overpowered for their levels due to the Engulf ability?
Background
Early in my campaign, there was a combat encounter where three level 2 PCs fought a single gelatinous cube. The cube was the standard level 3, and there were no special outside ...
- 1,091
10
votes
2
answers
2k
views
How to balance a monster modification (zombie)?
I am DM'ing a campaign called "Army of the Damned" based on Magic the Gathering: Innistrad in which a horde of zombies is attacking a town. In the 5e Monster Manual, zombies have poison immunity but ...
- 1,102
10
votes
2
answers
4k
views
Whence the large difference in power between ogres and hill giants?
Ogres and Hill giants are both of Giant type and are described as very similar height: 9–10 feet for ogres, 10½ feet for hill giants (and they're both of Large size category). Yet their ...
9
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Do the HP multipliers for resistance and immunity when computing EHP stack?
DMG p. 277 provides a table and some instructions for the computation of effective hit points based on resistances and immunities when computing the defensive Challenge Rating of a monster, or ...
- 11.1k
8
votes
6
answers
2k
views
Is there any monster with statblock changes during an encounter?
So I've been DMing D&D 5e for quite some time. My table enjoys long, challenging encounters. However many monsters end up repeating the same actions after a few rounds. I usually circumvent this ...
- 83
7
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Is this Library-encounter balanced?
I'm about to run a Wizard tower. I really wanted to run a Living Spellbook from Redditor /u/StoneStrix but had to scale it down. Since low-level spellcasters are kind of hard to find, I thought an ...
- 71
6
votes
4
answers
3k
views
Is this wolf DMPC overpowered or underpowered?
I am new to being a DM and soon will have my first session. Since we are with three players total (me as a DM plus two PC characters) I want to help them out a little. The players are a Dwarf Cleric ...
- 69
6
votes
2
answers
651
views
Does my version of Fire Breath break my pseudodragon?
I am starting a campaign in which my character is an accomplished and award-winning chef, and in an egg-themed competition won a dragon egg with a pseudodragon. I've talked with my DM, and he's ...
- 181
6
votes
2
answers
2k
views
What implications would a monstrosity as a player character entail?
Travelers of the Multiverse Unearthed Arcana lists the Thri-kreen race, and its type is monstrosity. I am wondering what playing as a monstrosity would entail.
All things that come to my mind are ...
- 3,214
6
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Playing (some) monster races without racial HD
I'm interested in whether it is possible to play certain (monstruous) humanoids from MM without adding their racial HD, whist at the same time preserving balance. What exactly would I need to do to ...
- 61