Questions tagged [cr-calculation]
For questions that deal with the calculation of a Challenge Rating, a method of evaluating the combat-difficulty of monsters and encounters in D&D and derived systems. Such questions should ideally demonstrate that the querent has first tried official methods of calculating CR and describe what problems they encountered in doing so.
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I've given my players a lot of magic items. Is it reasonable for me to give them harder encounters?
I'm running a campaign for a group of 6 level 8 characters. Last session, they went shopping, and I let them buy about 2 magic items each. On top of this, I let them each start with an extra feat and ...
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Ogre CR calculation: is it wrong or am I missing something?
My question is about the basic ogre CR calculation in the monster manual, which doesn't make senses to me. I tried to make a concept of an "armored ogre" with chain mail and pikes (AC 16 and 15 (2d10+...
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If I design a PC for use as an NPC, how much XP should he give when killed?
As part of an early quest, my PCs are likely to face off against a wizard.
The problem here is that the stat block for Mage NPCs listed in the Basic Rules has a Challenge Rating of 6, while the PCs ...
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Why do red dragons and gold dragons have the same CR?
There are 4 variants of each type of dragon, each corresponding to a specific age. At each age, the red and gold dragons each have the same CR (4, 10, 17, and 24). The dragons are superficially ...
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Do 5th-edition D&D PCs consistently outmatch level-appropriate encounters?
I have a group of PCs that started at level 1. The group varies in size between 6-8 PCs and they have a good spread of classes (healer, tanks, damage dealers, 2 arcane casters).
They are level 5 ...
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How to increase a monster's CR without adjusting its flavour too much?
Background
I have a player who has a level 8 Half Orc Paladin (STR 16, CON 18, CHA 14, Vengeance oath, Sentinel and Orcish Fury feats, no magic items) whose backstory involves running away from his ...
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As a DM, how do you adjust the difficulty to create challenging encounters when your party is well constructed (aka Power Players)
I am a newbie DM and started DMing because our current DM was not bringing a nice and engaging story.
I am doing really good on the role playing and storytelling, but my encounters had been nothing ...
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Is there a playable correlation between CR and level in 5e?
Let's say that I'm about to run a combat-heavy 3rd level one-shot for a group of players. Balance and challenge rating is still very important, but one of my players says he'd like to play a humanoid ...
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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 ...
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How do I determine a dragon's new Challenge Rating when applying the Shadow Dragon template?
The Monster Manual contains a template whereby any true dragon may be turned into a shadow dragon. A shadow dragon differs from a true dragon in the following ways:
It has resistance to necrotic ...
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How does the summoning ability affect the encounter difficulty?
The Drow Mage (CR 7) has the Action Summon Demon (1/day), which allows him to summon a shadow demon (CR 4). Is the shadow demon already included in the CR of the Drow Mage, or do I have to count the ...
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How does the ability to cast healing spells affect a monster's CR?
I've been making a few homebrew monsters for my current D&D 5e campaign, and I ran into a problem when I wanted to create a creature that used healing magic. There were general rules for offensive ...
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Why is an archmage only CR12?
The monster's manual archmage is overpowered, but has a CR12!?
It is a monster with Time Stop from 9th circle, mind blank and teleport.
If you put him with some other melee monsters (meat for the ...
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How would a Kobold's challenge rating be affected if I gave it a cantrip and a resistance?
I want to create a version of a Kobold that has the Ray of Frost cantrip, as well as resistance to cold damage. How would this affect the challenge rating of the monster? A normal kobold is CR 1/8. ...
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Why is the Basilisk’s CR so low?
A basilisk has a hardy pool of HP and can force players to save-or-die constantly. For a party of low-level adventurers, going purely by CR, one should be a normal-ish challenge, but I don't know how ...
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