D&D 4e Monster Creation

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MM3 on a business card, for reference. Some things are directly stated, but it's the various bits of tertiary information that I'd like to find a reference for, or at least a solid way to extrapolate them from the given numbers.

I don't have any good comprehensive breakdowns for you but there's a couple of good blog posts out there on how to design good solos etc...

Personally I just reflavour existing monsters, with MM3, MV, MV - Threats to the Nentir Vale and Dark Sun Creature Catalog there's more than enough to go around.

Regarding design principles comparing MM1 and MM3 creatures will show that past all the numbers the changes are in giving creatures more options like triggered effects, once per encounter abilities with some interesting effect and so on.
Stay away from debilitating effects like Stunned and Dazed and instead try to do ongoing damage, per-encounter shift, extra movement, something that creates, alters or otherwise interacts with terrain. Or some attack action as a minor action / free action that does something other than damage.

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>I'm running 4e soon

>>52682843
>>52683138
What more do you need than these two? Honestly unclear.

>>52683704

A lot of it can be extrapolated, but I was looking for if anyone had taken the MM3 numbers and fleshed them out into a full DMG style table, as an easy quick reference, or had any other resources like that.

>>52683737
Will take 10 seconds in excel

>>52683844

I'm probably overthinking it. I'm aware I could just do it myself, but the only accounts of MM3 math I could find are very simplified. >>52683237 filled in some very useful details as to the process behind new monster creation, but I was also wondering if there were guidelines on balancing secondary effects against damage and so on, beyond 'look at existing monsters and try to puzzle it out'.

>>52683930
>guidelines on balancing secondary effects against damage and so on, beyond 'look at existing monsters and try to puzzle it out.
Not really. I'd just fudge the exact HP so you can cut the fight short if you completly overdid it.

>>52683946
Also, if you take a base monster (from MM1-MM2) shuffle some abilities around between them and maybe add a weak triggered or stronger encounter ability you already have a more interesting creature (assuming you update the damage properly).

Feel free to play around with fun effects like minions that explode upon death, enemies that have more mobility than initially expected or just abilities that players don't make a lot of use of (grab and immobilized for example). One-Two Punches are also interesting like an ability that gives the enemy some condition and if they still have that condition the next turn the enemy can do something mean (see the Death Roll from the MV Crocodile for example).

>>52684007
At the end of the day I wouldn't worry about it too much. If you stay away from unfun effects and huge numbers of dice (instead use less dice and more bonuses) you should be good.

This isn't 3.5 were a monster can kill a player from full hp with an exceptional crit that does tripple damage.

When in doubt and the fight goes poorly have the monsters take more risks, provoke when they wouldn't really have to, have enemies flee a bit earlier or just cut an enemy or two from later fights to bring everything back in line.

An idea I'm toying with and not sure how to use is telegraphed attacks. A monster might lay down a 3x3 square on one turn, and everyone within the square will take a very nasty attack on the next turn. How would you balance that? It's easy enough to avoid, but it makes it a very powerful area denial ability, since it should probably be dangerous enough that people feel a very strong urge to get the fuck out the way.

>>52684069
IIRC 4e assumes that players are aware of these sorts of effects. So when the monster lays down that square you're supposed to tell them what happens if they stay there. Now if it's two different effects (one that gives a debuf like prone to an area and then on the next round a different effect gives everything that's still prone in that area some amount of damage you wouldn't have to).

So personally I would go with the first option. It's one effect and once the monster uses his 3x3 you tell the players what will happen if they stay inside (I wouldn't tell them exact numbers but I would tell them if they can expect damage or something else). Then I would have enemies in the fight that make it more difficult for the players to get out of the 3x3 by having controls with lock-down abilities, dangerous terrain, enemies that knock you prone and so on. So even if they know staying here is bad it's not that they can just run away either.

>>52684121

Thanks, that makes sense.

>>52682843
That image is outdated. Brutes are supposed to have the same attack bonus as other monsters, and I don't think multi-target attacks take a penalty either.

>>52683138
I just noticed this doesn't include initiative bonus by role.

>>52688387

Thanks, that's the kind of information I was looking for, other math changes that weren't included.

>>52688403
Don't be too worried about creature design, unless it's something that matters.
What I'm fond of is creating groups that are expressly designed to build on each other's success.
I created 3 types of spiderdemonmanthing, minions, soldiers, brutes.
If a pc was adjacent to 2 or more of them minions, they were slowed and granted CA to other spiderdemans.
A soldier deman that attacked a slowed pc dealt an extra 1d6 damage, slide 1 square and were prone at the end of the movement.
A brute attacking a brone target did an extra 1d12 damage.
I had "squads" made up of 3-8 minions, 2-5 soldiers, 0-3 brutes, and they constantly harassed the party. Amusingly enough, there were pc deaths, but not because of the spider demans.

Bump for 4E

>>52690028
>getting my campaign together
>finished my brutal dungeoncrawl for the new players to teach them the basics
>out of 7 pcs, 3 walked away alive
>do terrible things to one of the survivors because he needs motivation in the now 1 year time skip
>have 2 returning players
>one of them, a cleric of Bahamut, is put to an inquisition for his role in defending a town that held both orcs and dwarves in virtual slavery
>he manages to set the record straight and is commended for his bravery
>his barbarian buddy who disappeared one day returns after a year and more in the middle of winter, barging into his house and demanding his pipe
>2 other survivors dogooder around the land, but cracks are forming in their bond
>realize I have 7 players
>shit
>Harness the inner energy, DM, it's gonna be tough!