This may be looking a little far ahead, but how cool would it be if you could take one of the generic monster types like acolyte or zombie and use digital tools to apply it to a base set of racial stats? Like have a drop-down menu with options like human, elf, ogre, dragon, etc?
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Just because you arbitrarily assign some sort of significance to the bodies of your dead doesn't make me not hungry.
Host of the Pocket Mimic Podcast, a D&D 5e Show! Join us and listen in as we build a new world step by step! (http://Pocketmimic.com) DMs vs PCs! All DMs are evil | ENnie Award Winner | OSR style in a 5e world |1000+ character souls taken | 25+ yrs exp Remember to hit the thanks button, if you feel my info was useful, it helps me know I've provided helpful information and know I'm on the right track.
I'd love if they could add something like the monster generator that they had for 4e. In that you could pick a monster and then auto-scale it by adjusting the monster's level (or CR for 5e).
It would auto adjust the monster's stats along with the increase/decrease in level (you could even tag the monster as solo or elite - which could be kind of like the Legendary status for 5e monsters).
“It is a better world. A place where we are responsible for our actions, where we can be kind to one another because we want to and because it is the right thing to do instead of being frightened into behaving by the threat of divine punishment.” ― Oramis, Eldest by Christopher Paolini.
I'd love if they could add something like the monster generator that they had for 4e. In that you could pick a monster and then auto-scale it by adjusting the monster's level (or CR for 5e).
It would auto adjust the monster's stats along with the increase/decrease in level (you could even tag the monster as solo or elite - which could be kind of like the Legendary status for 5e monsters).
I was thinking this aswell. That 4e version was great :)
I feel like templates might exist, but I'm not sure if they are going to go wild with Crs and allow an orc to be scaled up to CR 20. I feel like that goes against the intent of explicitly not doing that in the monster manual to begin with. Any higher CRs will probably be creatures they make in the monster manuals.
But who knows this might be a good way to include that from 4th without actually including it.
I feel like templates might exist, but I'm not sure if they are going to go wild with Crs and allow an orc to be scaled up to CR 20. I feel like that goes against the intent of explicitly not doing that in the monster manual to begin with. Any higher CRs will probably be creatures they make in the monster manuals.
But who knows this might be a good way to include that from 4th without actually including it.
They have 9 CR gnolls in Volo's, so I don't see why scaling a more intelligent race to higher level would be a problem. I mean, if Humans, Elves, etc... can attain CR 20+ I don't see why Orcs couldn't have an elite warrior rise through their ranks.
That being said, the 4e system started to break down if you scaled too much in either direction, and it was noticeable: scaling an Ancient Red Dragon to CR 1 either ended up still one-shotting PCs or was so absolutely under-powered that it wasn't worth it (can't remember which way it broke, just remembered that it did break).
“It is a better world. A place where we are responsible for our actions, where we can be kind to one another because we want to and because it is the right thing to do instead of being frightened into behaving by the threat of divine punishment.” ― Oramis, Eldest by Christopher Paolini.
I feel like templates might exist, but I'm not sure if they are going to go wild with Crs and allow an orc to be scaled up to CR 20. I feel like that goes against the intent of explicitly not doing that in the monster manual to begin with. Any higher CRs will probably be creatures they make in the monster manuals.
But who knows this might be a good way to include that from 4th without actually including it.
They have 9 CR gnolls in Volo's, so I don't see why scaling a more intelligent race to higher level would be a problem. I mean, if Humans, Elves, etc... can attain CR 20+ I don't see why Orcs couldn't have an elite warrior rise through their ranks.
That being said, the 4e system started to break down if you scaled too much in either direction, and it was noticeable: scaling an Ancient Red Dragon to CR 1 either ended up still one-shotting PCs or was so absolutely under-powered that it wasn't worth it (can't remember which way it broke, just remembered that it did break).
Technically such an Orc would have levels in a PC class and therefore doesn't need an entry in the Monster Manuals or alterations. Essentially an entry is needed if such a creature is going to have special abilities that classes and such wouldn't confer.
Not only is it exceptionally useful, but it allows a lot of the functionality that I'm missing from the old E-Tools days. You can create and manage characters using quite a few monstrous races.
Note to mods: If this breaks any rules, my apologies. Feel free to edit or delete it. I did not feel that it was a problem because the Dungeon Master's Guild is "official" and this product is offered through that venue.
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PBP "Beregost Blues" - Dungeon Master of Gnome Slaying +5
Note to mods: If this breaks any rules, my apologies. Feel free to edit or delete it. I did not feel that it was a problem because the Dungeon Master's Guild is "official" and this product is offered through that venue.
I feel like templates might exist, but I'm not sure if they are going to go wild with Crs and allow an orc to be scaled up to CR 20. I feel like that goes against the intent of explicitly not doing that in the monster manual to begin with. Any higher CRs will probably be creatures they make in the monster manuals.
But who knows this might be a good way to include that from 4th without actually including it.
They have 9 CR gnolls in Volo's, so I don't see why scaling a more intelligent race to higher level would be a problem. I mean, if Humans, Elves, etc... can attain CR 20+ I don't see why Orcs couldn't have an elite warrior rise through their ranks.
That being said, the 4e system started to break down if you scaled too much in either direction, and it was noticeable: scaling an Ancient Red Dragon to CR 1 either ended up still one-shotting PCs or was so absolutely under-powered that it wasn't worth it (can't remember which way it broke, just remembered that it did break).
Technically such an Orc would have levels in a PC class and therefore doesn't need an entry in the Monster Manuals or alterations. Essentially an entry is needed if such a creature is going to have special abilities that classes and such wouldn't confer.
Not necessarily: Archmage is a 12 CR humanoid that is much LIKE a wizard, but doesn't have any levels in the Wizard class. Assassin is an 8 CR humanoid that's like a rogue, but doesn't have any levels in the Rogue class. Drow Mage and Drow Priestess of Lolth are both similar to other classes without having levels in an actual class.
These are all examples of higher level NPCs who haven't taken a single level in a PC class (the archmage is an 18th level spellcaster).
Again, if a gnoll can reach CR 9 in the source material, I don't see why an orc couldn't feasibly double that. But that's just the extreme.
Maybe I want my orcs to be a much more imposing force, something along the lines of the Lord of the Rings. Maybe I want that Orc War Chief to scale up to 9 CR (instead of 4) and regular orcs (Uruk-hai) to scale up to 2 CR (instead of 1/2). After all, goblins are a 1/4 CR and there's no way that 2 goblins can match up to 1 Uruk-hai.
I'm in the middle of writing a Cthulhu-themed adventure where the BBEG is the leader of the mind flayers. I'd like to be able to use the Gith in an encounter but they don't exactly have a wide range of CR to use. Being able to scale up or down would be great.
It seems like your only reasoning for not having this kind of feature is because you don't want 20 CR orcs, and my response to that is: Then don't use 20 CR orcs in your campaign. And if you are worried about playing in a game where the DM uses insanely scaled CR monsters, then maybe talk to that DM about it when it happens. D&D is a very social game (in spite of being played mostly by anti-social people), you should be able to talk to your DM.
Scaling levels (CRs) was an AMAZING tool in 4e. It isn't always about making an enemy UBER powerful. For the most part it was about scaling a regular enemy up or down a few levels to fit into the theme of a campaign (and maybe to introduce a new monster or utilize an existing monster that was always too low or high level that your PCs would otherwise never see or never see again). Why WOULDN'T you want more options?
“It is a better world. A place where we are responsible for our actions, where we can be kind to one another because we want to and because it is the right thing to do instead of being frightened into behaving by the threat of divine punishment.” ― Oramis, Eldest by Christopher Paolini.
I'm subsisting on Copy-and-Paste-and-Edit right now so that my NPCs match my minis and have variations among them to keep things interesting, but being able to simply edit a stat block would save a TON of time. (Add race to an NPC, pre-roll HP, spell swaps for casters, etc.)
I know that we have the Creating a Monster feature already, but I was hoping for something more intuitive and less programming-language heavy. The current system has a pretty steep learning curve and I just want make my Bandit Leader a Half-Orc and turn my Apprentice Wizard into a Forest Gnome Apprentice Necromancer.
In eyes of WotC adding templates mean that creative people would start making too many monsters on their own and wouldn't bother to buy new compendiums. It's all about money so they will never release anything like what they provided for 3rd and 4th edition.
Im using good old 3ed templates to add flavors to my monsters (ofc it usually requires some juggling or tweaking rules or adding some "homebrew-3ed" rules to your campaign but it's much better than what is offered as default). Current edition has the most boring foe system of all so far, to the point that it is actually pathetic.
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This may be looking a little far ahead, but how cool would it be if you could take one of the generic monster types like acolyte or zombie and use digital tools to apply it to a base set of racial stats? Like have a drop-down menu with options like human, elf, ogre, dragon, etc?
Just because you arbitrarily assign some sort of significance to the bodies of your dead doesn't make me not hungry.
Like a npc maker app?? would be awesome...
ohhh that would be super sweet
Host of the Pocket Mimic Podcast, a D&D 5e Show! Join us and listen in as we build a new world step by step! (http://Pocketmimic.com)
DMs vs PCs! All DMs are evil | ENnie Award Winner | OSR style in a 5e world |1000+ character souls taken | 25+ yrs exp
Remember to hit the thanks button, if you feel my info was useful, it helps me know I've provided helpful information and know I'm on the right track.
I'd love if they could add something like the monster generator that they had for 4e. In that you could pick a monster and then auto-scale it by adjusting the monster's level (or CR for 5e).
It would auto adjust the monster's stats along with the increase/decrease in level (you could even tag the monster as solo or elite - which could be kind of like the Legendary status for 5e monsters).
Click Here to Download my Lancer Class w/ Dragoon and Legionnaire Archetypes via DM's Guild - Pay What You Want
Click Here to Download the Mind Flayer: Thoon Hulk converted from 4e via DM's Guild
“It is a better world. A place where we are responsible for our actions, where we can be kind to one another because we want to and because it is the right thing to do instead of being frightened into behaving by the threat of divine punishment.” ― Oramis, Eldest by Christopher Paolini.
I used E-Tools in d20 / 3rd Edition to do a lot of that. I'm very much hoping for this functionality as well.
I think this is a great idea!
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D&D Beyond FoundersThat would be really cool for making npcs.
"Huh, this 8th level Wizard I have as a bad guys feels like he's missing something ...."
*applies undead template*
"Ah yeah, that's the stuff!"
Pun-loving nerd | Faith Elisabeth Lilley | She/Her/Hers | Profile art by Becca Golins
If you need help with homebrew, please post on the homebrew forums, where multiple staff and moderators can read your post and help you!
"We got this, no problem! I'll take the twenty on the left - you guys handle the one on the right!"🔊
I feel like templates might exist, but I'm not sure if they are going to go wild with Crs and allow an orc to be scaled up to CR 20. I feel like that goes against the intent of explicitly not doing that in the monster manual to begin with. Any higher CRs will probably be creatures they make in the monster manuals.
But who knows this might be a good way to include that from 4th without actually including it.
That being said, the 4e system started to break down if you scaled too much in either direction, and it was noticeable: scaling an Ancient Red Dragon to CR 1 either ended up still one-shotting PCs or was so absolutely under-powered that it wasn't worth it (can't remember which way it broke, just remembered that it did break).
Click Here to Download my Lancer Class w/ Dragoon and Legionnaire Archetypes via DM's Guild - Pay What You Want
Click Here to Download the Mind Flayer: Thoon Hulk converted from 4e via DM's Guild
“It is a better world. A place where we are responsible for our actions, where we can be kind to one another because we want to and because it is the right thing to do instead of being frightened into behaving by the threat of divine punishment.” ― Oramis, Eldest by Christopher Paolini.
I don't know how many of you are aware of this, but there's an automated character creation PDF available at the Dungeon Master's Guild:
Character Sheet - MPMB's fully-automated Printer Friendly character generator
Not only is it exceptionally useful, but it allows a lot of the functionality that I'm missing from the old E-Tools days. You can create and manage characters using quite a few monstrous races.
Note to mods: If this breaks any rules, my apologies. Feel free to edit or delete it. I did not feel that it was a problem because the Dungeon Master's Guild is "official" and this product is offered through that venue.
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D&D Beyond FoundersPun-loving nerd | Faith Elisabeth Lilley | She/Her/Hers | Profile art by Becca Golins
If you need help with homebrew, please post on the homebrew forums, where multiple staff and moderators can read your post and help you!
"We got this, no problem! I'll take the twenty on the left - you guys handle the one on the right!"🔊
These are all examples of higher level NPCs who haven't taken a single level in a PC class (the archmage is an 18th level spellcaster).
Again, if a gnoll can reach CR 9 in the source material, I don't see why an orc couldn't feasibly double that. But that's just the extreme.
Maybe I want my orcs to be a much more imposing force, something along the lines of the Lord of the Rings. Maybe I want that Orc War Chief to scale up to 9 CR (instead of 4) and regular orcs (Uruk-hai) to scale up to 2 CR (instead of 1/2). After all, goblins are a 1/4 CR and there's no way that 2 goblins can match up to 1 Uruk-hai.
I'm in the middle of writing a Cthulhu-themed adventure where the BBEG is the leader of the mind flayers. I'd like to be able to use the Gith in an encounter but they don't exactly have a wide range of CR to use. Being able to scale up or down would be great.
It seems like your only reasoning for not having this kind of feature is because you don't want 20 CR orcs, and my response to that is: Then don't use 20 CR orcs in your campaign. And if you are worried about playing in a game where the DM uses insanely scaled CR monsters, then maybe talk to that DM about it when it happens. D&D is a very social game (in spite of being played mostly by anti-social people), you should be able to talk to your DM.
Scaling levels (CRs) was an AMAZING tool in 4e. It isn't always about making an enemy UBER powerful. For the most part it was about scaling a regular enemy up or down a few levels to fit into the theme of a campaign (and maybe to introduce a new monster or utilize an existing monster that was always too low or high level that your PCs would otherwise never see or never see again). Why WOULDN'T you want more options?
Click Here to Download my Lancer Class w/ Dragoon and Legionnaire Archetypes via DM's Guild - Pay What You Want
Click Here to Download the Mind Flayer: Thoon Hulk converted from 4e via DM's Guild
“It is a better world. A place where we are responsible for our actions, where we can be kind to one another because we want to and because it is the right thing to do instead of being frightened into behaving by the threat of divine punishment.” ― Oramis, Eldest by Christopher Paolini.
A monster builder should be a very important priority. It would be so awesome and very very handy.
I'd like to add my enthusiasm for an NPC Maker.
I'm subsisting on Copy-and-Paste-and-Edit right now so that my NPCs match my minis and have variations among them to keep things interesting, but being able to simply edit a stat block would save a TON of time. (Add race to an NPC, pre-roll HP, spell swaps for casters, etc.)
I know that we have the Creating a Monster feature already, but I was hoping for something more intuitive and less programming-language heavy. The current system has a pretty steep learning curve and I just want make my Bandit Leader a Half-Orc and turn my Apprentice Wizard into a Forest Gnome Apprentice Necromancer.
In eyes of WotC adding templates mean that creative people would start making too many monsters on their own and wouldn't bother to buy new compendiums. It's all about money so they will never release anything like what they provided for 3rd and 4th edition.
Im using good old 3ed templates to add flavors to my monsters (ofc it usually requires some juggling or tweaking rules or adding some "homebrew-3ed" rules to your campaign but it's much better than what is offered as default). Current edition has the most boring foe system of all so far, to the point that it is actually pathetic.