Full disclosure, I don't have much experience homebrewing monsters. However if you have already planned out their stats and want to know what CR to give them I would suggest looking at the Monster Statistics by Challenge Rating table:
That should give you some idea of what CR would be appropriate.
If you are trying to come up with stats for a monster idea you have then I would look through the monsters that already exist. You might find one that already fits mechanically or needs only a little adjusting. At the very least you can mix and match monster features and traits and then use the table to figure out hit points, to hit modifiers, save DCs, etc.
I will echo the advice to go to the DM’s Workshop section of the DMG. It’s not perfect, but it’s helpful. Bottom line, you need to know:
how much damage the monster will likely deal to a single creature over its first 3 rounds of combat
the monster’s attack bonus and/or save DC
it’s HP
its AC
Those👆are the main factors when calculating CR. Other factors are stuff like regeneration over the first three rounds of combat, or to some extent damage immunities if there are a lot of them. But for the most part, if you have the information listed above you can get pretty close to the right CR using the chart in the DM’s Workshop. I use it constantly. After some experience, you’ll be able to refine the CR the rest of the way by going with your gut feelings after you’ve gotten close with the CR calculation chart.
As IamSposta says there'll be some judgement needed; I've been doing a lot of monster stat blocks recently and they're for a lowish level (3-4) mini-campaign so the balancing is extra tough; according to the table most of them work out somewhere between CR 2 and 3, but a lot of them are closer to CR 3 (if fractions were allowed they'd be CR 2.75 or the like), not helped by a collection of abilities that make it hard to calculate a value.
For example, one is a Tiefling Rogue NPC, but that means she has sneak attack, uncanny dodge and hellish rebuke for a potential single round knockout on a player, though her damage the rest of the time is fairly weak. Due to relatively low HP the table puts her at CR 2, but I'm assuming CR 3 due to the potentially horrendous opening round. She's representing a rival adventurer though, so I can't really nerf her too much, as she should have similar abilities to what a player would.
That said, if these are monsters for a private campaign, the CR rating only needs to be a rough estimate anyway; the DM is free to have a monster pull its punches if it turns out that it's too strong, or you can keep a possible story element in the back pocket just in case, like an NPC coming to help in the fight, or a way to escape etc. In my example, if this Tiefling Rogue deals a lot of opening damage to a player, then I may not have her use her hellish rebuke if they hit her back, but instead save it for later if she's badly wounded, or a player with more health takes a shot at her etc., to try and strike that balance of keeping it dangerous, but also fun.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
As IamSposta says there'll be some judgement needed; I've been doing a lot of monster stat blocks recently and they're for a lowish level (3-4) mini-campaign so the balancing is extra tough; according to the table most of them work out somewhere between CR 2 and 3, but a lot of them are closer to CR 3 (if fractions were allowed they'd be CR 2.75 or the like), not helped by a collection of abilities that make it hard to calculate a value.
As IamSposta says there'll be some judgement needed; I've been doing a lot of monster stat blocks recently and they're for a lowish level (3-4) mini-campaign so the balancing is extra tough; according to the table most of them work out somewhere between CR 2 and 3, but a lot of them are closer to CR 3 (if fractions were allowed they'd be CR 2.75 or the like), not helped by a collection of abilities that make it hard to calculate a value.
When in doubt, round up.
Well in my case these are NPCs essentially built like level 4 characters, going up against level 4 players so really me setting the CR at all is an example of over-thinking it; they hit hard like players can, but can only take around the same level of punishment. So really the CR doesn't matter much, as they can't do anything players can't, the abilities, spells etc. are the same, just massively simplified or trimmed (so I don't need five full character sheets to run it).
It should be a fair fight regardless of what the correct CR is; a party that works well together should have no trouble against them, but the whole reason I'm including them is because I know my players won't. 😈
They've been too obsessed with personal damage, never buffing each other, only reluctantly healing and so-on, I've given them magic items specifically designed to work together and they still don't do it. I've tried reminding them to work together more too many times already, so I figure if they face a rival adventuring party that does everything they don't then it might help push them to work together more. The rivals won't kill them (well one might try, she's a murderer possessed by a celestial that forces her to do good against her will) but some bloody noses might do the trick. 🤞
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
As IamSposta says there'll be some judgement needed; I've been doing a lot of monster stat blocks recently and they're for a lowish level (3-4) mini-campaign so the balancing is extra tough; according to the table most of them work out somewhere between CR 2 and 3, but a lot of them are closer to CR 3 (if fractions were allowed they'd be CR 2.75 or the like), not helped by a collection of abilities that make it hard to calculate a value.
When in doubt, round up.
Well in my case these are NPCs essentially built like level 4 characters, going up against level 4 players so really me setting the CR at all is an example of over-thinking it; they hit hard like players can, but can only take around the same level of punishment. So really the CR doesn't matter much, as they can't do anything players can't, the abilities, spells etc. are the same, just massively simplified or trimmed (so I don't need five full character sheets to run it).
It should be a fair fight regardless of what the correct CR is; a party that works well together should have no trouble against them, but the whole reason I'm including them is because I know my players won't. 😈
They've been too obsessed with personal damage, never buffing each other, only reluctantly healing and so-on, I've given them magic items specifically designed to work together and they still don't do it. I've tried reminding them to work together more too many times already, so I figure if they face a rival adventuring party that does everything they don't then it might help push them to work together more. The rivals won't kill them (well one might try, she's a murderer possessed by a celestial that forces her to do good against her will) but some bloody noses might do the trick. 🤞
Then you only need CR for XP calculation purposes, and if you use Milestone not even then. I often start out building NPCs as PCs, but then convert them to statblocks to simplify them (so I don’t need to sift through character sheets), but then I get rid of all the frippery and double their HP to up the challenge for them. However, I use XP instead of Milestone so I need to have at least a rough idea of CR to calculate that XP.
Yeah, too many people try to play D&D like an MMO and only focus on themselves and personal DPR. They ignore each other’s turns, don’t coordinate, don’t realize the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts if they actually work together. 🤷♂️ Give ‘em what for!! 🤣 😂 🤣
Full disclosure, I don't have much experience homebrewing monsters. However if you have already planned out their stats and want to know what CR to give them I would suggest looking at the Monster Statistics by Challenge Rating table:
That should give you some idea of what CR would be appropriate.
If you are trying to come up with stats for a monster idea you have then I would look through the monsters that already exist. You might find one that already fits mechanically or needs only a little adjusting. At the very least you can mix and match monster features and traits and then use the table to figure out hit points, to hit modifiers, save DCs, etc.
I have no idea how to make an accurate CR for my homebrew monsters, please help.
Full disclosure, I don't have much experience homebrewing monsters. However if you have already planned out their stats and want to know what CR to give them I would suggest looking at the Monster Statistics by Challenge Rating table:
https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dmg/dungeon-masters-workshop#MonsterStatisticsbyChallengeRating
That should give you some idea of what CR would be appropriate.
If you are trying to come up with stats for a monster idea you have then I would look through the monsters that already exist. You might find one that already fits mechanically or needs only a little adjusting. At the very least you can mix and match monster features and traits and then use the table to figure out hit points, to hit modifiers, save DCs, etc.
Thanks
Also try ******** Cr calculator its also not that accurate but it gets there.
I will echo the advice to go to the DM’s Workshop section of the DMG. It’s not perfect, but it’s helpful. Bottom line, you need to know:
Those👆are the main factors when calculating CR. Other factors are stuff like regeneration over the first three rounds of combat, or to some extent damage immunities if there are a lot of them. But for the most part, if you have the information listed above you can get pretty close to the right CR using the chart in the DM’s Workshop. I use it constantly. After some experience, you’ll be able to refine the CR the rest of the way by going with your gut feelings after you’ve gotten close with the CR calculation chart.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
As IamSposta says there'll be some judgement needed; I've been doing a lot of monster stat blocks recently and they're for a lowish level (3-4) mini-campaign so the balancing is extra tough; according to the table most of them work out somewhere between CR 2 and 3, but a lot of them are closer to CR 3 (if fractions were allowed they'd be CR 2.75 or the like), not helped by a collection of abilities that make it hard to calculate a value.
For example, one is a Tiefling Rogue NPC, but that means she has sneak attack, uncanny dodge and hellish rebuke for a potential single round knockout on a player, though her damage the rest of the time is fairly weak. Due to relatively low HP the table puts her at CR 2, but I'm assuming CR 3 due to the potentially horrendous opening round. She's representing a rival adventurer though, so I can't really nerf her too much, as she should have similar abilities to what a player would.
That said, if these are monsters for a private campaign, the CR rating only needs to be a rough estimate anyway; the DM is free to have a monster pull its punches if it turns out that it's too strong, or you can keep a possible story element in the back pocket just in case, like an NPC coming to help in the fight, or a way to escape etc. In my example, if this Tiefling Rogue deals a lot of opening damage to a player, then I may not have her use her hellish rebuke if they hit her back, but instead save it for later if she's badly wounded, or a player with more health takes a shot at her etc., to try and strike that balance of keeping it dangerous, but also fun.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
When in doubt, round up.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
Well in my case these are NPCs essentially built like level 4 characters, going up against level 4 players so really me setting the CR at all is an example of over-thinking it; they hit hard like players can, but can only take around the same level of punishment. So really the CR doesn't matter much, as they can't do anything players can't, the abilities, spells etc. are the same, just massively simplified or trimmed (so I don't need five full character sheets to run it).
It should be a fair fight regardless of what the correct CR is; a party that works well together should have no trouble against them, but the whole reason I'm including them is because I know my players won't. 😈
They've been too obsessed with personal damage, never buffing each other, only reluctantly healing and so-on, I've given them magic items specifically designed to work together and they still don't do it. I've tried reminding them to work together more too many times already, so I figure if they face a rival adventuring party that does everything they don't then it might help push them to work together more. The rivals won't kill them (well one might try, she's a murderer possessed by a celestial that forces her to do good against her will) but some bloody noses might do the trick. 🤞
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
Then you only need CR for XP calculation purposes, and if you use Milestone not even then. I often start out building NPCs as PCs, but then convert them to statblocks to simplify them (so I don’t need to sift through character sheets), but then I get rid of all the frippery and double their HP to up the challenge for them. However, I use XP instead of Milestone so I need to have at least a rough idea of CR to calculate that XP.
Yeah, too many people try to play D&D like an MMO and only focus on themselves and personal DPR. They ignore each other’s turns, don’t coordinate, don’t realize the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts if they actually work together. 🤷♂️ Give ‘em what for!! 🤣 😂 🤣
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
In addition to the above you can use monster features to modify the CR/AC/AverageHitpoints/AverageDamage found further down here: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dmg/dungeon-masters-workshop#MonsterFeatures