So my homebrew content got published this morning and I was looking to get feedback on it and see if anybody thought any tweaks should be made. The homebrew was for a Vampire Guard (https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/36566-vampire-guard). My players would be in a city ruled by vampires (unbeknownst to the citizens). The purpose of the Vampire guard was 1. to make a weaker vampire to allow multiple vampires to be fought at the same time and 2. to make a somewhat plausible case for the vampires to be able to go into sunlight (armor of resistance for the guards, rings of resistance for the nobles). The justification for the lower HP is that because of their prolonged exposure to the sun, they are experiencing some impact on their health. The extremely low CR is justified (in my opinion) by the fact that they will automatically lose 20 of their 29 HP if their armor is removed and they end their turn in sunlight (which is likely since they are going to be present in the daytime).
It appears that your vampire guard is just a slightly weakened version of the vampire spawn. While I would admit the vampire spawn is a weak CR 5 I don't think you did near enough to weaken it to a CR 1/2.
You might take a moment to compare your vampire guard against another CR 1/2 monster like the gnoll. In comparison your vampire guard is pretty tough and I don't see how your gifting the vampire guard a magic item which negates one of the vampire's weaknesses makes them weaker rather than tougher. Are the players supposed to have some way to 'knock off' half plate in the middle of combat?
I recommend you review CR calculation in the DMG on pg 274. You can also google a couple of online tools to help you with some of the math. Here is one I found which calculates your vampire guard as a CR 2 http://1-dot-encounter-planner.appspot.com/quick-monster-stats.html and I think that is low. I would put your vampire guard as a solid CR 3 bordering on 4 due to all the vampire special abilities.
I have two suggestions for you.
First, you should consider just making a lesser vampire servant (like a familiar from the Blade movies or a ghoul from Vampire the Masquerade) for your PC's to fight in droves. Save yourself some work and just 're-skin' something like a gnoll or whatever favorite CR 1/2 monster you find.
Second, you could adjust your vampire guard's to hit, damage, and special abilities to be more inline with a CR 1/2. Attack bonus should be +3 or +4 (which means the str/dex should be 12 or 14), take away multi-attack and/or reduce the claw/bite damage some. I would also take away the vampire regeneration or drastically reduce it.
It appears that your vampire guard is just a slightly weakened version of the vampire spawn. While I would admit the vampire spawn is a weak CR 5 I don't think you did near enough to weaken it to a CR 1/2.
You might take a moment to compare your vampire guard against another CR 1/2 monster like the gnoll. In comparison your vampire guard is pretty tough and I don't see how your gifting the vampire guard a magic item which negates one of the vampire's weaknesses makes them weaker rather than tougher. Are the players supposed to have some way to 'knock off' half plate in the middle of combat?
I recommend you review CR calculation in the DMG on pg 274. You can also google a couple of online tools to help you with some of the math. Here is one I found which calculates your vampire guard as a CR 2 http://1-dot-encounter-planner.appspot.com/quick-monster-stats.html and I think that is low. I would put your vampire guard as a solid CR 3 bordering on 4 due to all the vampire special abilities.
I have two suggestions for you.
First, you should consider just making a lesser vampire servant (like a familiar from the Blade movies or a ghoul from Vampire the Masquerade) for your PC's to fight in droves. Save yourself some work and just 're-skin' something like a gnoll or whatever favorite CR 1/2 monster you find.
Second, you could adjust your vampire guard's to hit, damage, and special abilities to be more inline with a CR 1/2. Attack bonus should be +3 or +4 (which means the str/dex should be 12 or 14), take away multi-attack and/or reduce the claw/bite damage some. I would also take away the vampire regeneration or drastically reduce it.
Hope all this helps
Thanks for the suggestions! Didn't think to look for a CR calculator when I created it. I think I'll probably take at least some of your suggestions from the second option. I want them to be fighting a large number (at least 12) so I wanted to keep CR low, but I do agree that I didn't weaken it enough in terms of attacks. I think the lower HP and the potential of the armor being removed and them losing 20 helps to lower it some, but like you said, not enough. I'll probably try to update this later today
It has 160 effective HP if you account for Regeneration, all those resistances, and the ability to heal itself with its bite. AC 15 puts it at defensive CR 6.
If it uses its most effective attack pattern, its average damage per round, over the standard three rounds, is 19, at +6 to hit, for offensive CR 3.
Luke, I would listen to Matthias for he is wise. :)
I am actually curious about your need to have a ton of scrub CR 1/2 vampires for your PC's to fight. Could you elaborate on how you plan on using them in your game?
To my mind, when I hear about a city secretly ruled by a cabal of vampires as a campaign, I immediately think the PC's job will be to find out about the vampires (most NPC's will either scoff at the notion or be too terrified to do anything) and start picking away at their power from the bottom up. So at low levels the PC's would fight underlings who support the vampires such as human traffickers and the like. Then they might work their way up to a few vampire spawn which will bring the attention of some of the actual full vampires who send a few more powerful henchman the PC's way. The PC's would then match up with the full vampires and ultimately free the city.
Thing is I am not seeing fights with large groups of vampires in my personal vision. If you really want that you could just wait until the PC's are around 8th or 9th level and send a handful of vampire spawn at them then.
So, yeah, I am curious about what you are planning here. Maybe we can help with your campaign idea as well as your vampire guard? Perhaps a different CR would be more appropriate to what you have in mind?
It has 160 effective HP if you account for Regeneration, all those resistances, and the ability to heal itself with its bite. AC 15 puts it at defensive CR 6.
If it uses its most effective attack pattern, its average damage per round, over the standard three rounds, is 19, at +6 to hit, for offensive CR 3.
Because you round CR up, it's still CR 5.
Now, I should probably mention that the above calculation uses the x2 multiplier for resistances for CR 1-4 monsters, and that the x1.5 multiplier for CR 5-10 monsters would put it at CR 4. I chose to use the higher multiplier for several reasons. First, it has a lot of resistances, including the damage type most vampires are vulnerable to (radiant), and no vulnerabilities. Second, it has pretty good saving throws, including proficiency in two of the three common saving throws. Third, it's only just barely CR 5.
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"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
So my homebrew content got published this morning and I was looking to get feedback on it and see if anybody thought any tweaks should be made. The homebrew was for a Vampire Guard (https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/36566-vampire-guard). My players would be in a city ruled by vampires (unbeknownst to the citizens). The purpose of the Vampire guard was 1. to make a weaker vampire to allow multiple vampires to be fought at the same time and 2. to make a somewhat plausible case for the vampires to be able to go into sunlight (armor of resistance for the guards, rings of resistance for the nobles). The justification for the lower HP is that because of their prolonged exposure to the sun, they are experiencing some impact on their health. The extremely low CR is justified (in my opinion) by the fact that they will automatically lose 20 of their 29 HP if their armor is removed and they end their turn in sunlight (which is likely since they are going to be present in the daytime).
Thanks for any help/tips!
It appears that your vampire guard is just a slightly weakened version of the vampire spawn. While I would admit the vampire spawn is a weak CR 5 I don't think you did near enough to weaken it to a CR 1/2.
You might take a moment to compare your vampire guard against another CR 1/2 monster like the gnoll. In comparison your vampire guard is pretty tough and I don't see how your gifting the vampire guard a magic item which negates one of the vampire's weaknesses makes them weaker rather than tougher. Are the players supposed to have some way to 'knock off' half plate in the middle of combat?
I recommend you review CR calculation in the DMG on pg 274. You can also google a couple of online tools to help you with some of the math. Here is one I found which calculates your vampire guard as a CR 2 http://1-dot-encounter-planner.appspot.com/quick-monster-stats.html and I think that is low. I would put your vampire guard as a solid CR 3 bordering on 4 due to all the vampire special abilities.
I have two suggestions for you.
First, you should consider just making a lesser vampire servant (like a familiar from the Blade movies or a ghoul from Vampire the Masquerade) for your PC's to fight in droves. Save yourself some work and just 're-skin' something like a gnoll or whatever favorite CR 1/2 monster you find.
Second, you could adjust your vampire guard's to hit, damage, and special abilities to be more inline with a CR 1/2. Attack bonus should be +3 or +4 (which means the str/dex should be 12 or 14), take away multi-attack and/or reduce the claw/bite damage some. I would also take away the vampire regeneration or drastically reduce it.
Hope all this helps
Current Characters I am playing: Dr Konstantin van Wulf | Taegen Willowrun | Mad Magnar
Check out my homebrew: Items | Monsters | Spells | Subclasses | Feats
It has 160 effective HP if you account for Regeneration, all those resistances, and the ability to heal itself with its bite. AC 15 puts it at defensive CR 6.
If it uses its most effective attack pattern, its average damage per round, over the standard three rounds, is 19, at +6 to hit, for offensive CR 3.
Because you round CR up, it's still CR 5.
If you want a low-CR vampire, here's mine.
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
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Luke, I would listen to Matthias for he is wise. :)
I am actually curious about your need to have a ton of scrub CR 1/2 vampires for your PC's to fight. Could you elaborate on how you plan on using them in your game?
To my mind, when I hear about a city secretly ruled by a cabal of vampires as a campaign, I immediately think the PC's job will be to find out about the vampires (most NPC's will either scoff at the notion or be too terrified to do anything) and start picking away at their power from the bottom up. So at low levels the PC's would fight underlings who support the vampires such as human traffickers and the like. Then they might work their way up to a few vampire spawn which will bring the attention of some of the actual full vampires who send a few more powerful henchman the PC's way. The PC's would then match up with the full vampires and ultimately free the city.
Thing is I am not seeing fights with large groups of vampires in my personal vision. If you really want that you could just wait until the PC's are around 8th or 9th level and send a handful of vampire spawn at them then.
So, yeah, I am curious about what you are planning here. Maybe we can help with your campaign idea as well as your vampire guard? Perhaps a different CR would be more appropriate to what you have in mind?
Current Characters I am playing: Dr Konstantin van Wulf | Taegen Willowrun | Mad Magnar
Check out my homebrew: Items | Monsters | Spells | Subclasses | Feats
If all else fails, you could use stirges, I suppose.
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
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"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Tooltips (Help/aid)