Hello, a friend has told me that the reduced threat monsters on D&D beyond are unofficial, and aren't contained in the actual book. Is this true? If so, what a real stat blocks?
Hello, a friend has told me that the reduced threat monsters on D&D beyond are unofficial, and aren't contained in the actual book. Is this true? If so, what a real stat blocks?
They are official, sort of. They are a template printed in and applied to some monsters in Tales from the Yawning Portal (chapter 5, dead in thay).
They are a bit of an odd case, altered specifically for this adventure.
Reduced-Threat Monsters
A reduced-threat monster uses a normal monster’s statistics, but it has half the normal hit point maximum and takes a −2 penalty on attack rolls, ability checks, saving throws, and saving throw DCs.
A reduced threat creature that is based on a creature bigger than Large is instead Large. Some specific reduced-threat creatures also make changes to the abilities they can use. A reduced-threat creature is worth half the normal XP earned for defeating it.
The stat blocks you can find on DDB apply the changes to the normal stat block so you don't have to do it yourself. We call these "variant monsters".
Thanks! I will assume these don't work with summoning?
Variants aren't considered a general member of their species, but the rules for summoning rarely (if ever) say they have to be a general member of their species, and most of the reduced threat monsters are such because they are in cages and malnourished, weakened, and/or injured.
The Reduced threat monster template is awesome. I also use the opposite of “increased threat monsters” by increased bonuses by +2 and maxing out health. Sometimes I make the change mid battle with a bit of narrative to let the players know a creature is stronger or weaker due to some effect.
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Hello, a friend has told me that the reduced threat monsters on D&D beyond are unofficial, and aren't contained in the actual book. Is this true? If so, what a real stat blocks?
They are official, sort of. They are a template printed in and applied to some monsters in Tales from the Yawning Portal (chapter 5, dead in thay).
They are a bit of an odd case, altered specifically for this adventure.
The stat blocks you can find on DDB apply the changes to the normal stat block so you don't have to do it yourself. We call these "variant monsters".
Thanks! I will assume these don't work with summoning?
Variants aren't considered a general member of their species, but the rules for summoning rarely (if ever) say they have to be a general member of their species, and most of the reduced threat monsters are such because they are in cages and malnourished, weakened, and/or injured.
Ultimately up to your DM, but probably not.
The Reduced threat monster template is awesome. I also use the opposite of “increased threat monsters” by increased bonuses by +2 and maxing out health. Sometimes I make the change mid battle with a bit of narrative to let the players know a creature is stronger or weaker due to some effect.