So, I've been making a few monsters, and been attempting to make some good stats to cover them. I was just going over my work, when I looked at a monster that I had copied from a pre-existing entity. Looking at the stats in the Action menu, I was baffled, and now I'm questioning if I've been writing stats right this whole time.
So, I was looking at this action, which I recall comes from a Giant of sorts:
Rock.Ranged Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, range 60/240 ft., one target. Hit: 21 (3d10 + 5) bludgeoning damage.
Now this probably isn't confusing to anyone, but it is to me, because, this is how I write out stats, and what I see when I do it:
Rock.Ranged Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, range 60/240 ft., one target. Hit: 21 (3d10 + 5) bludgeoning damage.
So "+8 to hit," obviously means that this is the damage a person will take after an action! That means that they will lose 8 hit points.
Then, "Hit: 21", that's the number that needs to be reached in order to actually succeed the action! So if the enemy is throwing three dice that makes 30, then rolling 21 and above will make the attack happen!
Oh, and of course, "(3d10 + 5)" is the roll for the action, and then plus five damage on the attack!!- Or wait, maybe that's added proficiency to the roll?
So uh, yeah, that's where I'm hanging. Could someone confirm if I'm either doing this right, or doing it wrong? I don't want to be publishing monsters in the future with dinky stats.
The +8 is the modifier to the roll to hit (d20). The damage lists the average damage and then the actual roll for damage, depending on how your group/dm does it.
I've seen lots of GM's not rolling damage and it seems like a crime against humanity to me, but whatever I guess
The +8 is the modifier to the roll to hit (d20). The damage lists the average damage and then the actual roll for damage, depending on how your group/dm does it.
I've seen lots of GM's not rolling damage and it seems like a crime against humanity to me, but whatever I guess
Ah! So then by that standard you're saying I should look at it like:
Rock.Ranged Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, range 60/240 ft., one target. Hit: 21 (3d10 + 5) bludgeoning damage.
So "+8 to hit," is a modifier, and makes it 8 more points more likely for the target to be hit!
Then, "Hit: 21", that's the damage a person is gonna take.. So when they get hit they'll take 21 damage!
And then "(3d10 + 5)" therefore is the additional damage added to that average! That could mean that 21+(30)+5 = 56 hit points!
So are you saying that the above is the correct manner? Thanks for your input, that totally changes how I'm doing it!
The "21" is an average result based on the 3d10+5. So, a gm can either have the attack deal that static number (21) OR they can roll 3d10+5 to calculate the damage.
Rock.Ranged Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, range 60/240 ft., one target. Hit: 21 (3d10 + 5) bludgeoning damage.
Rock is the name of the attack.
Ranged Weapon Attack: tells you the type of attack (there are four, IIRC, Ranged Weapon, Melee Weapon, Ranged Spell, and Melee Spell)
"+8 to hit" means that when the giant makes this attack, you roll a d20 and add 8 to the result. This is your total attack roll, and you compare this to AC when deciding whether or not an attack hits a target.
"range 60/240 ft" means that the giant can attack a target up to 60 ft away or a target between 60 ft and 240 ft away with disadvantage.
"one target" is pretty self explanatory
"Hit: 21 (3d10 + 5) bludgeoning damage." This describes the effect on a hit. The attack deals 3d10 + 5 bludgeoning damage, but you can choose to take the average of 21 for expedience.
The "21" is an average result based on the 3d10+5. So, a gm can either have the attack deal that static number (21) OR they can roll 3d10+5 to calculate the damage.
Ah, I see. So 21 is a fixed stat, meanwhile the dice roll is dynamic. Thanks for clarifying!
Rock.Ranged Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, range 60/240 ft., one target. Hit: 21 (3d10 + 5) bludgeoning damage.
Rock is the name of the attack.
Ranged Weapon Attack: tells you the type of attack (there are four, IIRC, Ranged Weapon, Melee Weapon, Ranged Spell, and Melee Spell)
"+8 to hit" means that when the giant makes this attack, you roll a d20 and add 8 to the result. This is your total attack roll, and you compare this to AC when deciding whether or not an attack hits a target.
"range 60/240 ft" means that the giant can attack a target up to 60 ft away or a target between 60 ft and 240 ft away with disadvantage.
"one target" is pretty self explanatory
"Hit: 21 (3d10 + 5) bludgeoning damage." This describes the effect on a hit. The attack deals 3d10 + 5 bludgeoning damage, but you can choose to take the average of 21 for expedience.
Although I wasn't looking for the whole hunker down, I appreciate you describing everything for me!
Thanks to all of you for your advice! This really helps! (I have lots of editing to do) I believe my question is answered now, so this should help me going forward. Much appreciated!
Welp, lucky for you, I have absolutely no access to any of those books, and for the past few days I've had the Monster rules open; which to my dismay, did not help me further comprehend how statistics worked. It's fine now, however, as further community explanation has resolved my problem.
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Epik Berm, the amateur Game Master.
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So, I've been making a few monsters, and been attempting to make some good stats to cover them. I was just going over my work, when I looked at a monster that I had copied from a pre-existing entity. Looking at the stats in the Action menu, I was baffled, and now I'm questioning if I've been writing stats right this whole time.
So, I was looking at this action, which I recall comes from a Giant of sorts:
Now this probably isn't confusing to anyone, but it is to me, because, this is how I write out stats, and what I see when I do it:
So uh, yeah, that's where I'm hanging. Could someone confirm if I'm either doing this right, or doing it wrong? I don't want to be publishing monsters in the future with dinky stats.
Ok thanks bye.
Epik Berm, the amateur Game Master.
The +8 is the modifier to the roll to hit (d20). The damage lists the average damage and then the actual roll for damage, depending on how your group/dm does it.
I've seen lots of GM's not rolling damage and it seems like a crime against humanity to me, but whatever I guess
Ah! So then by that standard you're saying I should look at it like:
So are you saying that the above is the correct manner? Thanks for your input, that totally changes how I'm doing it!
Epik Berm, the amateur Game Master.
Close, but 3d10+5 is not additional damage.
The "21" is an average result based on the 3d10+5. So, a gm can either have the attack deal that static number (21) OR they can roll 3d10+5 to calculate the damage.
To summerize what TieflingLew has said:
+8 to attack means you roll 1d20+8 when the monster attacks, and compare the result to the defending creature or objects AC
21 (3d10+5) means you can either cause a flat 21 damage if the attack succeeds, or roll 3d10+5 to determine the damage.
Ah, I see. So 21 is a fixed stat, meanwhile the dice roll is dynamic. Thanks for clarifying!
Ah, I see, so the + adds a bonus to the attack at a static position, whereas the rest is the attack result.
Although I wasn't looking for the whole hunker down, I appreciate you describing everything for me!
Thanks to all of you for your advice! This really helps! (I have lots of editing to do) I believe my question is answered now, so this should help me going forward. Much appreciated!
Epik Berm, the amateur Game Master.
The general rules of "how to attack" is in the PHB (https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/phb/combat#MakinganAttack) with some additional monster specific rules in the MM (https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/mm/introduction#Actions).
And if you have not bought any rulebooks on DDB, these rules are also covered in the free basic rules (https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/phb/combat#MakinganAttack and https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules/monsters#Actions).
Welp, lucky for you, I have absolutely no access to any of those books, and for the past few days I've had the Monster rules open; which to my dismay, did not help me further comprehend how statistics worked. It's fine now, however, as further community explanation has resolved my problem.
Epik Berm, the amateur Game Master.