I have found many different threads on how to balance homebrew classes and subclasses, but I couldn't really find balancing monsters and items. specifically, I want to know how to scale and determine damage and health. I don't want my monsters to be to weak or to strong, and determining challenge rating is beyond me. so basically, what I want to know, is what player level corresponds with what challenge rating, and how much health and damage should be coupled with each player level (what level the monster is meant to fight). Thanks, and sorry if this is a little confusing.
I've noticed that when I make homebrew monsters its extremely difficult at first, especially when you just want to make a "generic" one that you can plop into any campaign setting. Best example I have is I run a Monday and Friday game, which are close in PC levels. The Monday game is low to the ground, not to many magical items vs the Friday game where is high power, loads of items. When I make a monster for the Friday game and "balance" it for them, I need to be very careful using that same monster for the Monday game because it can be a TPK within a few rounds.
One thing I do (which might sound pretty crappy at first but it does help a narrative focused campaign vs a table top war sim) is I set the HP of a monster to whatever number I feel is good during creation and then during the encounter I adjust it if its necessary. For instance, if this crazy custom flying monstrosity they're fighting in the underdark is about to slong on for 12 rounds I lower its HP pool and make it more dangerous (the glass cannon) or, vice versa, the insane artificer is about to go down in one round and hasn't had a turn, might have a second "phase" where his mechanical components, in his body, keep him alive to activate his death ray. You don't want to abuse this cheat code to much because the players will notice, but it does help. Go with your gut on it. Sometimes it makes sense that the party KOs the dragon in one round after solid planning, 3/5 players roll a nat20, and the paladin dumps his level 3 slot for a smite. Other times, the campaign has been ramping up for 14 sessions building to this fight with a necromancer and he rolls a nat1 for initiative, so he's about to get smoooooked, which wouldn't be narratively satisfying. I ramble a bit but its the best way I could explain lol. As long as you and your players are having fun, you're doing a great job!
Edit: forgot to mention that if you set something to to hard or to easy, you can always change it mid fight. Maybe the demon has an ability that when its at half HP it rampages, which lowers its AC by 2 but increases its damage by 2d6. As long as such changes make narrative sense, your players will think that it was your plan all along. You don't know how many times a friend said to me "dude that (insert monster here) was so weird I didn't expect it to change its damage type halfway through combat" but in reality I forgot what damage type it did and misspoke so I went with it lol.
what player level corresponds with what challenge rating
This is talked about in the DMG. It depends on the size of the party.
how much health and damage should be coupled with each player level (what level the monster is meant to fight)
This is basically what CR was created for. It is not super accurate, but its a good place to start.
I would consult the DMG to see what CRs your party should fight, then find a few monsters with that CR and see which one would be the best template for your own creation. Use its stats and change it up however you like.
Then the important part - run it in a game. It will probably be too easy. Think on what would have helped - maybe more HP or higher AC, some kind of Reaction, etc. Then incorporate those adjustments into your next creation. Rinse and repeat.
This has only ever worked for me because I get a feel for what my party can handle and keep pushing that line. My creations might not work so well for you, and vice versa, but that's the nice thing about homebrew - you can tailor it to your particular party and situation.
If somebody knows of a way to do so without making a new account, I'd be happy to share my spreadsheet. I created this spreadsheet that allows me to plug in monster stats and calculates the CR based on the DMG guidelines. It requires a little iteration, but is otherwise pretty useful.
I have found many different threads on how to balance homebrew classes and subclasses, but I couldn't really find balancing monsters and items. specifically, I want to know how to scale and determine damage and health. I don't want my monsters to be to weak or to strong, and determining challenge rating is beyond me. so basically, what I want to know, is what player level corresponds with what challenge rating, and how much health and damage should be coupled with each player level (what level the monster is meant to fight). Thanks, and sorry if this is a little confusing.
I've noticed that when I make homebrew monsters its extremely difficult at first, especially when you just want to make a "generic" one that you can plop into any campaign setting. Best example I have is I run a Monday and Friday game, which are close in PC levels. The Monday game is low to the ground, not to many magical items vs the Friday game where is high power, loads of items. When I make a monster for the Friday game and "balance" it for them, I need to be very careful using that same monster for the Monday game because it can be a TPK within a few rounds.
One thing I do (which might sound pretty crappy at first but it does help a narrative focused campaign vs a table top war sim) is I set the HP of a monster to whatever number I feel is good during creation and then during the encounter I adjust it if its necessary. For instance, if this crazy custom flying monstrosity they're fighting in the underdark is about to slong on for 12 rounds I lower its HP pool and make it more dangerous (the glass cannon) or, vice versa, the insane artificer is about to go down in one round and hasn't had a turn, might have a second "phase" where his mechanical components, in his body, keep him alive to activate his death ray. You don't want to abuse this cheat code to much because the players will notice, but it does help. Go with your gut on it. Sometimes it makes sense that the party KOs the dragon in one round after solid planning, 3/5 players roll a nat20, and the paladin dumps his level 3 slot for a smite. Other times, the campaign has been ramping up for 14 sessions building to this fight with a necromancer and he rolls a nat1 for initiative, so he's about to get smoooooked, which wouldn't be narratively satisfying. I ramble a bit but its the best way I could explain lol. As long as you and your players are having fun, you're doing a great job!
Edit: forgot to mention that if you set something to to hard or to easy, you can always change it mid fight. Maybe the demon has an ability that when its at half HP it rampages, which lowers its AC by 2 but increases its damage by 2d6. As long as such changes make narrative sense, your players will think that it was your plan all along. You don't know how many times a friend said to me "dude that (insert monster here) was so weird I didn't expect it to change its damage type halfway through combat" but in reality I forgot what damage type it did and misspoke so I went with it lol.
Thanks, this does help a lot!
There is a whole portion in the DM’s Workshop section of the DMG specifically dedicated to instruct DMs on how to balance monsters: (https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dmg/dungeon-masters-workshop#CreatingaMonster). There’s another portion of the Workshop dedicated to magic items as well: (https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dmg/dungeon-masters-workshop#CreatingaMagicItem).
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This is talked about in the DMG. It depends on the size of the party.
This is basically what CR was created for. It is not super accurate, but its a good place to start.
I would consult the DMG to see what CRs your party should fight, then find a few monsters with that CR and see which one would be the best template for your own creation. Use its stats and change it up however you like.
Then the important part - run it in a game. It will probably be too easy. Think on what would have helped - maybe more HP or higher AC, some kind of Reaction, etc. Then incorporate those adjustments into your next creation. Rinse and repeat.
This has only ever worked for me because I get a feel for what my party can handle and keep pushing that line. My creations might not work so well for you, and vice versa, but that's the nice thing about homebrew - you can tailor it to your particular party and situation.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
If somebody knows of a way to do so without making a new account, I'd be happy to share my spreadsheet. I created this spreadsheet that allows me to plug in monster stats and calculates the CR based on the DMG guidelines. It requires a little iteration, but is otherwise pretty useful.
Is this one a google sheets perhaps? I'd love to check that out.