Based on the description of Multiattack, do they get three attacks if they have both swords drawn? Or does the short sword attack replace one of the longsword attacks?

I've always played them with three attacks if they have both swords drawn - like a fighter with two weapon fighting, they get all of their main hand attacks plus a bonus action offhand attack. Just remember the damage dice are lower if one-handing instead of two-handing.

I would say it can take three attacks (one with the short sword)

Quote from Quipper >>

I like how if a dozen of these guys show up, they're a CR 36 force. :D

That's not how the CR system works at all.

Quote from That_Poptart >>

Quote from Quipper >>

I like how if a dozen of these guys show up, they're a CR 36 force. :D

 

That's not how the CR system works at all.

 True enough. Forgive the foibles of youth.

If Veterans are professional fighters, how do they lack the special features of that class such as Second Wind and Action Surge?

Shouldn't these guys be CR 2? Their HP is CR 1/2, which gets boosted to a defensive CR of 2, because of their high AC. Their DPR gives them a CR 2, and their attack bonus of 5 is close enough to 4 for it not matter. Is it just balancing or what?

Quote from DradonOfWar >>

Shouldn't these guys be CR 2? Their HP is CR 1/2, which gets boosted to a defensive CR of 2, because of their high AC. Their DPR gives them a CR 2, and their attack bonus of 5 is close enough to 4 for it not matter. Is it just balancing or what?

 I’m finding that a lot of things have CR that doesn’t quite match. Frost Giants are listed as CR 8, but taking the rest of the stat block into consideration, they should be 6 or 7.

Quote from That_Poptart >>

Quote from Quipper >>

I like how if a dozen of these guys show up, they're a CR 36 force. :D

 

That's not how the CR system works at all.

 Are we still pretending the CR system "works" at all lol?

Quote from Dalevisor >>

 

 

 

Beyond 20

 

 

 

 

 

Quote from That_Poptart >>

Quote from Quipper >>

I like how if a dozen of these guys show up, they're a CR 36 force. :D

 

That's not how the CR system works at all.

 Are we still pretending the CR system "works" at all lol?

 CR itself is ok, it’s the wider the wider encounter building rules that are a bit iffy, to put it mildly.

 The Vet’s a fairly straightforwards statblock, So CR 3 is pretty representative of its toughness.

Quote from DradonOfWar >>

Shouldn't these guys be CR 2? Their HP is CR 1/2, which gets boosted to a defensive CR of 2, because of their high AC. Their DPR gives them a CR 2, and their attack bonus of 5 is close enough to 4 for it not matter. Is it just balancing or what?

 I'm tempted to agree, this guy isn't much more threatening than a bandit captain, with worse saves across the board, though he IS threatening. Solo against a 4 person level 3 party that wasn't at full strength, had no barbarian, and/or whiffed with some spells, I'd get a little nervous. With a couple lackeys, I'd get scared if luck didn't go our way fast. 
He might go down like a little *****, but then again he might not. At low levels it's usaully better for the monsters to be a little on the weak side than risk being too strong, because of how fast things can slide into tpk territory with just a few key rolls. 

 So I am running the Storm King's Thunder for my group right now and they are seeking to rescue the Duchess of Daggerford at Cromm's Hold in Lizard Marsh. According to the blurb in SKT there are 18 Veterans and a Nobel (the Baroness Cromm) holding the Duchess prisoner. Now my party are 4th level, with 4 player characters. and I was going by the CR 3 and well, let's just say Veterans are a lot tougher than what the CR dictates. With an AC of 17, 58 hit points if you take the base NPC stat and three, count 'em three attacks at +5 to hit, these guys can melt out a lot of damage and are difficult to hurt. Right now my party barely managed to pull their bacon out of the fire with five of the Veterans, and are now playing cat and mouse in the castle with the rest of the garrison. Let's just say they are in a tight spot. So use this "creature" with caution. Their main deficit is their paltry Wisdom, Intelligence and Charisma scores. And that is how my party has managed to stay alive at the moment using skills and spells that attack those stats. 

So lesson here is while CR can be a means to determine scenario balance it is less than perfect. 

Wait. What? 5 CR 3 monsters against a party of 4 4s? Actually, 18 of them? 1 CR 3 monster is stronger than a level 4 character, note the health like a level 9 rogue and 3 attacks. The party was both outnumbered and outmatched. It sounds like that's a scenario that doesn't call for direct combat. 
That's not CR being wrong, you misinterpretted it badly. 2 Veterans is already a "deadly" encounter for 4 level 4s.
CR 3 means individually a threat to a level 3 party of 4. It means almost as strong as a level 5 fighter. 

An army of these guys would be interesting

Quote from Aadrick >>

An army of these guys would be interesting

 

 

Beyond 20

 

 

 

 

 

 Agreed. And deadly. 

Quote from That_Poptart >>

Quote from Quipper >>

I like how if a dozen of these guys show up, they're a CR 36 force. :D

 

That's not how the CR system works at all.

 Correct. The total would be 8,400 XP, which is actually around a CR 9 or CR 10 encounter.

Quote from That_Poptart >>

Quote from Quipper >>

I like how if a dozen of these guys show up, they're a CR 36 force. :D

 

That's not how the CR system works at all.

 Lol! CR system and works in the same sentence.. too funny!

Because 5E is trying to simplify monster stat blocks. In 3E, monsters could have classes, feats, and skills and that meant a wall of text for the DM to read and digest -- remember what class abilities and feats that creature could use in the 2d4 rounds it would live.

4 attacks: 2 with long sword, 1 short sword and if Snarla casts haste 1 extra with either. 

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