Friday, August 15, 2014

Further Adventures in Power Sorting 5e Creatures

Okay, so I added to the Basic DMG monster list with the monsters in the pdf appendix to Hoard of the Dragon Queen.  That should be all of the official D&D 5e monsters that are currently available for free.  There are, I think, a couple of creatures in the back of the printed HDQ book and there is the Starter Set - but I'm only including free stuff.  I'm not including the D&D Next monsters because I think that all of those were beta and not relevant anymore.  Besides, I'm emotionally done with this project now. :)

Below is an alphabetized list that you can copy into an excel sheet and sort however you wish.  Note that the BDMG has two sections - one for monsters and one for NPCs, so don't get lost.  Enjoy. :)

Creature Challenge XP BDMG HDQ
Acolyte 1/4 50 Yes Yes
Adult Blue Dragon 16 15,000 Yes
Adult Red Dragon 17 18,000 Yes
Adult White Dragon 13 10,000 Yes
Air Elemental 5 1,800 Yes Yes
Allosaurus 2 450 Yes
Animated Armor 1 200 Yes
Ankylosaurus 3 700 Yes
Ape 1/2 100 Yes
Assassin 8 3,900 Yes
Awakened Shrub 0 10 Yes
Awakened Tree 2 450 Yes
Axe Beak 1/4 50 Yes
Baboon 0 10 Yes
Badger 0 10 Yes
Bandit 1/8 25 Yes Yes
Banshee 4 1,100 Yes
Basilisk 3 700 Yes
Bat 0 10 Yes
Berserker 2 450 Yes Yes
Black Bear 1/2 100 Yes
Blink Dog 1/4 50 Yes
Blood Hawk 1/8 25 Yes
Boar 1/4 50 Yes
Brown Bear 1 200 Yes
Bugbear 1 200 Yes
Bullywug 1/4 50 Yes
Camel 1/8 25 Yes
Cat 0 10 Yes
Centaur 2 450 Yes
Chimera 6 2,300 Yes
Cockatrice 1/2 100 Yes
Commoner 0 10 Yes Yes
Constrictor Snake 1/4 50 Yes
Crab 0 10 Yes
Crocodile 1/2 100 Yes Yes
Cultist 1/8 25 Yes Yes
Cyclops 6 2,300 Yes
Death Dog 1 200 Yes
Deer 0 10 Yes Yes
Dire Wolf 1 200 Yes
Doppelganger 3 700 Yes
Draft Horse 1/4 50 Yes
Eagle 0 10 Yes
Earth Elemental 5 1,800 Yes
Elephant 4 1,100 Yes
Elk 1/4 50 Yes Yes
Ettercap 2 450 Yes
Fire Elemental 5 1,800 Yes
Fire Giant 9 5,000 Yes
Flameskull 4 1,100 Yes
Flesh Golem 5 1,800 Yes
Flying Snake 1/8 25 Yes
Flying Sword 1/4 50 Yes
Frog 0 0 Yes
Frost Giant 8 3,900 Yes
Gargoyle 2 450 Yes Yes
Ghost 4 1,100 Yes
Ghoul 1 200 Yes
Giant Ape 7 2,900 Yes
Giant Badger 1/4 50 Yes
Giant Bat 1/4 50 Yes
Giant Boar 2 450 Yes
Giant Centipede 1/4 50 Yes Yes
Giant Constrictor Snake 2 450 Yes
Giant Crab 1/8 25 Yes
Giant Crocodile 5 1,800 Yes
Giant Eagle 1 200 Yes
Giant Elk 2 450 Yes
Giant Fire Beetle 0 10 Yes
Giant Frog 1/4 50 Yes Yes
Giant Goat 1/2 100 Yes
Giant Hyena 1 200 Yes
Giant Lizard 1/4 50 Yes Yes
Giant Octopus 1 200 Yes
Giant Owl 1/4 50 Yes
Giant Poisonous Snake 1/4 50 Yes
Giant Rat 1/8 25 Yes
Giant Scorpion 3 700 Yes
Giant Sea Horse 1/2 100 Yes
Giant Shark 5 1,800 Yes
Giant Spider 1 200 Yes Yes
Giant Toad 1 200 Yes
Giant Vulture 1 200 Yes
Giant Wasp 1/2 100 Yes
Giant Weasel 1/8 25 Yes
Giant Wolf Spider 1/4 50 Yes
Gnoll 1/2 100 Yes
Goat 0 10 Yes
Goblin 1/4 50 Yes
Gray Ooze 1/2 100 Yes
Grick 2 450 Yes
Griffon 2 450 Yes Yes
Guard 1/8 25 Yes Yes
Harpy 1 200 Yes
Hawk 0 10 Yes
Hell Hound 3 700 Yes
Helmed Horror 4 1,100 Yes
Hill Giant 5 1,800 Yes
Hippogriff 1 200 Yes
Hobgoblin 1/2 100 Yes Yes
Hobgoblin Captain 3 700 Yes
Hunter Shark 2 450 Yes
Hydra 8 3,900 Yes
Hyena 0 10 Yes
Jackal 0 10 Yes
Killer Whale 3 700 Yes
Knight 3 700 Yes Yes
Kobold 1/8 25 Yes Yes
Lion 1 200 Yes
Lizard 0 10 Yes
Lizardfolk 1/2 100 Yes Yes
Mage 6 2,300 Yes Yes
Mammoth 6 2,300 Yes
Manticore 3 700 Yes
Mastiff 1/8 25 Yes
Medusa 6 2,300 Yes
Merfolk 1/8 25 Yes
Minotaur 3 700 Yes
Mule 1/8 25 Yes
Mummy 3 700 Yes
Noble 1/8 25 Yes
Nothic 2 450 Yes
Ochre Jelly 2 450 Yes
Octopus 0 10 Yes
Ogre 2 450 Yes Yes
Orc 1/2 100 Yes Yes
Otyugh 5 1,800 Yes
Owl 0 10 Yes
Owlbear 3 700 Yes
Panther 1/4 50 Yes
Pegasus 2 450 Yes
Peryton 2 450 Yes
Phase Spider 3 700 Yes
Plesiosaurus 2 450 Yes
Poisonous Snake 1/8 25 Yes
Polar Bear 2 450 Yes
Pony 1/8 25 Yes
Priest 2 450 Yes Yes
Pteranodon 1/4 50 Yes
Quipper 0 10 Yes
Rat 0 10 Yes
Raven 0 10 Yes
Reef Shark 1/2 100 Yes
Rhinoceros 2 450 Yes
Riding Horse 1/4 50 Yes
Roper 5 1,800 Yes
Rug of Smothering 2 450 Yes
Saber-Toothed Tiger 2 450 Yes
Satyr 1/2 100 Yes
Scorpion 0 10 Yes
Scout 1/2 100 Yes
Sea Horse 0 0 Yes
Shambling Mound 5 1,800 Yes
Skeleton 1/4 50 Yes
Spectator 3 700 Yes
Specter 1 200 Yes
Spider 0 10 Yes
Spy 1 200 Yes
Stirge 1/8 25 Yes Yes
Stone Giant 7 2,900 Yes
Stone Golem 10 5,900 Yes Yes
Swarm of Bats 1/4 50 Yes
Swarm of Insects 1/2 100 Yes Yes
Swarm of Poisonous Snakes 2 450 Yes
Swarm of Quippers 1 200 Yes
Swarm of Rats 1/4 50 Yes Yes
Swarm of Ravens 1/4 50 Yes
Thug 1/2 100 Yes
Tiger 1 200 Yes
Triceratops 5 1,800 Yes
Troglodyte 1/4 50 Yes
Troll 5 1,800 Yes Yes
Twig Blight 1/8 25 Yes
Tyrannosaurus Rex 8 3,900 Yes
Vampire 13 10,000 Yes
Vampire Spawn 5 1,800 Yes
Veteran 3 700 Yes
Violet Fungus 1/4 50 Yes
Vulture 0 10 Yes
Warhorse 1/2 100 Yes
Water Elemental 5 1,800 Yes
Weasel 0 10 Yes
Werewolf 3 700 Yes
Wight 3 700 Yes
Will-o'-Wisp 2 450 Yes
Winged Kobold 1/4 50 Yes
Winter Wolf 3 700 Yes
Wolf 1/4 50 Yes
Worg 1/2 100 Yes
Wyvern 6 2,300 Yes Yes
Yeti 3 700 Yes
Young Green Dragon 8 3,900 Yes
Yuan-Ti Malison 3 700 Yes
Yuan-Ti Pureblood 1 200 Yes
Zombie 1/4 50 Yes

- Ark

Father and Son That Moved Too Much


Thursday, August 14, 2014

Power Sorting 5e Creatures

The new 5e Basic DMG has some guidelines for developing combat encounters, relying on XP and Challenge values.  It's pretty nifty, but it does rely on a DM knowing what the hell is available to build an encounter with.  I'm stocking some dungeons, so I whipped up a list of the Basic DMG creatures in excel that I could sort and order the way I wanted.

An ascending list of Challenge and XP levels seemed to be the most helpful to me - so I figured it might be helpful to others.  I imagine some of the rating will change in the future, monsters will be added, etc, but for right at this moment, it does it's purpose.  Enjoy. (All stuff property of WOTC. Etc Etc.)



Challenge XP Creature
0 0 Frog
0 0 Sea Horse
0 10 Awakened Shrub
0 10 Baboon
0 10 Badger
0 10 Bat
0 10 Cat
0 10 Commoner
0 10 Crab
0 10 Deer
0 10 Eagle
0 10 Giant Fire Beetle
0 10 Goat
0 10 Hawk
0 10 Hyena
0 10 Jackal
0 10 Lizard
0 10 Octopus
0 10 Owl
0 10 Quipper
0 10 Rat
0 10 Raven
0 10 Scorpion
0 10 Spider
0 10 Vulture
0 10 Weasel
1/8 25 Bandit
1/8 25 Blood Hawk
1/8 25 Camel
1/8 25 Cultist
1/8 25 Flying Snake
1/8 25 Giant Crab
1/8 25 Giant Rat
1/8 25 Giant Weasel
1/8 25 Guard
1/8 25 Kobold
1/8 25 Mastiff
1/8 25 Merfolk
1/8 25 Mule
1/8 25 Poisonous Snake
1/8 25 Pony
1/8 25 Stirge
1/8 25 Twig Blight
1/4 50 Acolyte
1/4 50 Axe Beak
1/4 50 Blink Dog
1/4 50 Boar
1/4 50 Constrictor Snake
1/4 50 Draft Horse
1/4 50 Elk
1/4 50 Flying Sword
1/4 50 Giant Badger
1/4 50 Giant Bat
1/4 50 Giant Centipede
1/4 50 Giant Frog
1/4 50 Giant Lizard
1/4 50 Giant Owl
1/4 50 Giant Poisonous Snake
1/4 50 Giant Wolf Spider
1/4 50 Goblin
1/4 50 Panther
1/4 50 Pteranodon
1/4 50 Riding Horse
1/4 50 Skeleton
1/4 50 Swarm of Bats
1/4 50 Swarm of Rats
1/4 50 Swarm of Ravens
1/4 50 Wolf
1/4 50 Zombie
1/2 100 Ape
1/2 100 Black Bear
1/2 100 Cockatrice
1/2 100 Crocodile
1/2 100 Giant Goat
1/2 100 Giant Sea Horse
1/2 100 Giant Wasp
1/2 100 Gnoll
1/2 100 Hobgoblin
1/2 100 Lizardfolk
1/2 100 Orc
1/2 100 Reef Shark
1/2 100 Satyr
1/2 100 Swarm of Insects
1/2 100 Thug
1/2 100 Warhorse
1/2 100 Worg
1 200 Animated Armor
1 200 Brown Bear
1 200 Bugbear
1 200 Death Dog
1 200 Dire Wolf
1 200 Ghoul
1 200 Giant Eagle
1 200 Giant Hyena
1 200 Giant Octopus
1 200 Giant Spider
1 200 Giant Toad
1 200 Giant Vulture
1 200 Harpy
1 200 Hippogriff
1 200 Lion
1 200 Swarm of Quippers
1 200 Tiger
2 450 Allosaurus
2 450 Awakened Tree
2 450 Berserker
2 450 Centaur
2 450 Gargoyle
2 450 Giant Boar
2 450 Giant Constrictor Snake
2 450 Giant Elk
2 450 Grick
2 450 Griffon
2 450 Hunter Shark
2 450 Nothic
2 450 Ochre Jelly
2 450 Ogre
2 450 Pegasus
2 450 Plesiosaurus
2 450 Polar Bear
2 450 Priest
2 450 Rhinoceros
2 450 Saber-Toothed Tiger
2 450 Swarm of Poisonous Snakes
3 700 Ankylosaurus
3 700 Basilisk
3 700 Doppelganger
3 700 Giant Scorpion
3 700 Hell Hound
3 700 Killer Whale
3 700 Knight
3 700 Manticore
3 700 Minotaur
3 700 Mummy
3 700 Owlbear
3 700 Phase Spider
3 700 Spectator
3 700 Werewolf
3 700 Wight
3 700 Winter Wolf
3 700 Yeti
4 1,100 Banshee
4 1,100 Elephant
4 1,100 Flameskull
4 1,100 Ghost
5 1,800 Air Elemental
5 1,800 Earth Elemental
5 1,800 Fire Elemental
5 1,800 Flesh Golem
5 1,800 Giant Crocodile
5 1,800 Giant Shark
5 1,800 Hill Giant
5 1,800 Triceratops
5 1,800 Troll
5 1,800 Water Elemental
6 2,300 Chimera
6 2,300 Cyclops
6 2,300 Mage
6 2,300 Mammoth
6 2,300 Medusa
6 2,300 Wyvern
7 2,900 Giant Ape
8 3,900 Frost Giant
8 3,900 Hydra
8 3,900 Tyrannosaurus Rex
8 3,900 Young Green Dragon
9 5,000 Fire Giant
10 5,900 Stone Golem
17 18,000 Adult Red Dragon

- Ark

Coffee Shop Saturday


Tuesday, August 12, 2014

What Changed from DND 5.0 Basic 0.1 to 0.2?

Like I said in my last post, WOTC published the second version of their Basic Player's Rules.  I was happy, but then got grumpy as I had already printed out the 0.1 version and didn't want to burn a lot of ink reprinting the whole thing.

Soo, being a COMPUTER NERD, I ran both files through a program that detects differences in text and figured out what was different, and what I'd need to print out.

The credits changed - they added some.  I didn't see them taking away anybody, so that was GOOD.

There were quite a bit of reordering of things in the character creation and equipment sections - but I couldn't see any changes to the actual text, really.  

They did add the Noble background.

They clarified that the HD gained from a long rest, after division, should be rounded UP.

There were, um, lots of spells added.

And there were two appendices added.  The Gods of the Multiverse added the Forgotten Realms Gods, and there was a section on the five factions which play heavily into the Tyranny of Dragons campaign thing that's going.

So, some cool stuff added.  Not much changed, actually.  So here is a list of pages I am going to print and add to my Basic printout:

Pages 1, 40, 107-111.  To do the spells you'd have to print the whole spell section over again.  My son has the PHB, so I'll just look over his shoulder for spells. :)

So that's not bad - just 7 or so pages to print out.  Well, except for the new Basic DMG.  That's 60 more pages to print.  Whew!

- Ark

Holy Crap, WOTC, WTF?

I'm still trying to figure out what this all means, but WOTC just dropped pdfs of the . . .

get this . . .

PLAYER’S D&D BASIC RULES V2
which I think is the thing that was previously released as just the 'basic rules' with MORE STUFF,

and then

DUNGEON MASTER'S D&D BASIC RULES V1
which is like 60+ pages of monsters and magic items and who know exactly what else.

My brain is sputtering.  Too . . . much . . . candy.  WOTC is going to make me diabetic . . .

ARGH!

- Ark


Thick


Sunday, August 10, 2014

Face Place


Actual 5e PHB Play is Actual

Our regular DM is out of town this weekend.  (Can you believe it?  The weekend of the 5e PHB drop?  Ermahgerd!)  I was chomping at the bit yesterday, so me, my son, and a Kaye got together and played using the PHB.

I whipped up an adventure using some of the monsters out of the back of the PHB - and one from the monster supplement pdf from Horde of the Dragon Queen from WOTC.  It was a seemingly simple adventure - the players were on a small boat going to Waterdeep when they found a large, empty, and damaged ship stuck on a coral reef out in the middle of nowhere.  Yay floating dungeon!

We all had read chunks of the PHB - at least the bits we were each interested in.  I swear, if there is one words that exemplifies the 5e PHB it is OPTIONS.  I thing there are about five splatbooks worth of spat in the 300+ page book, as well as an entire game.  It's like a candy store.  There are jaw dropping things all around.  I have no idea how broken any of it is - but it's hard to think that the half-orc racial attributes have anything to do with balance.  Well, maybe that is the point.  Fuck balance. Half-orcs should scare the living crap out of you.

I just don't know.  It's hard to imagine what the ramifications of all of these features are until seeming them is an actual game.

Kaye made a Dragonborn Barbarian Sailor (Pirate Variant) named Blackscale.  Okay, it sounded really stupid to me too.  But . . . it worked very well.  Imagine Jack Sparrow with the face of a dragon.  Kind of makes sense it a twisted way - eh?

Kenny built a Halfling Bard with an Entertainer background named Otter.  I allowed him an ocarina for an instrument, despite it not being on the list.  He rolled a pipe that blew bubbles for his trinket.  That was really perfect.

Even being new to this ruleset, the character creation itself didn't take too long.  Maybe an hour for both - which primarily came from having to go through all of the choices.

A new group should use the basic rules or pre-builts like in the starter set.  I would definitely call the new PHB ADVANCED DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS.  Wow.  Lots of things to sort though if you don't want any of the easy options.

So, Otter and Blackscale began a salvage operation on the disabled ship, quickly coming to the conclusion that blue and green dragons had double-teamed the vessel, knocking out the rigging and gassing the elven crew to death, then leaving the ship afloat.

It didn't take them too long to find another salvage team - a 5th level evil high priest, his pirate buddies, and a zombie army - boarding the ship on the other side.  Ooops!

Actually, I designed the adventure with a DCC style funnel in mind, with both of them playing two characters apiece and throwing enough firepower at them to kill half the party.  But they only got two characters created - so me, being a dick - I didn't scale back any.  I figured that rolling back the power level was just plain lame, so I through the whole thing at them for fun.  And SCIENCE!

It's funny how plans dissolve quickly when exposed to air . . .

In the middle of combat with zombies, Blackscale hurls a bench at a second wave of undead as they are crawling up over the side of the ship, knocking them down.  The bench fell down too, hitting the evil high priest's rowboat square in the middle and knocking a hole in it.  As the evil high priest is flailing about in the sinking boat, Otter casts Tasha's Hideous Laughter on the drowning cleric.

The poor EHP giggled uncontrollably through saltwater as the PCs dove down and gutted him like a pig from under the waves.  With Zombies in pursuit, they high-tailed it towards their own ship.  Blackscale was pretty hurt, and the reef sharks were taking an interest in all of the blood. The fact that Otter completely sucked at swimming and was being carried by the dragonborn didn't help.

So what did they do?  Well, while swimming for his life, the dragonborn held the halfling bard up out of the water so he could play a nice healing song on the ocarina.  It was a bizarre Windwalker moment indeed.

The duo then got back on their ship and raced it out of there.

It was great fun.  Even though a short adventure, the system played like a champ.  All of the weirdness I was worried about melted away.  The mechanics of the barbarian and the bard just seemed natural and right.  The characters worked wonderfully together too - a big surprise.  And just like in olden times, the application of the perfect spell at the perfect time snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.

Now, instead of a brutal TPK, the characters are second level and planning their next salvage operation to the coral reef - hopefully next time with more friends.  So, yeah, I'll give the new Player's Handbook a passing grade so far.  Needs more testing though.  Lots more.  Couple of years I think, at least. ;)

- Ark

Friday, August 8, 2014

Hoard of the Birthday Boy


Okay, so it's not his birthday anymore, but WOTC didn't cooperate with release dates.  But finally, after a long wait, my son is the proud owner of the PHB and the HDQ.  Already, he is going through the PHB to see out if he wants to multi-class his fighter into ranger.

I gotta say - these are beautiful books with great art and layout.  There are even humorous illustrations in the PHB!  It ain't all angsty elves and dour drow.  And there are things that I don't think that I've seen in a PHB before - a little monster manual, descriptions of deities for Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, Eberron, and Greyhawk, - as well as Norse, Greek, Celtic, and Egyptian pantheons.  AND a section on the inner and outer planes - stuff previously relegated to DMGs.

Honestly, I haven't looked through Hoard of the Dragon Queen deeply as I still don't know who will run it.  The Boy might give it a try.  But it has a beautiful map of the Sword Coast just inside.  Drool.

So, yeah, all you guys and gals at WOTC - thanks for putting a smile on my son's face.

:)

- Ark

Hip Gestures