Method for giving feats and magic items to monsters


4th Edition


As we know, 4E monsters and NPCs don't need feats or magical items to be apropriate challenges for the PCs. Without feats and magical items, monsters and NPCs are far quicker to stat, easier to run as there are fewer things to remember when the monster fights, and easier to keep balanced.

That said... I understand that many people miss the complexity of 3.5E monsters, and don't bother spending time to fully stat monsters. Even those who don't like to spend a lot of time on this, like me, may sometimes want a particular monster of the campaign to be special and be as complex as a PC.

For these cases, I've come up a simple method to add feats and/or magic items (to be more precise, feats and magical items of a PC of same level) to monsters.

The method is straghtforward and based on the table "NPC Level Bonus and Magic Threshold" on page 187. Basically, the table contain values that you add to the NPCs' attacks and defenses that are supposed to be equivalent to feats and magical items. In case of monsters, it's easy to assume that these bonuses are already contained in their statblocks, and you can replace them by feats or magic items.

So, we have the following tables:
Table 1:
-1 for Level 1-5
-3 for Level 6-10
-5 for Level 11-15
-7 for Level 16-20
-9 for Level 21-25
-11 for Level 26-30

Table 2:
0 for Level 1-5
-1 for Level 6-10
-2 for Level 11-15
-3 for Level 16-20
-4 for Level 21-25
-5 for Level 26-30

- If you want to add feats (1 + 1/2 levels; check the "Retraining" section for amount of paragon/epic feats) and magical items (one of the monster's level +1, one of the monster's level, and one of the monster's level -1) to a monster, you decrease its weapon attacks and defenses by the values on table 1. Decrease its nonweapon attacks by the values on table 2.
- If you want to add only the feats to a monster, you decrease all its attacks and defenses by the values on table 2.
- If you want to add only the magical items to a monster, you decrease all its weapon attacks and defenses by the values on table 2.

You may also consider giving to the monster:
- Extra healing surges
- Action points
- Second wind ability
- Daily powers
Note that these may make the monster more powerful than indicated by its XP value.

Examples

Drider Fanglord with feats and magical items:

Drider Fanglord Level 14 Brute
Large fey humanoid (spider) XP 1,000
Initiative +12 Senses Perception +15; darkvision
HP 172; Bloodied 86
AC 26; Fortitude 25, Reflex 25, Will 23
Resist 5 poison
Speed 8, climb 8 (spider climb)
m +3 Flaming Greatsword (standard; at-will) ; Weapon
+17 vs. AC; 1d12 + 12 (crit 3d6 + 24) damage.
M Flaming Strike (standard; daily) ; Weapon, Fire
Requires +3 Flaming greatsword; the Drider Fanglord makes a basic
attack and deals an extra 1d6 fire damage, and the target takes 5
ongoing damage (save ends)
M Quick Bite (minor; at-will) ; Poison
Requires combat advantage; +14 vs. Fortitude; 1d4 + 2 damage, and
ongoing 10 poison damage (save ends).
R Darkfire (minor; encounter)
Ranged 10; +14 vs. Reflex; until the end of the drider’s next turn,
the target grants combat advantage to all attackers, and the
target cannot benefit from invisibility or concealment.
R Web (standard; recharge 4 5 6 )
Ranged 5; +14 vs. Reflex; the target is restrained (until escape).
Escaping from the web requires a successful DC 25 Acrobatics
check or DC 27 Athletics check.
Blood Thirst
The Drider Fanglord gains a +2 bonus to melee damage rolls
against bloodied foes.
Defensive Advantage
When the Drider Fanglord has combat advantage against
an enemy, it gains a +2 bonus to AC against that
enemy’s attacks.
Darkleaf Armor
The Drider Fanglord gains a +2 item bonus to AC against the first attack
made against it in each encounter.
Alignment Evil Languages Elven
Skills Dungeoneering +15, Stealth +17
Str 24 (+14) Dex 21 (+12) Wis 16 (+10)
Con 22 (+13) Int 13 (+8) Cha 9 (+6)
Equipment +3 darkleaf hide armor, +3 flaming greatsword, +3 amulet of health
Feats Armor Proficiency (Hide), Armor Specialization (Hide) (P), Blood Thirst (P),
Defensive Advantage (P), Iron Will (P), Lightning Reflexes (P),
Weapon Focus (quick bite), Weapon Focus (greatsword)


*BUMP*

Heck, some opinions, please?

The Exchange

I am a build junky. Between Blackmoor and LG I built over 20 episodes and was stat block monkey on more than one inetereactive. The worst I have had to grapple with was levels 5-20. Rugged stuff that.

Anyhow, I like building the bad guys and it was a necessity in 3.5. Not so much in 4.0. Most of my builds have been replacing things I feel are missing in the MM or converting Paizo products.

Some magic items are ok. If it is part of a treasure parcel scheduled for the players level, the monsters can have it without engineering. I am backing off awarding more magic than that right now until I get a better feel for balance.

As for feats, etc. the monster generation system is much more subjective in 4.0 than in 3.5. I like your system as a guidline, however, I have found that many of the monsters designed in the MM do not follow the guidelines in the DMG for design. This adds more contour and texture to the bad guys and I am ok with that. It certainly is a different feel. Monster design is more art that science now.


Krauser_Levyl wrote:

*BUMP*

Heck, some opinions, please?

Could you give me some idea of how this changes the feel of the monsters? What sort of stuff am I getting beyond just using the DMG monster design guidelines?

I suppose with me its not really so much that I want a method to design monsters that feels like 3.5. 3.5s method is the sort of thing I'm looking to move away from at the moment. That said if I get something out of the deal beyond this just being something of a time sink - well now your talking about providing interesting options. That sort of thing I might consider.

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