OK, so I've never really looked at the math behind advancing monsters before, so I'm sure this is simple and I'm just incompetent.
MM has an Otyugh's abilities as
Str 11 Dex 10 Con 13 Int 5 Wis 12 Cha 6
By my math, the racial modifiers for an Otyugh are
+2 CON and WIS(?)
-4 CHA
-6 INT
The abilities of the Advanced Otyugh is the Lizard Man lair are
Str 14 Dex 14 Con 17 Int 5 Wis 14 Cha 4
The Int 5 means that the base was an 11, but there's no 11 in the elite array. All of the other abilities work out, but the only way I can come up with a 5 Int using the elite array for this thing is if the base was 10 and it added to it's Intelligence when it got the "freebie" ability point at 8HD (which seems odd).
Again, it's certainly workable and the abilities aren't a big deal but I've never really messed with advancing/advanced monsters before and I wantto make sure I'm understanding it before I get into some of the crazies in the higher level adventures.
Thanks!
Creative Director
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When we assign ability scores to advanced monsters and unique NPCs, we generally use the elite array and modify the score as appropriate for size changes and increases in Hit Dice (every 4th one gets a +1 bonus).
When I adjust a monster's base stats, I generally don't bother to reverse enginer what it's racial stat mods are. Instead, I give them an "elite array" by improving two of their stats by +4, two by +2, and reducing one by -2. For the otyugh in this adventure, that ended up being:
+2 Str
+4 Dex
+4 Con
+0 Int
+2 Wis
-2 Cha
Which gives the advanced otyugh: Str 13, Dex 14, Con 17, Int 5, Wis 14, and Cha 4. It gained a +1 to a stat from its increased HD, and that went onto its Str score. Presto!
Now that said, just as often we might fudge a score here and there to make it fit the needs of the encounter better. But for the most part, when I'm advancing a monster I use the method I detail above.
Thanks...another great example of me outsmarting myself.
Interesting you should pull out the +1 stat adjustment for advancing hit dice just like PCs and NPCs. It's never been specifically mentioned in any of the core rule books as something that occurs. I advance stats by +1 every 4 HD (base 4, then 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, etc) for monsters in my own games, but am wary about doing that for adventures I write for DUNGEON. From now on I'll take your words as gospel.
Interesting you should pull out the +1 stat adjustment for advancing hit dice just like PCs and NPCs. It's never been specifically mentioned in any of the core rule books as something that occurs. I advance stats by +1 every 4 HD (base 4, then 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, etc) for monsters in my own games, but am wary about doing that for adventures I write for DUNGEON. From now on I'll take your words as gospel.
Monster Manual, page 290
"Ability Score Improvement: Whenever a monster reaches a number of Hit Dice divisible by 4, it improves one ability score by 1 point."
is it a neo-otyugh? ;)