This little thread should probably be on the WotC site, but I like you guys better, so i'm putting it here.
In MMIV they listed that some monsters breath weapons and other damage causing abilities improve in damage as they advance in Hit Dice (usually at a rate of 1d6 damage per 2 HD). Now that's something I have used in my games anyway, but could (and should) it be applied retroactively to the monsters in the previous manuals? A dragon's breath weapon improves as it goes up in Hit Dice, so why shouldn't the sonic blast of a gargantuan 24 HD yrthrak or the lightning breath of a 27 HD behir improve? I know that the save DC increases, so shouldn't the damage as well?
Thoughts?
Indeed. I frequent both boards, but I have to put on my Internet Certified Flame Retardant, Stupid Retardant, Idiot-Proof Suit when I go over there. I use them for mechanical issues, most of the time. Here is where the creative and thought provoking comes.
But yeah, I agree that most monster abilities should scale to some degree. It seems especially odd that a Yrthak two sizes larger than normal still fires such a weenie beam. For more of the same argument, check out the Kaijuu Yrthak "He Who Hums" in the Ecology article in a recent Dragon Mag for similar impressions. That things almost a small island in its own right, and still does standard damage with its blast. Not making sense to me.