I believe it is in the DMG. I am about to go to bed or else I would try and help ya out on this. If no one else has done so by the time I wake up, I will try and figure it out.
I believe it is in the DMG.
The DMG has about 2 paragraphs on it but frankly it can be summed up as, "eh, good luck."
IMO, if the class levels complement the race's natural abilities (barbarian werewolf, hobgoblin fighter, vampire sorcerer) then you are looking at a +1 CR for every class level you add. This also works good on lower level creatures.
If the class does not complement the race at all (orc bard, red dragon monk, beholder shapeshifting druid) then it could be +1 CR/2 class levels to +1 CR/4 class levels. Higher level creatures also should get less of a CR boost from class levels.
Remember, the more you dilute the monster's main attack, the less of a boost it should get from class levels.
I don't have the DMG, and initially kid-gloved the encounters I was planning. But recently, I had my 3rd level PCs (dragonborn paladin grappler, tiefling rogue archer, dwarf druid, elf wizard evoker) fight yuan-ti monks, a troglodyte druid 4 (occasionally as an allorsaurus), dragonborn warlocks, and 5th or 6th level sorcerers. And won with relative ease.
The DMG has about 2 paragraphs on it but frankly it can be summed up as, "eh, good luck."
Well...
Judge for yourselves. It's more like several pages than 2 paragraphs.Here is the central paragraphs, without the tables needed:
"Calculate the monster's final challenge rating, accounting for the adjustments you made in step 3.
Defensive Challenge Rating. Read down the Hit Points column of the Monster Statistics by Challenge Rating table until you find your monster's hit points. Then look across and note the challenge rating suggested for a monster with those hit points.
Now look for the Armor Class suggested for a monster of that challenge rating. If your monster's AC is at least two points higher or lower than that number, adjust the challenge rating suggested by its hit points up or down by 1 for every 2 points of difference.
Offensive Challenge Rating. Read down the Damage/Round column of the Monster Statistics by Challenge Rating table until you find your monster's damage output per round. Then look across and note the challenge rating suggested for a monster that deals that much damage.
Now look at the attack bonus suggested for a monster of that challenge rating. If your monster's attack bonus is at least two points higher than that number, adjust the challenge rating suggested by its damage output up or down by 1 for every 2 poinst of difference.
If the monster relies more on effects with saving throws than on attacks, use the monster's save DC instead of its attack bonus.
If your monster uses different attack bonuses or save DCs, use the one that will come up the most often.
Average Challenge Rating. The monster's final challenge rating is the average of its defensive and offensive challenge ratings. Round the average up or down ot the nearest challenge rating to determine your monster's final challenge rating. For example, if the creature's defensive challenge is 2 and its offensive rating is 3, its final rating is 3."
With all that said, as the text then goes on, it lists how various things change the CR, like resistance to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons counts as a creature with 150% the hit points for the purposes of figuring out the CR.
There's also an additional two full pages of tables of monster features, each with an example monster and what it means in terms of figuring out the CR.
For example, the line for the monster feature "Constrict" lists constrictor snake as an example monster and says that this means to look at the Monster Statistics by Challenge Rating table as if the monster's AC was one higher.
I don't really care about using these rules except for one thing: to calculate how much XP the party should get.
My players have had their characters survive some super-deadly encounters but I've also had a couple of TPKs and PC deaths. We play pretty rough.
We aren't obsessing and adding npcs with levels. Just give the npcs what it needs to function for its role in your game....and go from there
We adore monsters playing with different, easier, rules than pcs
The DMG has about 2 paragraphs on it but frankly it can be summed up as, "eh, good luck."Well...
Judge for yourselves. It's more like several pages than 2 paragraphs.Here is the central paragraphs, without the tables needed:
"Calculate the monster's final challenge rating, accounting for the adjustments you made in step 3.
Defensive Challenge Rating. Read down the Hit Points column of the Monster Statistics by Challenge Rating table until you find your monster's hit points. Then look across and note the challenge rating suggested for a monster with those hit points.
Now look for the Armor Class suggested for a monster of that challenge rating. If your monster's AC is at least two points higher or lower than that number, adjust the challenge rating suggested by its hit points up or down by 1 for every 2 points of difference.
Offensive Challenge Rating. Read down the Damage/Round column of the Monster Statistics by Challenge Rating table until you find your monster's damage output per round. Then look across and note the challenge rating suggested for a monster that deals that much damage.
Now look at the attack bonus suggested for a monster of that challenge rating. If your monster's attack bonus is at least two points higher than that number, adjust the challenge rating suggested by its damage output up or down by 1 for every 2 poinst of difference.
If the monster relies more on effects with saving throws than on attacks, use the monster's save DC instead of its attack bonus.
If your monster uses different attack bonuses or save DCs, use the one that will come up the most often.
Average Challenge Rating. The monster's final challenge rating is the average of its defensive and offensive challenge ratings. Round the average up or down ot the nearest challenge rating to determine your monster's final challenge rating. For example, if the creature's defensive challenge is 2 and its offensive rating is 3, its...
I tried to use this method for a wizard I had made. The final CR seemed a little low considering the mages in the Npc section o the Monster Manual. Also it should probably be bumped up a little to account for magic its,s too.
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I tried to use this method for a wizard I had made. The final CR seemed a little low considering the mages in the Npc section o the Monster Manual. Also it should probably be bumped up a little to account for magic its,s too.
The highest damaging spell does set the damage, or average of a couple spells. So it can go high or low depending on the wizard's build.
The Monster Manual was written likely before that section of the DMG was finalized. No monster seems to be correct based on damage/hp and more high level monsters seem low in hp.
But the players don't know what CR you have written. If it almost kills them, it could be a higher CR, but if they kick its but, suddenly it's lower.