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While most people are focused on the prebuilt Doomsday Dawn, I thought I'd take a crack at running a homebrew game using the available rules. I had ideas, I had players and then I took a look at the Bestiary. I didn't have enough different monsters for a Level 10 adventure.
So, I made a thing.
Credit where it's due: Mostly to LuniasM and his amazing work collating all the bestiary values into a coherent whole, as well as a few other things, as well as being inspired by more than a few others who have been happily creating content here on the boards.
Now: Due to the nature of the limited data, there are points where my tool is a little rough. Namely things like extra attack types and L0 monsters. If the base creature didn't HAVE something, the resulting output is a little ... odd.
How To Use:
Step 0. Make a copy.
Step 1. On the left, in green, is a list of levels, and a single monster next to them. Find your "base creature" level, then select your "Base Creature" from the drop down menu for it's given level.
Step 2. Also in green is Source Level. Enter the level that your "base creature" is.
Step 3: Below Source Level is "Add Level". Enter the value that brings your "Base Creature" up to where you need it.
Step 4: Review the results in Orange. There are 3 output fields, as I created 3 ways to calculate the new values. Each has their strengths.
Step 5: Select the output value to use based on your understanding of the "Base Creatures" usage, and what the party can handle. NOTE: Anything +/- 4 from the average result level is marked in a different color automatically. This is to draw your attention, and ask: Is this actually a good idea to use?
Roonie is not responsible for any accidental TPK's as a result of selecting the wrong value to use.
Example!
I need Level 10 Kobolds!
Step1Example: Kobold Warriors are L0. <Finds L0, selects Kobold Warrior in the Drop Down menu.>
Step2Example: <Enters 0 in the Source Level field>
STep3Example: <Enters 10 in the Add Level Field>
Step4Example: <Review the results>
Step5Example: I'll use the HP from Option 2, and the Save's/Skills from Option 1. That's safest for my party. I'll ignore Option 3, because well, my base creature is Level 0, and that results in some /0 moments.
Now that you've sat through all of that babble and exposition, without further ado! The Adjuster!
It's not a trap. I promise. This promise does not extend to any party on the other side of the table.
I will be encouraging my party to fill out the survey midway through the playtest, and again near the end.
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Thank you for all the work you've put into this tool so far!
Could you explain the difference between the lines "Option One / Two / Three" on the spreadsheet?
Certainly!
Each option takes a crack at answering the following question: How is the change power level as compared to the average for the base creature's level calculated.
Option one takes the simplest approach. Average +/- a small modifer, creates the new creature. Thus, you make those same adjustments to the new level average. This is likely to be the SAFEST option across the board, given how dangerous a random +5 is.
Option two takes a slightly more complicated approach. You take a multiplicative or division of the average, and make that the new creature. For example, say something's hit points appear to be 15% above average level. Then the new level's average is also increased by 15% for that stat. This will likely be ... dangerous at times.
Option three, gets complicated. It attempts to find a value increase per level for the monster, by dividing by it's current level, then multiplying by the destination level. If something has 60 hp at level 3, that appears to be 20 hp / level, so a 6th level version should have 120 hp.
Option 3 currently has math to factor in Expert, Master and Legenday adjustments as well.
You can see some of the calculation steps for Options One and Two in I6 to I9. Where Base, is the Base Creature's actual stats, Base Level average, is the average for the given level (Minus Outliers!). Delta, is a simple Base - Base Average function. And Mod is a slightly more complicated Base / Base Average function. (Due to the sheer number of zero's in some of the weakest creatures, it's actually Base +1/ Base Average +1, which is then floored to the nearest whole number. This reduces accuracy overal, but does cut out some of the errors that will crop up for most users.)
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Just seen this today! Converting some modules and just wanna say thanks!
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Cool! Any inclination to that this for skill modifiers? Stealth is good, but Athletics, Deception, and Intimidate have a decent likelihood of being used against PCs.
I'll also note that skills are currently a tad to high for monsters over what basically amounts to a typo. I hope that gets factored into the monster building rules that are hopefully released between January and August. Until then, I'm not sure if there's a way you can compensate for that with your spreadsheet, but it seems worth mentioning that players should maybe lower some modifiers a point or two.
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Thank you both!
Captain,
I'll ... see what I can work up, my first thought is to add something like this:
Increase any other skill by: S, and from a calculation standpoint, base it off changes in Stealth / Perception.
Otherwise, I'd have to add EVERY skill, and ... I think that would become unwieldy.
My understanding, is that MOST skills should increase at about the same rate.
Thank you both!
Captain,
I'll ... see what I can work up, my first thought is to add something like this:
Increase any other skill by: S, and from a calculation standpoint, base it off changes in Stealth / Perception.
Otherwise, I'd have to add EVERY skill, and ... I think that would become unwieldy.
My understanding, is that MOST skills should increase at about the same rate.
I don't think that last part is true. I'm pretty sure monsters get item bonus equivalent boosts to key skills at certain levels.
That might make it too complicated for the formulas, though.
I did some research, and have not YET made any updates:
TLDR: I found a way that makes sense to me. It will be time intensive to add the data, but not difficult. Please look forward to it.
Actual content:
I compared several creatures that have a progression, such as Dragons, Elementals and NPCS. I also looked as Gnolls, Shadows, and Constrictor Snakes (Ball Python vs Giant Anaconda ... This didn't work well).
For the MOST part, given +X level, creatures skills increase at the same pace across the board, so +Y to unmarked skills, also implies +Y to Acrobatics or Athletics, or Deception.
I did notice that in more than a few cases a skill was Y+1, instead of just Y.
I also noticed that NPC's ... don't play nice, and were all over the place increase wise. This may be partly due to lack of examples, or just complexity or even stat boosts screwing with my data points.
So my plan, is to slowly, add in the Skills field, and add to the output a field for Skills Increase.
So, say, for the sake of example, you were upgrading an Elder Fire Elemental from CR 11 to CR 15.
Instead of listing in the output Skills: 18, I'd list Skills: 6, meaning, add 6 across the board to all skills listed for your Base Creature.
I'd also suggest, that adding an extra +1 to any skill you want your creature to be especially good in, is a solid plan, appears to be balanced compared to how things appear to have been built, and adds flavor.
Things were slow for a bit today, so I did much of the grunt work on this. When I'm home I can port that work into the actual Tool.
Turns out that my guess that a CR 11 upgrade to CR 15 DOES indicate a +6 to all skills!
There may be some fiddling with layout as well.
Things that stuck out. Ghouls have an abnormally high generic skill mod, and this is likely a typo.
Most levels have an average generic skill mod that's pretty easy to pick out, even when there's only a couple creatures to work with.
I'm thinking that I might add a Min/Max function for comparison's sake. IE, CR 6 has an average AC of 21, with a Min or 19, and a Max of 25.
CR/ Stat / AVG / MIN/ MAX
6: AC / 21 / 19 / 25
6: Fort / 12 / 7 / 14
Fiddling will be done.
Of course by the time I'm done with this round, we might be past the new year, and there .... might just be some sort of an update to work with until Gencon? <hopes>
Quick Update:
Skills increase functionality is in! You can find it in I16:J16, in blue. This value gets added to the ALL the skills in the Bestiary, but feel free to add an extra quasi-random +1 to something you want your new creature to specialize in.
New User's Guide: See OP! Don't miss Step 0!
Please make a copy. File > Make a Copy, or Download as:
__
I've lost too many things due to not protecting the original copy of something.
ToDo:
Fiddle.
See about adding Min/Max as previously mentioned.
Maybe work up an export page for easy printing?
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However I would much rather see a solve for the problem from a design standpoint.
I hear your pain on this subject, and as you've found elsewhere, it's been a hotly debated topic for the last several months, with passionate pleas from both sides of the argument.
I look forward to seeing how they resolve it in the final product, particularly if there's an easy way to remove +L, so EVERYONE can have Cake.
I also look forward to seeing a full set of Monster Creation Rules, that would obliviate the need for what I've built above. It's good to want things. Christmas is coming.
In the meantime, I hope you and yours enjoy your gaming!