How do creature levels 0 and -1 work?

[Evil_Max]

I understand the concept how encounter difficulty is determined in relation to the party level.

Also there is the special case of lvl 0 creatures.
"Level 0 creatures are weaker than normal, counting as a
“party level – 2” creature for a 1st-level party, a “party
level – 3” creature for a 2nd-level party, and a “party level
– 4” creature for a 3rd-level party."

Easy so far, 0 is essentially -1.

But now I play the Fall of Plaguestone adventure with my group and there are creatures with a level of -1 (and some with level 0)

I don´t really get this, aren´t those the same thing or did i miss something?

[David knott 242]

Where are you quoting that description of level 0 creatures from? I can't believe that Mark Seifter would let such an obvious math error slip through.

[BishopMcQ]

That quote seems to be from the Playtest document. In the actual core rulebook, that language is gone.

Here's how I would treat Level 0 and Level -1 creatures based on the core rule book

1st Level Party:
Level -1 is Party Level -2 for XP
Level 0 is Party Level -1 for XP

2nd Level Party:
Level -1 is Party Level -3 for XP
Level 0 is Party Level -2 for XP

3rd Level Party:
Level -1 is Party Level -4 for XP
Level 0 is Party Level -3 for XP

4th Level Party:
Level -1 has no XP value on the chart
Level 0 is Party Level -4 for XP

[Evil_Max]

Yeah, thats possible. I still use the Monster Manual from the playtest since it isn´t released yet on roll20
But yeah, that makes more sense, thanks