Page 277 - Dungeon Master's Guide

STEP 9. DAMAGE VuL "ER..'\BILITIES , The table provides the baseline attack bonus for each
RESISTANCES, AND hnn ; . "ITIE challenge rating. Feel free to adjust the attack bonus as
Decide whether your mon ter ha \·ulnerability, you see fit to match whatever concept you have in mind.
resistance, or immunity to one or more types of For example, the baseline attack bonus for a challenge
damage (see the Players Handbook for descriptions rating 1 monster is +3, but if your monster needs more
of the various damage types). . ign a vulnerability, accuracy, raise its bonus accordingly. Don't worry if
resistance, or immunity to a mon ter only when it's the monster's attack bonus isn't matching up with the
intuitive. For example, it make en e for a monster expected challenge rating for the monster. Other factors
made of molten lava to have immunity to fire damage. can affect a monster's challenge rating, as shown in
Giving a monster resistances and immunities to three later steps.
or more damage types (especially bludgeoning, piercing, Calculate Attack Bonuses. Alternatively, you can
and slashing damage) is like gi\·ing it extra hit points. calculate a monster's attack bonuses the same way
However, adventurers have more resources at higher players calculate the attack bonuses of a character.
levels to counteract such defense . making resistances Wpen a monster has an action that requires an attack
and immunities less relevant at higher levels. roll, its attack bonus is equal to its proficiency bonus+
Effective Hit Points. If a monster has resistance its Strength or Dexterity modifier. A monster usually
or immunity to several damage types- especially applies its Strength modifier to melee attacks and its
bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from Dexterity modifier to ranged attacks, although smaller
nonmagical weapons-and not all the characters in the monsters sometimes use Dexterity for both.
party possess the means to counteract that resistance Again, don't worry if the attack bonuses aren't
or immunity, you need to take these defenses into matching up with the expected challenge rating for
account when comparing your monster's hit points to its the monster. You can always adjust a monster's attack
expected challenge rating. Using the Effective Hit Points bonuses later.
Based on Resistances and Immunities table, apply
the appropriate multiplier to the monster's hit points STEP 11. DAMAGE
to determine its effective hit points for the purpose of A monster's damage output- the amount of damage it
gauging its final challenge rating. (The monster's actual deals every round-has a direct bearing on its challenge
hit points shouldn't change.) rating, and vice versa. You can determine a monster's
For example, a monster with an expected damage output in one of two ways.
challenge rating of 6, 150 hit points, and resistance Use the Table. You can start with the monster's
to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from expected challenge rating and use the Monster
nonmagical weapons effectively has 225 hit points Statistics by Challenge Rating table to determine how
(using the 1.5 multiplier for resistances) for the purpose much damage the monster should deal every round.
of gauging its final challenge rating. The table presents a range at each challenge rating.
Monsters don't normally have vulnerability to more It doesn't matter how this damage is apportioned or
than one or two types of damage. Vulnerabilities don't distributed; for example, a monster might deal the
significantly affect a monster's challenge rating, unless damage every round with a single attack, or the damage
a monster has vulnerabilities to multiple damage types could be split among multiple attacks against one or
that are prevalent, especially bludgeoning, piercing, more foes.
and slashing. For such a strange monster, reduce its Choose the type of damage based on how you imagine
effective hit points by half. Or even better, eliminate the damage being delivered. For example, if the monster
the vulnerabilities and give the brittle monster fewer is attacking with razor-sharp claws, the damage it deals
hit points. is probably slashing damage. If its claws are poisonous,
some portion of the damage might be poison damage
EFFECTIVE HIT POINTS BASED ON instead of slashing damage.
If you want the damage output to vary slightly from
RESISTANCES AND IMMUNITIES
round to round, you can translate the damage range into
Expected HP Multiplier for HP Multiplier for a single die expression (for a monster with one attack)
Challenge Rating Resistances Immunities
or multiple die expressions (for a monster with multiple
1-4 x2 x 2 attacks). For example, a challenge rating 2 monster
5-10 X 1.5 x2 deals 15- 20 damage per round. If you imagine the
11-16 X 1.25 X 1.5 creature having a Strength of 18 (+4 modifier), you could
17 or more X 1 X 1.25 give it one melee attack that deals 3d8 + 4 (average
17.5) damage, split the damage output into two separate
STEP 10. ATTACK BONUSES attacks that deal1d10 + 4 (average 9) damage each; or
A monster's attack bonuses have a direct bearing on its use any other combination where the average damage
challenge rating, and vice versa. You can determine a output falls within the desired range.
monster's attack bonuses in one of two ways. Base the Damage on the Weapon. Alternatively,
Use the Table. You can start with the monster's you can use a die expression to represent the damage
expected challenge rating and use the Monster that a monster deals with each of its attacks based on
Statistics by Challenge Rating table to determine an whatever weapon it is using.
appropriate attack bonus for all the monster's attacks,
regardless of its ability scores.

CHAPTER 9 I DUNGEON MASTER'S WORKSHOP