By taking into account Many of them are the servants of deities, employed as messengers or agents in the mortal realm and throughout the planes. Swapping spells in this manner doesn't alter an NPC's challenge rating. *The archmage casts these spells on itself before combat. Spear. For example, a monster that is very perceptive and stealthy might have bonuses to Wisdom (Perception) and Dexterity (Stealth) checks. Observations on 5e Monster Strength. And there’s some interesting things to be learned here. Evasion. Light Crossbow. To do so, the knight must see the attacker and be wielding a melee weapon. Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) Fifth Edition (5e) Monsters. uses, it will generate a proportionately scaled die expression The most common humanoid races are the ones most suitable as player characters: humans, dwarves, elves, and halflings. Hit: 9 (2d4 + 4) bludgeoning damage. Dagger. Mace. A monster's speed tells you how far it can move on its turn. The mere presence of a legendary creature can have strange and wondrous effects on its environment, as noted in this section. A noble often travels in the company of guards, as well as servants who are commoners. Creature size determines how many squares it occupies, what weapons it can hold, etc. The archmage is an 18th-level spellcaster. The tags have no rules of their own, but something in the game, such as a magic item, might refer to them. The gladiator adds 3 to its AC against one melee attack that would hit it. Most of them are ambulatory, and some are carnivorous. A monster can be Tiny, Small, Medium, Large, Huge, or Gargantuan. Be sure Many of them have innate magical abilities drawn from the creature's alien mind rather than the mystical forces of the world. If you want more specific information on a given creature, many entries in the 3.5E Monster Manuals included a section on typical height and weight. The scout makes two melee attacks or two ranged attacks. A creature that can make multiple attacks on its turn has the Multiattack action. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. A monster might have one or more tags appended to its type, in parentheses. Archmages are powerful (and usually quite old) spellcasters dedicated to the study of the arcane arts. Acolytes are junior members of a clergy, usually answerable to a priest. You can substitute any spell on the NPC's spell list with a different spell of the same level from the same spell list. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Giving an NPC a potent damage-dealing magic item could alter its challenge rating. The bandit captain has these qualities in spades. For example, a chaotic evil monster might be difficult to reason with and might attack characters on sight, whereas a neutral monster might be willing to negotiate. Damage Resistance damage from spells; nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing (from stoneskin). Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage. In addition, some creatures are immune to certain conditions. Multiattack. Guidelines for understanding the information found in a monster's statistics are presented below. Medium tends to be the baseline for how the rules are written, and other sizes have special rules that modify them further. For example, a drow mage can innately cast the levitate spell, but the spell has a "self only" restriction, which means that the spell affects only the drow mage. There are many easy ways to customize the NPCs for your home campaign. Its spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 12, +4 to hit with spell attacks). They don't make moral or ethical choices, but rather act on instinct. Beasts are nonhumanoid creatures that are a natural part of the fantasy ecology. As a bonus action, the priest can expend a spell slot to cause its melee weapon attacks to magically deal an extra 10 (3d6) radiant damage to a target on a hit. And the space a creature occupies is not related to its actual size. A monster’s Hit Points are presented both as a die expression and as an average number. modifier and natural armor, if any. The spy deals an extra 7 (2d6) damage when it hits a target with a weapon attack and has advantage on the attack roll, or when the target is within 5 feet of an ally of the spy that isn’t incapacitated and the spy doesn’t have disadvantage on the attack roll. Yep, well said. X/Day. If you ever wanted to see how big or little something is compared to a Human, or another Monster, you’ll likely find it in these Charts! Spear. closely models the relatively linear relationship between CR and Undead include walking corpses, such as vampires and zombies, as well as bodiless spirits, such as ghosts and specters. Many creatures of low intelligence have no comprehension of law or chaos, good or evil. Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, ranged 150/600 ft., one target. Humanoids are the main peoples of a fantasy gaming world, both civilized and savage, including humans and a tremendous variety of other species. Its spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 17, +9 to hit with spell attacks). Their ranks include soldiers retired from long service and warriors who never served anyone but themselves. Aberrations are utterly alien beings. A monster that wears armor or carries a shield has an Armor A monster's size determines the die used to calculate its hit points, as shown in the Hit Dice by Size table. to put the correct size for an accurate HP Die Expression. Size. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 28 (4d8 + 10) piercing damage. Adjustments to Armor Class and damage can change an NPC's challenge rating. They work for money and have few scruples. Shortsword. These features are still experimental and may not always work If this field is left blank, it will For example, a monster with 2d8 hit points has 9 hit points on average (2 × 4½). skill level in and out of combat. An appropriately equipped and well-rested party of four adventurers should be able to defeat a monster that has a challenge rating equal to its level without suffering any deaths. Plants in this context are vegetable creatures, not ordinary flora. A prisoner who appeals to the captain’s vanity or ego is more likely to be treated fairly than a prisoner who does not or claims not to know anything of the captain’s colorful reputation. Fey include dryads, pixies, and satyrs. The languages that a monster can speak are listed in alphabetical order. A monster's alignment provides a clue to its disposition and how it behaves in a roleplaying or combat situation. Then, at the start of the monster's turn, it regains the use of that ability if it rolls a 5 or 6 on a d6. Scimitar. The spy makes two melee attacks. Some creatures can have any alignment. If a monster … If a monster's innate spells don't require attack rolls, no attack bonus is given for them. Guards include members of a city watch, sentries in a citadel or fortified town, and the bodyguards of merchants and nobles. For example, "Recharge 5–6" means a monster can use the special ability once. The Monster Manual contains statistics for various humanoid nonplayer characters (NPCs) that adventurers might encounter during a campaign, including lowly commoners and mighty archmages. Longbow. Also in this category are creatures distantly related to true dragons, but less powerful, less intelligent, and less magical, such as wyverns and pseudodragons. Brute. The races of genies, including djinn and efreet, form the most important civilizations on the elemental planes. Dragon and Monster Size Comparison Charts. Scimitar. Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 20/60 ft., one creature. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) slashing damage. attacks or weapon attacks. Some monsters have the ability to hover, which makes them hard to knock out of the air. For example, an orc has the humanoid (orc) type. Hit: 4 (1d6 + 1) slashing damage. Celestials are creatures native to the Upper Planes. Some are programmed by their creators to follow a simple set of instructions, while others are imbued with sentience and capable of independent thought. Brave. //