Chapter 4 - DM Tools

With the introduction of AC-less Defence, DMs have more options in monster design than before. Here, you'll find tips on how to adapt existing Monsters and how to create new ones to these new rules, making them both interesting to fight and challenging.

Monsters

These rules bring many changes to how combat works that also affect all monsters. The rules here describe how to adjust monsters to make them fit into the new rules, and new ways to customize monsters.

These rules add complexity to monsters without offering much relief from that added complexity. Consider outsourcing the tracking of stats and conditions to other players.

Defence

AC-less: All monsters have their AC replaced by a Hit DC and Damage Reduction.

Hit DC: A monster has a Hit DC that befits its size. Through the previous introduction of even smaller sizes, even smaller monsters are also possible.

Damage Reduction: A monster has a Damage Reduction value. To determine how high a monsters Damage Reduction is, consider their appearance and their Constitution modifier. Often, giving a monster a Damage Reduction equal to their Constitution modifier will be appropriate.

If their skin, fur, feathers, hide, scales or other outer features resemble an Armour, taking the Damage Reduction value of the Armour listed for player characters can also be appropriate. Some monsters will be even more resilient than that, but take the damage capabilities of your party into consideration before going for higher Damage Reduction values. Other tricks may also work, as described in a section below.

Offence

Attack Rolls: All monsters are trained with the weapons they wield and with their Unarmed Strikes. However, only monsters that rely on their precision or are somewhat experienced add their Proficiency Bonus to their attacks.

Size Modifies Attacks: All monsters have their attack rolls modified by their size as described in AC-less Defence. This modifier should generally be balanced out by larger monsters dealing more damage and having more Hit Points, and smaller monsters dealing less damage and having fewer Hit Points, as is usual for DnD monster design.

Damage Rolls: Monsters that are particularly aggressive or mighty may add their Proficiency Bonus to their damage rolls.

Size & Monster Stats

As mentioned above and in the chapter on AC-less Defence, size impacts both defence and offence. The following table gives a quick overview of the suggested correlations.

Size	Hit DC	Hit Die	Damage Die	Attack Modifier
Minuscule	20	/	/	+10
Fine	18	d4 (half amount)	/	+8
Diminutive	16	d6 (half amount)	/	+6
Tiny	14	d4	d4	+4
Small	12	d6	d4	+2
Medium	10	d8	d6	+0
Large	8	d10	d8	-2
Huge	6	d12	d10	-4
Gargantuan	4	d20	d12	-6

The Three Kinds of Monsters

Through the different combinations of Hit Points, Hit DC and Damage Reduction, three kinds of recommended monster types emerge: Smalls, Shells and Sponges.

Smalls

Defence: These monsters have a higher Hit DC due to their smaller size. Due to the increased chance to miss them, hits should not be discouraged much further, so a lessened Damage Reduction and Hit Point total is appropriate. Use d4 or d6 as their Hit Dice.

Offence: These monsters also have a particularly high accuracy with their attacks against PCs, so they should also deal less damage. Use Aimed Strikes to have them target unarmoured body parts to deliver this lesser damage reliably, providing a threat when left alive for too long or when encountered in large groups.

Using Surge Dice: When playing Smalls, refrain from using Surge Dice to increase the damage they deal. Instead, make sure that the Aimed Strikes actually hit, and if you have Surge Dice left afterwards, make the Wound save more difficult for the target. This way, Smalls can become a real menace even if their damage is comparatively low.

Shells

Defence: These monsters have a high Damage Reduction, either through a high Constitution score or a fitting appearance. Consider keeping their Hit Point total lower, especially when they aren't on the larger side. Adding more vulnerable body parts to these monsters will also give the players more ways to meaningfully damage them. Use d6, d8 or d10 as their Hit Dice.

Offence: As these monsters are not attractive as targets, their offence must be threatening enough to be worrisome to the players. Persistent areal effects and crowd control are your friend here: a constant source of damage or that is hard to avoid will drain your players health without much counterplay other than getting rid of said source. Keep the damage on the lower side for this areal effect. Similarly, recurring crowd control will make a Shell a nuisance to be reckoned with.

You should also have Shells use regular attacks to threaten particular characters and crank up the pressure. The more you stick to a singular target, the more pressure is on the targeted player, especially if their character stays in the areal effect.

Using Surge Dice: When playing Shells, refrain from using Surge Dice to give yourself Temporary Hit Points. These can be quite difficult to get through, especially with your heightened Damage Reduction. Use them for extra movement to close the gap to more vulnerable and damaging characters, to enforce crowd control more reliably, or to make your attacks more deadly when appropriate.

Sponges

Defence: These monsters have a low Damage Reduction and a low Hit DC due to a larger size and lacking armour. Therefor, they should have a higher Hit Point total. In fights against these monsters, disabling their body parts is a good way for the players to make progress. Use d10, d12 or d20 as their Hit Dice.

Offence: By virtue of being larger, these monsters have less accurate attacks, which can appropriately be compensated by having them deal more damage. Generally, as Sponges are more vulnerable to having their body parts disabled, have backup attack options ready, such as kicks and dropping on the target. Use your good offensive body parts and weapons as long as you can to dish out high damage and motivate the party to actually get rid of them. If a Sponge is especially large, make their attacks affect an area instead of singular targets, where the attack roll can determine the DC of a Dexterity saving throw.

Using Surge Dice: When playing Sponges, refrain from using Surge Dice to have them reposition. They should feel slower and stronger, and thus Surge Dice can be used well to increase the damage they deal, and occasionally to make attacks land more reliably.

Reference Tables

You may use the tables below as guidelines for how the stats of your monsters could look like.

Monster Defence Reference Table

Monsters will use different defensive stats based on their type, as described above. As Surge Dice allow players to be more offensively potent than before, feel free to adjust your monsters defensive stats further upwards when your players commit to aggression. Another +50 to Hit Points and another +2 to Damage Reduction has been found to work well with more aggressive players.

Challenge Rating	Hit Dice	Smalls Hit Points	Shell Hit Points	Shell Damage Reduction	Sponge Hit Points
0	1	4	6	5	9
1/8	6	21	33		51
1/4	8	28	44		68
1/2	10	35	55		85
1	12	42	66	6	102
2	14	49	77		119
3	16	56	88	7	136
4	18	63	99		153
5	20	70	110	8	170
6	22	77	121		187
7	24	84	132	9	204
8	26	91	143		221
9	28	98	154	10	238
10	30	105	165		255
11	32	112	176	11	272
12	34	119	187		289
13	36	126	198	12	306
14	38	133	209		323
15	40	140	220	13	340
16	42	147	231		357
17	44	154	242	14	374
18	46	161	253		391
19	48	168	264	15	408
x	n = 2x + 10	3.5n	5.5n	0.5x + 5	8.5n

High CR Monster Defence Reference Table

On higher Challenge Ratings, monster stats grow faster, as is usual for DnD.

Challenge Rating	Hit Dice	Smalls Hit Points	Shell Hit Points	Shell Damage Reduction	Sponge Hit Points
20	50	175	275	15	425
21	55	192	302	16	467
22	60	210	330	17	510
23	65	217	357	18	552
24	70	245	385	19	595
25	75	262	412	20	637
26	80	280	440	21	680
27	85	297	467	22	722
28	90	315	495	23	765
29	95	332	522	24	807
30	100	350	550	25	850
x	n = 5x - 50	3.5n	5.5n	x - 5	8.5n

Monster Offence Reference Table

Keep the size table above in mind for the attack bonus, and adjust the damage per round according to the type, as described above.

Challenge Rating	Proficiency Bonus	Primary Stat Modifier	Attack Bonus	Saving Throw DC	Damage per Round
0	+2	+1	+3	12	1
1/8					3
1/4					5
1/2					8
1		+2	+4	13	14
2					20
3		+3	+5	14	26
4					32
5	+3		+6	15	38
6					44
7		+4	+7		50
8					56
9	+4		+8	16	62
10					68
11		+5	+9	17	74
12					80
13	+5		+10	18	86
14					92
15		+6	+11		98
16					104
17	+6		+12	19	110
18					116
19		+7	+13		122
x	(x+7)/4	(x+9)/4	(x+7)/2	3(x+3)/8+12	6x+8

High CR Monster Offence Reference Table

On higher Challenge Ratings, monster stats grow faster, as is usual for DnD.

Challenge Rating	Proficiency Bonus	Primary Stat Modifier	Attack Bonus	Saving Throw DC	Damage per Round
20					140
21	+7		+14	20	158
22					176
23		+8	+15		194
24					212
25	+8		+16	21	230
26					248
27		+9	+17		266
28					284
29	+9		+18	22	302
30					320
x	(x+7)/4	(x+9)/4	(x+7)/2	(x+3)/4+14	18x-220

Action Economy

Surge Dice: Monsters also get and can utilize Surge Dice. Weak, greedy or aggressive monsters will tend to prefer to do as much as possible as soon as possible though, using all their action economy immediately.

Bonus Actions: Monsters that don't have any use for a Bonus Action will not convert it into an additional Reaction.

Reactions: Monsters have access to all of the new Reactions that they fulfil the prerequisites for, such as Dodging. However, some monsters may not be very concerned about being hit and either wait for an Opportunity attack or use the conversion into a Surge Die to strengthen their attacks.

Legacy Parries: If the statblock of a creature features a parry reaction, it is replaced by the Parry Reaction described in these rules. Assume that the creature uses either its strongest wielded melee weapon or all its wielded melee weapons to parry, if possible.

Parrying: If a monster uses a weapon, it can use that weapon to Parry. Make note of its bonus to the Parrying check and the Parrying Power. Only particularly defensive, tactical or trained monsters will add their Proficiency Bonus to their Parrying checks.

Unarmed Parries and Blocks: For some monsters, it may make sense that they are able to Parry or Block using specific body parts. When doing so, add their attack modifier to the Parrying check or Blocking check, and reduce the damage they take by twice or three times their Damage Reduction on a success.

Tracking Reactions and Surge Dice: Tracking Action Economy and Surge Dice can be done similar to how Conditions are tracked for monsters generally. Consider noting a number of Rs equal to the number of reactions the monster has access to, and replacing each remaining R with a D at the start of the monsters turn. Before this replacement, remember to remove the Ds from the previous round. You may also use an S instead of a D, though the possible associations may not be to your liking.

Alternatively, you can use multiple d6 and two regions for each monster to track how many Reactions and Surge Dice they have. When a die is in the first region, it is a Reaction, and when you use a Reaction, you can remove the die. When a die is in the second region, it is a Surge Die, and when using a Surge Die, you can just roll that die from there and remove it. At the start of a turn, remove all remaining dice from the Surge Die region and move all remaining dice from the Reaction region to the Surge Die region. At the end of a turn, add a number of d6 to the Reaction region for every unused Action and Bonus Action.

Physique

Body Parts: A monster tends to have a multitude of body parts that it uses for its various ways of interacting with the world. When describing a monster or what it does, highlight which body parts it uses for what, and be ready to have the party try to disable body parts of their choosing through Aimed Strikes. Encourage them to do so against monsters with higher Hit Points and monsters with lower Hit DCs, especially when they are the only such monster in an encounter.

Assigning Body Parts to Actions: When creating or editing a monsters statblock, consider which body parts are used for specific actions and add the body parts to those actions if they aren't already within the name. When a body part is hurt or disabled, it is then easier to remember which rolls are made with Disadvantage or no longer possible.

Tracking Wounds and Disabilities: Tracking Wounds and Disabilities can be done similar to how Conditions are tracked for monsters generally. However, as a monster can have multiple wounds and they relate to specific body parts, you'll have to also track which body parts are affected. Consider adding the name of a wounded body part to the list of conditions affecting the monster, and crossing it through or marking it with an X when it is disabled. This is tedious. Outsource this to a consenting player if possible.

Spellcasting

Spell Points: Monsters with spellcasting also use Spell Points and a Spell Limits and can Overcast and Upcast similar to player characters. The following table shows the suggested Spell Point amounts and Spell Limits depending on the CR of the monster, assuming they focus on spellcasting in combat:

Challenge Rating	Spell Points	Spell Limits
1	12	6
3	18	9
5	24	12
7	30	15
9	36	18
11	42	21
13	48	24
15	54	27
17	60	30
x	3(x+3)	3(x+3)/2

Lessened Spell Point Amount: As you may notice, monsters have less Spell Points at their disposal than player characters. This is meant to make it easier for a monster to run out of Spell Points during a singular combat, and it is also meant to limit the amount of powerful spells the monster can cast during that combat. The monster should have access to a spell that does not cost Spell Points, such as a cantrip or a signature spell, to fall back to when the Spell Points run out.

Spell Checks: Monsters generally use their spell attack modifier for their Spell checks.

Monster Signature Spells: Monsters with spellcasting may have a spell that is iconic for their flavour of spellcasting. This spell should be on the weaker side of its spells and the monster should be able to cast that spell for free, as if it was a cantrip.

Tracking Spell Points: Spell Points can be tracked and customized in the same manner as Hit Points.

Converting Monsters with Spellcasting: To convert a monster that already uses spells to this system, follow these steps:

Note a Spell Point amount and Spell Limits that befit the Challenge Rating of the monster, as shown in the table above.
Note the Spell check modifier based on the previous spell attack modifier.
Pick one signature spell for that monster and note the Spell Point cost of the other spells.
You may check the list of Caster Training features and choose a number of features roughly equal to the Proficiency Bonus of the monster to enhance their spellcasting.

Customizing a Monster

Adding Weakspots: Some monsters have weakspots, such as their eyes or an exposed organ, that can lend itself to Aimed Strikes of the party. These weak points might be associated with a reduced, nullified or negative Damage Reduction, or with Vulnerability to specific damage types. Consider adding such weakspots to monsters with high Damage Reduction to give the party a way to deal more significant damage, and consider adding them to monsters with lots of Hit Points to allow for variety in attacks so that combat does not grow stale.

Adding Wounds and Disabilities: When a monster is too powerful for the party to face, consider having it start the fight with wounds or disabilities. These may be a result of a previous fight the monster was in recently, so consider having the players find out about that encounter before or after.