Some Mechanics Revisited

There were a couple of rules discussions we had that I think bear some comment.

Following the battle with the ettercaps and their spiders, D.J. noted that the ettercaps seemed a bit weak, particularly for CR 2 monsters. We did manage to handle them with little damage. But I did a little breakdown myself.

In this edition, custom-built monsters and NPCs are compared to a table to determine their CR. The table, found on page 274 of the DMG, ranks a monster's total to-hit bonus, AC, HP, average damage per turn, and save DCs to determine CR, and the CR then determines the NPC/monster's proficiency bonus. Taking a look at the ettercap's stats, their attack bonus is a bit high for a CR 2 monster, but their save DCs and HP are low. However, their over-all damage per round and AC are spot on. So are they over-powered, under-powered, or spot-on?

Honestly, it is a tough call. Challenge, particularly when trying to compare it to character levels. Even with the structure and restrictions on character options provided by Adventurer's League, a well-built and well-played group of characters can over-come even tremendous challenges, and that capability only grows as the characters level. I think some features are low-balled (such as pack tactics), but I think the over-all effect of some features (again, pack tactics) become easier to minimize as characters grow in level.

Then, Joseph had done some math. The next upgrade in armor for Thok is full plate. Based on the crafting rules, Thok would need to accumulate 300 downtime days in order to craft that. Based on Adventurer's League rules, Thok would need to complete 30 "episodes" of adventuring to accumulate that. Again, D.J. commented on this as possible design problem.

My take is actually more of a design flaw in the structured nature of Adventurer's League rather than game mechanics. In a home game, a DM can grant the party however many downtime days he wants. Adventurer's League provides a more strict approach. This is exacerbated by the "Season" structure of Encounters play. Further, even assuming we decided to play the full Tyranny of Dragons, Thok will have enough money to buy a suit of armor out-right rather than craft it for a discount before we finished Rise of Tiamat. This one is a little easier to fix: provide more opportunities to earn downtime days in structured play. Ultimately, though, it may not matter, at least for our game.

My game design experience is "arm chair," but I have made attempts to organize structured play. I can attest that few things will survive contact with players, ultimately. Good game design and good structured play events work to minimize imbalances rather than prevent them. And to be honest, my experience with previous editions of D&D show that this edition is by far and away is the best at minimizing it.

I'll return with our further adventurers. I have another announcement: started a new blog for my fictions: Tales of Trismegistus. Check it out!