Challenge Rating: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 19:34, 9 October 2017

Challenge Rating was a mechanic introduced in Dungeons & Dragons 3e to try and make it easier for DMs to judge what kind of monsters were suitable to throw against their party and give them a reasonable chance of succeeding. It... didn't exactly work as planned. On paper, a monster with a particular Challenge Rating is a challenge for four player characters whose level matches the number. The number is based on an average of Hit Dice, Armor Class, Spell Resistance, Damage Reduction, damage output and all other abilities it might have. While the concept seems simple enough, in practice it means that there are low-level monsters with very HD or AC, can hit really hard or have abilities that either inflict a continuous effect that a party of that level cannot easily deal with or outright kills you.

Because of this correctly utilizing CR to create balanced encounters that don't stomp your players is more of an art than a science, which ironically is the same problem that WotC tried to solve with the concept of the Challenge Rating.

5e

5e solved the issue somewhat with the encounter building tables of the 10/10/2016 Unearthed Arcana article. The following table is plucked from that article, and lists the ratio of the number of adventurers needed for a monster of equal level. For example, a 6th level character can handle two monsters with CR1, while a 7th level character can handle three. Do this for every character you have in your party and presto, you're done. This still requires some fidgeting however: it would take four 3rd level characters to take down a CR2 monster, an example of which would be a skeletal minotaur. That thing can hit for 4d8+4 damage (22 average) on the charge, which means that with some luck it can one-shot a third level character. As such, always keep an eye out for such outliers when building encounters.

Level

1/8

1/4

1/2

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

1st

1:2

1:1

3:1

5:1

–

2nd

1:3

1:2

1:1

3:1

6:1

–

3rd

1:5

1:2

1:1

2:1

4:1

6:1

–

4th

1:8

1:4

1:2

1:1

2:1

4:1

6:1

–

5th

1:12

1:8

1:4

1:2

1:1

2:1

3:1

5:1

6:1

–

6th

1:12

1:9

1:5

1:2

1:1

2:1

4:1

5:1

6:1

–

7th

1:12

1:6

1:3

1:1

2:1

3:1

4:1

5:1

–

8th

1:12

1:7

1:4

1:2

1:1

2:1

3:1

4:1

6:1

–

9th

1:12

1:8

1:4

1:2

1:1

2:1

3:1

4:1

5:1

6:1

–

10th

1:12

1:10

1:5

1:2

1:1

2:1

3:1

4:1

5:1

6:1

–

11th

-

1:6

1:3

1:2

1:1

2:1

3:1

4:1

5:1

6:1

–

12th

-

1:8

1:3

1:2

1:1

2:1

3:1

4:1

5:1

6:1

–

13th

-

1:9

1:4

1:2

1:1

2:1

3:1

4:1

5:1

6:1

–

14th

-

1:10

1:4

1:3

1:2

1:1

2:1

3:1

4:1

5:1

6:1

–

15th

-

1:12

1:5

1:3

1:2

1:1

2:1

3:1

4:1

5:1

6:1

–

16th

-

1:5

1:3

1:2

1:1

2:1

3:1

4:1

5:1

6:1

–

17th

-

1:7

1:4

1:3

1:2

1:1

2:1

3:1

4:1

5:1

6:1

–

18th

-

1:7

1:5

1:3

1:2

1:1

2:1

3:1

4:1

5:1

6:1

–

19th

-

1:8

1:5

1:3

1:2

1:1

2:1

3:1

4:1

5:1

6:1

–

20th

-

1:9

1:6

1:4

1:2

1:1

2:1

3:1

4:1

5:1

6:1

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 '''Challenge Rating''' was a mechanic introduced in [[Dungeons & Dragons]] [[3e]] to try and make it easier for DMs to judge what kind of monsters were suitable to throw against their party and give them a reasonable chance of succeeding. It... didn't exactly work as planned. On paper, a monster with a particular Challenge Rating is a challenge for four player characters whose level matches the number. The number is based on an average of [[Hit Dice]], [[Armor Class]], [[Spell Resistance]], [[Damage Reduction]], damage output and all other abilities it might have. While the concept seems simple enough, in practice it means that there are low-level monsters with very HD or AC, can hit really hard or have abilities that either inflict a continuous effect that a party of that level cannot easily deal with or outright kills you.
-An example would be the Skeletons from [[5e]]. Regular skeletons are CR 1/4, meaning that four are a fitting match for a 1st level party. They have an AC that's pretty easy to deal with, don't have too many HP, don't deal a lot of damage (1d6+2 is perfectly survivable at first level) and have two immunities that a first-level party won't use a lot and a weakness that they are likely to have. The skeletal warhorse on the next page over however has a CR of 1/2, so two would be a match for a 1st level party. Except not only are they twice as fast they have double the HP and can deal a crippling 2d6+4 damage in melee, which at an average of 11 is a credible threat to even the toughest of [[Barbarian]]s. It gets even worse with the [[minotaur]] skeleton on the same page: it's CR2 but has a whopping 67 HP, 40ft movement, and has a charge attack that increases the damage of its gore attack to a staggering 4d8+4 damage for an average of 22 damage. You'll need to be quite the badass to survive that. And that's not even taking into consideration the more powerful monsters.
+Because of this correctly utilizing CR to create balanced encounters that don't stomp your players is more of an art than a science, which ironically is the same problem that WotC tried to solve with the concept of the Challenge Rating.
-Because of this correctly utilizing CR to create balanced encounters that don't stomp your players is more of an art than a science, which ironically is the same problem that WotC tried to solve with the concept of the Challenge Rating.
+==5e==
+[[5e]] solved the issue somewhat with the encounter building tables of the 10/10/2016 [[Unearthed Arcana]] article. The following table is plucked from that article, and lists the ratio of the number of adventurers needed for a monster of equal level. For example, a 6th level character can handle two monsters with CR1, while a 7th level character can handle three. Do this for every character you have in your party and presto, you're done. This still requires some fidgeting however: it would take four 3rd level characters to take down a CR2 monster, an example of which would be a skeletal minotaur. That thing can hit for 4d8+4 damage (22 average) on the charge, which means that with some luck it can one-shot a third level character. As such, always keep an eye out for such outliers when building encounters.
+{|border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=4 style="margin: 1em; border: 1px solid black;"
+|- align=center
+| Level || 1/8 || 1/4 || 1/2 || 1 || 2 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 6 || 7 || 8 || 9 || 10 || 11 || 12 || 13 || 14 || 15 || 16 || 17 || 18 || 19 || 20
+|- align=center
+| 1st || 1:2 || 1:1 || 3:1 || 5:1 || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || –
+|- align=center
+| 2nd || 1:3 || 1:2 || 1:1 || 3:1 || 6:1 || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || –
+|- align=center
+| 3rd || 1:5 || 1:2 || 1:1 || 2:1 || 4:1 || 6:1 || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || –
+|- align=center
+| 4th || 1:8 || 1:4 || 1:2 || 1:1 || 2:1 || 4:1 || 6:1 || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || –
+|- align=center
+| 5th || 1:12 || 1:8 || 1:4 || 1:2 || 1:1 || 2:1 || 3:1 || 5:1 || 6:1 || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || –
+|- align=center
+| 6th || 1:12 || 1:9 || 1:5 || 1:2 || 1:1 || 2:1 || 2:1 || 4:1 || 5:1 || 6:1 || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || –
+|- align=center
+| 7th || 1:12 || 1:12 || 1:6 || 1:3 || 1:1 || 1:1 || 2:1 || 3:1 || 4:1 || 5:1 || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || –
+|- align=center
+| 8th || 1:12 || 1:12 || 1:7 || 1:4 || 1:2 || 1:1 || 2:1 || 3:1 || 3:1 || 4:1 || 6:1 || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || –
+|- align=center
+| 9th || 1:12 || 1:12 || 1:8 || 1:4 || 1:2 || 1:1 || 1:1 || 2:1 || 3:1 || 4:1 || 5:1 || 6:1 || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || –
+|- align=center
+| 10th || 1:12 || 1:12 || 1:10 || 1:5 || 1:2 || 1:1 || 1:1 || 2:1 || 2:1 || 3:1 || 4:1 || 5:1 || 6:1 || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || –
+|- align=center
+| 11th || - || - || - || 1:6 || 1:3 || 1:2 || 1:1 || 2:1 || 2:1 || 2:1 || 3:1 || 4:1 || 5:1 || 6:1 || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || –
+|- align=center
+| 12th || - || - || - || 1:8 || 1:3 || 1:2 || 1:1 || 1:1 || 2:1 || 2:1 || 3:1 || 3:1 || 4:1 || 5:1 || 6:1 || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || –
+|- align=center
+| 13th || - || - || - || 1:9 || 1:4 || 1:2 || 1:2 || 1:1 || 1:1 || 2:1 || 2:1 || 3:1 || 3:1 || 4:1 || 5:1 || 6:1 || – || – || – || – || – || – || –
+|- align=center
+| 14th || - || - || - || 1:10 || 1:4 || 1:3 || 1:2 || 1:1 || 1:1 || 2:1 || 2:1 || 3:1 || 3:1 || 4:1 || 4:1 || 5:1 || 6:1 || – || – || – || – || – || –
+|- align=center
+| 15th || - || - || - || 1:12 || 1:5 || 1:3 || 1:2 || 1:1 || 1:1 || 1:1 || 2:1 || 2:1 || 3:1 || 3:1 || 4:1 || 5:1 || 5:1 || 6:1 || – || – || – || – || –
+|- align=center
+| 16th || - || - || - || - || 1:5 || 1:3 || 1:2 || 1:1 || 1:1 || 1:1 || 2:1 || 2:1 || 2:1 || 3:1 || 4:1 || 4:1 || 5:1 || 5:1 || 6:1 || – || – || – || –
+|- align=center
+| 17th || - || - || - || - || 1:7 || 1:4 || 1:3 || 1:2 || 1:1 || 1:1 || 1:1 || 2:1 || 2:1 || 2:1 || 3:1 || 3:1 || 4:1 || 4:1 || 5:1 || 6:1 || – || – || –
+|- align=center
+| 18th || - || - || - || - || 1:7 || 1:5 || 1:3 || 1:2 || 1:1 || 1:1 || 1:1 || 2:1 || 2:1 || 2:1 || 3:1 || 3:1 || 4:1 || 4:1 || 5:1 || 6:1 || 6:1 || – || –
+|- align=center
+| 19th || - || - || - || - || 1:8 || 1:5 || 1:3 || 1:2 || 1:2 || 1:1 || 1:1 || 1:1 || 2:1 || 2:1 || 2:1 || 3:1 || 3:1 || 4:1 || 4:1 || 5:1 || 6:1 || 6:1 || –
+|- align=center
+| 20th || - || - || - || - || 1:9 || 1:6 || 1:4 || 1:2 || 1:2 || 1:1 || 1:1 || 1:1 || 1:1 || 2:1 || 2:1 || 2:1 || 3:1 || 3:1 || 4:1 || 4:1 || 5:1 || 5:1 || 6:1
+|}
 [[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]][[Category:Game Mechanics]]

Challenge Rating: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 19:34, 9 October 2017

5e

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