Upgrading and Downgrading Monsters

As the PC's grow in power, enemies that were once overwhelming threats become less and less frightening. Nothing makes your players more satisfied than just barely persevering over a single, powerful monster at level 5, and then hacking through a swarm of those same monsters at level 15; it really gives them a sense of how much more powerful their characters are becoming.

Unfortunately, throwing a bunch of level 5 solo monsters at a level 15 party isn't going to make for a fun encounter; it will just take the PC's forever to whittle down the monsters' hit points, and the monsters' inability to hit the PC's will remove any element of challenge. Furthermore, solo and elite monsters have a lot of actions each round, and you as the DM probably don't want to be running eight of them at a time. So, here's a fast and dirty rule for using the same enemies at different levels.

• Create a Minion, Lesser, Normal, Elite, or Solo version of the monster that's worth the same amount of XP as the original.

Let's say your PC's fight an elite orcish warrior at first level (200 xp). A fifth level normal monster is worth that same amount of XP, so you could take that elite orc, raise him to fifth level, and then downgrade him to a normal monster. When the PC's reach mid heroic tier, they find themselves facing what is undoubtedly the same monster that they did at level 1, but now they can handle more of them. They fight large groups of these orcs at level 9 (a level 9 lesser monster is worth 200 XP), and then crowds of them at level 13 (minions).

For another example, let's say you plan for your campaign to end with the PC's going into the Abyss to slay a demon lord. To give them a preview of the horrors to come, you might take a nycademon (level 22 monster, worth 4,150 XP) and have them fight a thirteenth level solo version of it (4,000 XP. Not exactly the same, but close enough for government work) at late heroic or early paragon tier. Fighting this apparently mighty demon and then learning that the ultimate villain's lair contains armies of them will give the PC's a sense of scale, and make them feel totally badass when they really are powerful enough to face armies of nycademons.

At early levels, XP awards for monsters at different levels tend to be divisible. This breaks down at higher levels (as per the example of the nycademon above), but as long as its close enough to the same number of XP, it works. A good guideline is:

• A minion is four levels higher than a lesser. A lesser is four levels higher than a normal. A normal is four levels higher than an elite. An elite is five or six levels higher than a solo.

That's the premise. Now to go into the execution. The DMG provides rules for upgrading or downgrading a monster by changing its defenses, hit points, and other statistics. If you're changing them more than five levels or so, you will also want to adjust the damage done by their attacks as per the table on page 185 of the DMG (be aware, though, that this table errs on the forgiving side. Use it as a guideline, but most of your monsters should do slightly more damage than it says. If you have access to DDI, there are updated damage tables that work much better). The hard part is changing the monster's "grade" (elite, minion, etc). This isn't an exact science, but here's a basic template that I've found to work well.


Creating a Minion

• Raise the base monster's level by eight.
• Give it only one hit point, and remember that minions take no damage from an attack that misses.
• Look at the expected damage values for a monster of the creature's (new) level, and have its attacks do a static number toward the bottom of that range (for instance, if a level 1 monster is expected to deal 1d10+3 damage with a typical attack, a minion should deal 4 or 5). The damage can be a point or three higher if your minion is a Brute.
• Take away any recharge powers, and leave it with (at most) only a single encounter power.

Creating a Lesser

• Raise the base monster's level by four.
• Reduce its hit points to half of its new expected hit point total, and remember that lesser monsters are instantly killed by a critical hit.
• The monster automatically fails all saving throws.
• Look at the expected damage values for a monster of the creature's (new) level, and have its attacks do a static number toward the lower-middle of that range (for instance, if a level 1 monster is expected to deal 1d10+3 damage with a typical attack, a lesser should deal 6 or 7). The damage can be a point or three higher if your lesser is a Brute.
• Take away any recharge powers, but leave its encounter powers (watering them down as necessary if they're too powerful for a lesser).

Creating an Elite

• Lower the base monster's level by four.
• Give it one of the templates from pages 176-184 of the DMG.
• Alternatively, you can wing it on your own by doubling the monster's (new) hit point total, raising three of its (new) defenses by 2, giving it a +2 bonus to saving throws and an action point, and then making up some new abilities for it. In essence, you can create your own "template" tailored specifically for this monster. If you're going this route, you should make sure that the monster can make more than one attack per round, and that it has some kind of reaction or interrupt ability (preferably movement related).

Creating a Solo

• Lower the base monster's level by nine or ten.
• Quadruple its (new) hit point total.
• Raise three of its (new) defenses by 2.
• Give it a +5 bonus to saving throws.
• Give it two action points.
• Some of its encounter powers should become rechargeable.
• Give it one of the following two abilities:

Double Actions (passive): instead of rolling for initiative, the monster has two initiative scores. One equal to its expected initiative bonus +5, the other equal to its expected initiative bonus +15. On both of these turns, the monster can make a minor, a move, and a standard action. The monster can make saving throws and recharge rolls only on its higher initiative. If the monster inflicts or recieves a status effect that lasts until the beginning or end of its next turn, make it last until the turn after its next.

Or

Spawn Minions (minor; once per round): a minion three levels lower than the monster appears in an adjacent square and acts after the solo monster's turn. Do not award XP for defeating these minions. Note: you should add the "leader" sub-role to your solo monster's description if you give it this ability.


Note that for all the above examples, I've been assuming that the base monster is a Normal. You can reverse engineer these steps to turn an elite into a solo, a solo into a normal, a minion into an elite, etc.


An Example

One of the first monsters I created for this blog was the Stone Archon Fleshmasher, a level 16 normal monster. For this post, I made a version of this creature at every grade, scaling them to the appropriate levels for the creature's XP value. The elite and solo versions were made using the Fighter class template from the DMG.


Stone Archon Fleshmasher; Level 6 Solo Soldier (1,400 XP)
Medium elemental humanoid (earth)
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Initiative see Double Actions below Perception +9 (tremorsense 5)
HP 272; Bloodied 136
AC 24 Fortitude 23 Reflex 17 Will 20
Speed 5 (increase to 6 while bloodied)
Skills +12 Religion
Saving Throws +5
Action Points 2
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Passive
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aura Battlefield Awareness aura 2; enemies within the aura are marked by the archon.
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Double Actions
The archon has two initiative scores: one at 21, the other at 11. On each of these turns, the archon can make one standard, one move, and one minor action, but it makes saving throws and recharge rolls only on its first turn each round. Effects that last until the beginning or end of the archon’s next turn refer to its next turn on that initiative.
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Combat Superiority
If the archon hits with an opportunity attack provoked by movement, the enemy stops moving.
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Standard Actions
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basic melee attack Flail (at will):
reach 2; +13 vs. AC; 2d6+4 damage; if the target is slowed, it is now immobilized until the end of the fleshmasher’s next turn. If a creature is killed by this attack, its body turns to stone.
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melee Swishing Flail (at will):
Make two flail attacks against different targets.
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blast Avalanche (recharge 4, 5, 6):
Close blast 6; +13 vs. Reflex; 2d6+4 damage and target is restrained (save ends).
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Move Actions
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Earth Mastery (recharge 4, 5, 6):
Teleport three squares and make a basic attack. The archon must begin and end the teleport on squares that are touching earth or stone. When the archon is bloodied, this ability becomes usable at will.
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Minor Actions
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Close burst Heavy Feet (once per round; at will):
Targets one or two enemies within 5; +13 vs. Fortitude; target is pulled 2 squares and slowed until the end of the archon’s next turn.
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Reactions
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Sink Away (when the archon takes 20 damage or more from a single attack):
Recharge Earth Mastery and use it immediately.
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Alignment Chaotic Evil
Languages Primordial
Str 24 (+10) Con 26 (+11) Dex 10 (+3) Int 16 (+6) Wis 20 (+8) Cha 18 (+7)


Stone Archon Fleshmasher; Level 12 Elite Soldier (1,400 XP)
Medium elemental humanoid (earth)
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Initiative +8 Perception +11 (tremorsense 5)
HP 208; Bloodied 104
AC 30 Fortitude 28 Reflex 22 Will 26
Speed 5
Skills +14 Religion
Saving Throws +2
Action Points 1
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Passive
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aura Battlefield Awareness aura 1; enemies within the aura are marked by the archon.
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Combat Superiority
If the archon hits with an opportunity attack provoked by movement, the enemy stops moving.
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Standard Actions
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basic melee attack Flail (at will):
+19 vs. AC; 3d6+5 damage; if the target is slowed, it is now immobilized until the end of the fleshmasher’s next turn. If a creature is killed by this attack, its body turns to stone.
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melee Swishing Flail (at will):
Make two flail attacks against different targets.
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Minor Actions
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Close burst Heavy Feet (once per round; at will):
Targets one or two enemies within 5; +17 vs. Fortitude; target is slowed until the end of the archon’s next turn.
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Reactions
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Sink Away (when the archon takes 20 damage or more from a single attack):
Teleport three squares and make a basic attack. The archon must begin and end the teleport on squares that are touching earth or stone.
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Alignment Chaotic Evil
Languages Primordial
Str 24 (+13) Con 26 (+14) Dex 10 (+6) Int 16 (+9) Wis 20 (+11) Cha 18 (+10)


Stone Archon Fleshmasher; Level 16 Soldier (1,400 XP)
Medium elemental humanoid (earth)
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Initiative +10 Perception +13 (tremorsense 5)
HP 128; Bloodied 64
AC 32 Fortitude 30 Reflex 26 Will 28
Speed 5
Skills +16 Religion
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Standard Actions
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basic melee attack Flail (at will):
+21 vs. AC; 3d8+7 damage; if the target is slowed, it is now immobilized until the end of the fleshmasher’s next turn. If a creature is killed by this attack, its body turns to stone.
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Minor Actions
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Close burst Heavy Feet (once per round; at will):
Targets one enemy within 5; +19 vs. Fortitude; target is slowed until the end of the archon’s next turn.
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Reactions
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Sink Away (when the archon takes 25 damage or more from a single attack):
Teleport three squares and make a basic attack. The archon must begin and end the teleport on squares that are touching earth or stone.
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Alignment Chaotic Evil
Languages Primordial
Str 24 (+15) Con 26 (+16) Dex 10 (+8) Int 16 (+11) Wis 20 (+13) Cha 18 (+12)


Stone Archon Fleshmasher; Level 20 Lesser Soldier (1,400 XP)
Medium elemental humanoid (earth)
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Initiative +12 Perception +15 (tremorsense 5)
HP 76
AC 36 Fortitude 34 Reflex 31 Will 32
Speed 5
Skills +18 Religion
Saving Throws A lesser monster automatically fails all saving throws.
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Standard Actions
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basic melee attack Flail (at will):
+25 vs. AC; 18 damage and the target is slowed until the end of the archon‘s next turn; if it was already slowed it is now immobilized until the end of the fleshmasher’s next turn. If a creature is killed by this attack, its body turns to stone.
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Reactions
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Sink Away (when the archon takes 35 damage or more from a single attack):
Teleport three squares. The archon must begin and end the teleport on squares that are touching earth or stone.
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Alignment Chaotic Evil
Languages Primordial
Str 24 (+17) Con 26 (+18) Dex 10 (+10) Int 16 (+13) Wis 20 (+15) Cha 18 (+14)


Stone Archon Fleshmasher; Level 24 Minion Soldier (1,400 XP)
Medium elemental humanoid (earth)
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Initiative +14 Perception +17 (tremorsense 5)
HP 1 (a minion is never damaged by an attack that misses)
AC 40 Fortitude 38 Reflex 34 Will 36
Speed 5
Skills +20 Religion
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Standard Actions
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basic melee attack Flail (at will):
+29 vs. AC; 15 damage and the target is slowed until the end of the archon‘s next turn; if it was already slowed it is now immobilized until the end of the fleshmasher’s next turn. If a creature is killed by this attack, its body turns to stone.
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Alignment Chaotic Evil
Languages Primordial
Str 24 (+19) Con 26 (+20) Dex 10 (+12) Int 16 (+15) Wis 20 (+17) Cha 18 (+16)