Mike Mearls Games
patreon
Monster Playtest
🕑 Added 2025-02-26 22:30:33 +0000 UTCAttached to this entry is a set of orc stat blocks, a short encounter, and a link to a feedback form. I'd really appreciate it if you took the time to review the material and try giving it a run.
I'm using the Level Drain codename for the monster design project. It's meant to work with both Odyssey and 5e.
This playtest is meant for use with 5e. I'd like to test the monsters against 5e as a base. Testing with Odyssey as a starting point puts too much pressure on both characters and monsters. Testing against a known quantity reduces the question marks on both sides of the screen. By the same token, when I produce playtests for Odyssey I'll use 5e monsters adapted to Odyssey.
Right now, I am focused on designing monsters that are meant to appear in numbers. I've also tweaked the design approach to account for the following categories:
Solos can take on four characters at once.
Elites can take on two characters at once.
Champions match up to characters on a one-to-one basis.
Troopers match up against against characters on a two-to-one basis.
Minions match up against characters on a four-to-one basis.
Take a look and provide comments below. If you run the encounter, let me know and fill out that feedback form!
Comments
Otter's Toast
I ran this with 5 PCs recently and with slightly tweaked attacks (for campaign continuity) and it was wonderfully balanced for level 4. Even considering the ranger walked in loud and proud and didn't even give the orcs a chance to say anything. The spacing was just right to keep a constant stream of enemies right at the brink if what they could handle. I think I'll be using these ideas for game balance going forward as it was also wonderfully smooth behind my screen to run
Sebastian Woschitz
I played this with 3 players at level 3: paladin, warlock, sorcerer. 2 orcs in the party so there was some roleplay involved but at some point all hell broke loose. The balance was amazing, it took 1-2 rounds for ca half of the orcs to reach the players and the combination of hard hits and low HP made for a really exciting encounter. What's the math behind champions? They are not part of the 'streamlined monster rules', right? NB I used reaction & motale rolls, but the Orcs failed morale and fought to the death.
