D&D Monster Manual

[Fearguis]

I was thinking of taking a couple monsters from the MM to serve as "Monster of the Week" for my Conan game. I was browsing through the book, and looking at monsters that were a few CRs higher than my players, and just brainstorming.

But I noticed that on quite a few of them, their damage potential was pretty damn high. So much so that I could easily see them killing a PC with a single hit. By the same token, their hit points were low in comparison, making them fairly easy to kill by the players (one hit as well).

Has anyone else noticed this trend? I guess what I'm wondering is, do PCs have fewer hit points in Conan than they do in D&D? I think an increase in my players hit points would make this balance out a little more, (just enough that they could survive one hit, at least)

 

[ryhopewood]

Hi there

In standard D&D, the HD keep rolling after 10th level, but in Conan the PCs only receive a fixed point or three per level up to 20th. Therefore, high level D&D characters can have a lot more hit points than Conan characters.

BTW - picked up a copy of D&D monster book "Lords of Madness". There were definitely some cool creatures in there for Conan - especially the aboleths which are very Lovecraftian (even says so in the text ).

Ian

 

[VincentDarlage]

Definitely, Conan PCs have less hit points than DnD ones. The barbarian, for example, has d10 HD, while the DnD barbarian has d12. Also, all classes stop gaining HD at 10th level, earning just a few hit points per level afterwards, and do not gain Con bonuses to HP after 10th level.

DnD monsters have the CRs set based on a certain amount of magic items the PCs should have. A Conan character should never have that amount of magic items on them. Using a DnD monster's CR against a Conan character is not a good measure of comparability.

 

[Fearguis]

Hi there

In standard D&D, the HD keep rolling after 10th level, but in Conan the PCs only receive a fixed point or three per level up to 20th. Therefore, high level D&D characters can have a lot more hit points than Conan characters.

BTW - picked up a copy of D&D monster book "Lords of Madness". There were definitely some cool creatures in there for Conan - especially the aboleths which are very Lovecraftian (even says so in the text ).

Ian

Actually, my next adventure will be an ill fated sea voyage, where the PCs are stranded on an uncharted island, where the inhabitants have been cursed to become "Skum", by an Aboleth who resides in an underwater cave below. I imagine I'll call the Skum "Deep Ones" and the Aboleth, "Dagon". But I haven't decided on that one yet.

 

[sbarrie]

But I noticed that on quite a few of them, their damage potential was pretty damn high. So much so that I could easily see them killing a PC with a single hit. By the same token, their hit points were low in comparison, making them fairly easy to kill by the players (one hit as well).

Were you looking at 3rd edition Demons and Devils? Low Hit Points for those critters was a problem they addressed in 3.5.

Conan characters shouldn't have few Hit Points than D&D. Since they have more Attribute increases, they should have a higher Con and more Hit Points. Also, they have armour which reduces damage instead of just ducking it.

Edit: Except after 10th level, of course.

 

[S'mon]

For Conan, hit dice is a better comparator of threat than Challenge Rating. ie a 5 hit die beastie is usually a good challenge for 5th level PCs. Magic powers may need to be toned down or eliminated.