Mike Shea

So I could take a Rend attack and say he does a plus 11 attack as a ranged attack doing 17 acid damage. And it would feel exactly like Melf's Acid Arrow, kind of, other than it doesn't do the extra damage on a turn. But it still would work just fine. And same with like the fear. I could just say he picks a target. He does a DC 17 check or DC 18, whatever. And then that creature is afraid of him.

So I could take a Rend attack and say he does a plus 11 attack as a ranged attack doing 17 acid damage. And it would feel exactly like Melf's Acid Arrow, kind of, other than it doesn't do the extra damage on a turn. But it still would work just fine. And same with like the fear. I could just say he picks a target. He does a DC 17 check or DC 18, whatever. And then that creature is afraid of him.

So I could take a Rend attack and say he does a plus 11 attack as a ranged attack doing 17 acid damage. And it would feel exactly like Melf's Acid Arrow, kind of, other than it doesn't do the extra damage on a turn. But it still would work just fine. And same with like the fear. I could just say he picks a target. He does a DC 17 check or DC 18, whatever. And then that creature is afraid of him.

Right. And you could just do something like that. So you can improvise those rather than looking them up. But I still feel like looking them up is not a thing. Now, in the video where I talked about this extensively last week, a bunch of people like, yeah, well, that's why you use D&D Beyond. You just highlight it. I use the physical books. I bought the physical books.

Right. And you could just do something like that. So you can improvise those rather than looking them up. But I still feel like looking them up is not a thing. Now, in the video where I talked about this extensively last week, a bunch of people like, yeah, well, that's why you use D&D Beyond. You just highlight it. I use the physical books. I bought the physical books.

Right. And you could just do something like that. So you can improvise those rather than looking them up. But I still feel like looking them up is not a thing. Now, in the video where I talked about this extensively last week, a bunch of people like, yeah, well, that's why you use D&D Beyond. You just highlight it. I use the physical books. I bought the physical books.

I want to use the physical books in my table. So the fact that it works well in online tools does not help me. And I want to see it in, which is in the book. So what it proved to me is that to me, I said it was my biggest problem with the Monster Manual. It is still my biggest problem with the Monster Manual.

I want to use the physical books in my table. So the fact that it works well in online tools does not help me. And I want to see it in, which is in the book. So what it proved to me is that to me, I said it was my biggest problem with the Monster Manual. It is still my biggest problem with the Monster Manual.

I want to use the physical books in my table. So the fact that it works well in online tools does not help me. And I want to see it in, which is in the book. So what it proved to me is that to me, I said it was my biggest problem with the Monster Manual. It is still my biggest problem with the Monster Manual.

And it was one that immediately was a problem for me on the first night where I used it at my table. Still, otherwise the monsters ran really great. Boss monsters need help. In Forge of Foes, myself and Scott Gray and Teos Abadieh describe boss monsters. And one of the things that I wanted to like hammer a stake into the ground on is that boss monsters need help simply because they're bosses.

And it was one that immediately was a problem for me on the first night where I used it at my table. Still, otherwise the monsters ran really great. Boss monsters need help. In Forge of Foes, myself and Scott Gray and Teos Abadieh describe boss monsters. And one of the things that I wanted to like hammer a stake into the ground on is that boss monsters need help simply because they're bosses.

And it was one that immediately was a problem for me on the first night where I used it at my table. Still, otherwise the monsters ran really great. Boss monsters need help. In Forge of Foes, myself and Scott Gray and Teos Abadieh describe boss monsters. And one of the things that I wanted to like hammer a stake into the ground on is that boss monsters need help simply because they're bosses.

that the minute you put a boss monster out there, characters and players love to zero in on that boss and beat the hell out of that thing. They use every spell at their disposal, every way to stop that boss from doing anything that they can do, hitting them as hard as they can. There isn't this, very rarely do characters like go and separate out and go fight all the minions.

that the minute you put a boss monster out there, characters and players love to zero in on that boss and beat the hell out of that thing. They use every spell at their disposal, every way to stop that boss from doing anything that they can do, hitting them as hard as they can. There isn't this, very rarely do characters like go and separate out and go fight all the minions.

that the minute you put a boss monster out there, characters and players love to zero in on that boss and beat the hell out of that thing. They use every spell at their disposal, every way to stop that boss from doing anything that they can do, hitting them as hard as they can. There isn't this, very rarely do characters like go and separate out and go fight all the minions.

Instead, they almost always zero in on the boss, which means the boss needs ways to be able to handle that focus. In D&D 2024 and in the D&D 2025 Monster Manual, it looks like legendary monsters have gotten a pretty significant boost to damage output to account for the fact that they are legendary.

Instead, they almost always zero in on the boss, which means the boss needs ways to be able to handle that focus. In D&D 2024 and in the D&D 2025 Monster Manual, it looks like legendary monsters have gotten a pretty significant boost to damage output to account for the fact that they are legendary.

Instead, they almost always zero in on the boss, which means the boss needs ways to be able to handle that focus. In D&D 2024 and in the D&D 2025 Monster Manual, it looks like legendary monsters have gotten a pretty significant boost to damage output to account for the fact that they are legendary.

Even if you compare them to a monster of equal challenge rating, there have been some studies that have shown, there have been some webpages where they've talked about how legendary monsters do more damage than non-legendary at the same challenge rating. That's a good impression. However, usually what they need is defense, not offense.

Even if you compare them to a monster of equal challenge rating, there have been some studies that have shown, there have been some webpages where they've talked about how legendary monsters do more damage than non-legendary at the same challenge rating. That's a good impression. However, usually what they need is defense, not offense.