---
MONSTER PERSONALITY
To address the question of a monster's personality, you
can use the tables in chapter 4 of the Dungeon Master's
Guide, use the Monster Personality table be low, or sim-
ply jot down a few no tes based on a creature's Monster
Manual descripti o n. During the b a ttle, you can use these
ideas to inform how you portray the monster s and their
actions. To keep things s imple, you can assign the same
personality traits to an entire group of monsters. For ex-
ample, one bandit gang might be an unruly mob of brag-
garts, while the members of another gang are a lways on
edge and ready to flee a t the first sign of danger.
MONSTER PERSONALITY
d8 Personality
1 Cowardly; looking to surrender
2 Greedy; wants treasure
3 Braggart; makes a show of bravery but runs from
danger
4
5
Fanat ic; read y to die fighting
Rabble; poorly trained and easily rattled
6 Brave; stands its ground
7 joker; taunts its enemies
8 Bully; refuses to believe it can lose
MONSTER RELATIONSHIPS
Do riva lries, h atreds, o r attachments exist among the
monster s in an encounte r? I.f so, you can use s uch re-
lationships to inform the mons te rs' be havio r during
combat. The death of a much-revered leader might
throw its followers into a frenzy. On the other hand, a
monster might decide to flee if its spouse is killed, or a
mistreated toady might be eager to surrende r and betray
its master in return for its life.
MONSTER RELATIONSHIPS
d6 Relationship
1 2 3 4 5 6
Has a rival; wants one random ally to suffer
Is abused by others; hangs back, betrays at first
opportunity
Is worshiped; allies will die for it
Is outcast by group; its allies ignore it
Is outcast by choice; cares only for itself
Is seen as a bully; its allies want to see it defeated
TERRAIN AND TRAPS
A few e le ments that make a battl efie ld som ething other
than a large a rea of flat ground can go a long way to-
ward spicing up a n e ncounter. Consider setting your e n-
counte r in an area that would provide c hallenges even if
a fight were not taking place the r e. What potentia l perils
or other features might draw the characters' attention,
eithe r befor e or during the fight? Why are monsters lurk-
ing in this a rea to begin with-does it offer good hiding
places, for instance?
To add deta ils to a n encounter area at random, look to
the tables in appendix A of the Dungeon Master's Guide
to de termine room and area features, p ote ntia l hazards,
obstacles, traps, and more.
RANDOM EVENTS
Consider what might happe n in an encounte r a rea if the
characters were to never enter it. Do the guards serve in
s hifts? What other characters or monsters might visit?
Do c reatures gathe r there to eat or gossip? Are there
any natural phenomena-such as strong winds, earth
tremors, or rain squalls-that sometimes take place
in the area? Random events can add a fun e lement of
th e unexpecte d to a n e ncounter.Just when you think
a fight's outcome is evide nt, an unforeseen event can
make things more compelling.
A number of the tables in the Dungeon Master's Guide
can s uggest rando m events. The tables used for e ncoun-
ter location, weir d locales, and wilderness weather in
chapter 5 of that book are a good s tarting point for out-
door e ncounte rs. The tables in appendix A can be useful
for indoor and outdoor encounte rs-especially the tables
for obstacles, traps, and tric ks. Fina lly, consult the r a n -
dom e ncounte r tables in the next section of t his book for
inspiration.
Quick Matchups
The guidelines above assume that you a r e concerne d
abo ut balance in your combat encounters and h ave
enoug h time to prepare them. If you don't have much
time, or if you want s imple r but less precise guidelines,
the Quick Matchups table be low offers an alternative.
This table gives you a way to match a charac te r of
a certain level with a numbe r of monsters. The table
lists the challenge ratings to use for including one, two,
and four monsters pe r cha racter for each level. For in-
stance, looking at the 3rd-level entry on the table, you
can see that a CR 1/ 2 monster is equivalent to one 3rd-
level ch a r acter, as are two CR 1/4 mons ter s and four
CR 1/ 8 ones.
QUICK MATCHUPS
Character
Level
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
11th
12 th
13th
14th
15th
16 th
17th
18th
19th
20th
1 Monster
1/ 4
1 /2
1/2
2 2 3 3 4 4 4 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 9
10
2 Monsters
1/8
1/ 4
1 /4
1 /2
2 2 2 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 6 6
4 Monsters
1/8
1/4
1 /2
1 /2
1/2
1 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 4
CHAPTER 2 I DUNGEON MASTER'S TOOLS
