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In order to master my first campaign soon, I wish to change/create some monsters (what I love). However, I don't understand the calculating of the CR. So, I tried to calculate the CR of existing monsters to understand… and I don't find the values of the Monster Manual.

I'm using the DMG p. 274-275, calculating the defensive and offensive CR to make an average.

Here are two examples. First, the zombie. It has a CR of 1/4.

Defensive: average 22 hp and AC 8. I look in the table for HP: I have 1/4. Then, according to the book, I drop the CR by 1 for every 2 points of difference between the suggested AC for the CR. The suggested CR is 13 and the zombie has 8. So, I lower the value by 2. Negative CR makes no sense, so I will keep 0. Defensive CR: 0

Offensive: average damage 4 and attack bonus 1. I look in the table for damage: I have 1/4. Then, according to the book, I drop the CR by 1 for every 2 points of difference between the suggested attack bonus for the CR. The suggested attack bonus is 3 and the zombie has 1. So, I lower the value by 1. Negative CR makes no sense, so I will keep 0. Offensive CR: 0

I make the average 0! Great! A zombie has Undead Fortitude, yes, but is it worth a CR of 1/4?

Here is the second example with the bandit. He has no particularity and a CR of 1/8. I'm doing it the same way.

Defensive: average 11 hp and AC 12. I look in the table for HP: I have 1/8. The suggested AC is 13 and I have 12. Only one point of difference, I do nothing. Defensive CR: 1/8

Offensive: average damage 4-5 and attack bonus 1. I look in the table for damage: I have 1/4. Then, according to the book, I drop the CR by 1 for every 2 points of difference between the suggested attack bonus for the CR. The suggested attack bonus is 3 and the bandit has 1. So, I lower the value by 1. Negative CR makes no sense, so I will keep 0. Offensive CR: 0

The average is 1/16... So 0 or 1/8 as I wish.

I'm quite lost. I don't want to be stuck in maths, but I just want to establish monster's XP and difficulty after all. Could someone explain me what I'm missing here? Maybe creating new monsters doesn't work at low levels?

user17995
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fabian_
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  • In my copy of the MM, both the zombie and the bandit have an attack bonus of +3, not the +1 you are citing. – Christopher Dec 30 '16 at 11:35
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    Hello and welcome, fabian_! I've voted to close this question as a duplicate of the linked question. Obviously that querent's asking about ogres while you've got zombies on the mind, but I think the answers to that post pretty-clearly answer your question, too. If not, please edit your question to indicate how it's different. You can then flag it to a moderator's attention for re-opening. Thanks! – nitsua60 Dec 30 '16 at 14:07
  • Thanks nitsua60 for your help :) I've find my answer in the topics related with the ogre. So in fact it's not really a problem of maths, we must check depending of the level of the group. However @Christopher, I undertand attack bonus as modifiers for the attack without proficiency (in Strengh and Dexterity so). For me, as the Zombie use Strengh to attack, it has 13 (+1), so the attack bonus is 1, no ? – fabian_ Dec 30 '16 at 15:50
  • @fabian_ proficiency bonus is added to almost all monster's attack rolls. It's even included in the entry for their attacks: +3 to hit… – Christopher Dec 30 '16 at 16:54

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