CR of NPC Warlocks and legendary actions

[da newt]

Can someone help me understand the CR of NPC casters? I see examples from Volo's and the MM but I can't make sense of them.

For example:
Mage has 9 hd, is a 9th lvl caster and is CR 6
Archmage has 18 hd, 18th lvl caster and is CR 12
Priest has 5 hd, 5th lvl caster and is CR 2
Abjurer has 13 hd, 13th lvl caster and is CR 9
Arch Druid has 24 hd, 18th lvl caster and is CR 12
Conjurer has 9 hd, 9th lvl caster and is CR 6
Diviner has 15 hd, 15th lvl castrer and is CR 8


and I think I've got the general hang of things, but then:

Warlock of the Archfey has 11 hd, 11th lvl caster, CR 4
Warlock of Fiend has 12 hd, 17th lvl caster, CR 7
Warlock of the GoO has 14 hd, 14th lvl caster, CR 6

What happened here?

Also, how do you adjust the CR for a monster/npc who has legendary actions?

[Lunali]

Gonna mostly skip over discussing the CR of creatures in the MM, but it might be due to spell selection.

As for dealing with legendary actions, adjust their damage per round based on the output of the legendary actions.

Edit: It looks like the warlocks depend on EB almost exclusively for damage, without the benefit of agonizing blast. The low damage output is dragging their offensive CR down to 2-3, so even with 17HD, their stats only end up being middling.

[Unoriginal]

Can someone help me understand the CR of NPC casters? I see examples from Volo's and the MM but I can't make sense of them.

For example:
Mage has 9 hd, is a 9th lvl caster and is CR 6
Archmage has 18 hd, 18th lvl caster and is CR 12
Priest has 5 hd, 5th lvl caster and is CR 2
Abjurer has 13 hd, 13th lvl caster and is CR 9
Arch Druid has 24 hd, 18th lvl caster and is CR 12
Conjurer has 9 hd, 9th lvl caster and is CR 6
Diviner has 15 hd, 15th lvl castrer and is CR 8


and I think I've got the general hang of things, but then:

Warlock of the Archfey has 11 hd, 11th lvl caster, CR 4
Warlock of Fiend has 12 hd, 17th lvl caster, CR 7
Warlock of the GoO has 14 hd, 14th lvl caster, CR 6

What happened here?

CR is the average of the creature's damage-dealing and damage-surviving capacities (generally calculated over 3 turns), with a few other things affecting it a bit. Keep in mind that CR X means "4 adventurers of lvl X can handle this monster 6-8 time a day without much struggle, at which point they're out of ressources"

The Warlock of the Archfey has Phantasmal Force and three beams of Eldritch Blast (no CHA bonus to damage) as their biggest damage-dealing options and not a lot of armor or HPs, so their CR is 4.

The Warlock of the Great Old One has not a lot of armor either, but much better HPs, and some interesting damage-dealing options, resulting in CR 6.

The Warlock of the Fiend has less HPs, the same armor, and some but not many damage-dealing options, but they can cast Finger of Death once per day so that land them a CR of 7.



Also, how do you adjust the CR for a monster/npc who has legendary actions?

Depends, what are the Legendary actions ?

EDIT:

If it's the HD thing that bother you, keep in mind they first establish the average HPs then reverse-engineer it to establish the HDs, not the other way around.

[da newt]

Thanks, that helps make sense.

We came upon a Warlock who we were told was a lvl 17 caster 'but just CR 7.' His to hit was +10, Agonizing Blast for +4 CHA dam to every EB hit, and legendary actions to cast EB - and the CR seemed really off to me.


So if I do my math right, that's 4x4 AB per round at D10+4 Dam each for 152 dam per round assuming all hits, which on the chart (DMG pg 274) is an offensive CR 21. The +10 to hit is CR 17-20.

I assume it's HP and AC were lower than the offensive on the chart, but I don't know for sure.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

I'd say the Warlock of the Fiend is more of an opponent you throw in with a higher level enemy to up the encounter level, rather that something you put against a 7th level party. Considering it has Feeblemind which only allows a secondary saving throw every 30 days, and can otherwise only be undone by a 5th, 6th, or 9th level spell, it's liable to just ruin someone's character for multiple sessions.

[Unoriginal]

Thanks, that helps make sense.

We came upon a Warlock who we were told was a lvl 17 caster 'but just CR 7.' His to hit was +10, Agonizing Blast for +4 CHA dam to every EB hit, and legendary actions to cast EB - and the CR seemed really off to me.


So if I do my math right, that's 4x4 AB per round at D10+4 Dam each for 152 dam per round assuming all hits, which on the chart (DMG pg 274) is an offensive CR 21. The +10 to hit is CR 17-20.

I assume it's HP and AC were lower than the offensive on the chart, but I don't know for sure.

Yeah there is no way that buffed up Warlock is CR 7.

Your DM may have build them like a PC, too.