Grunt Generator

Some minor rule changes and clean-up based on a play test 1/13/18

Armor

The starting armor was very over powered, so 'standard' armor has been added for level 1 characters. In addition, some armor set prices have been increased.

Classes

The Extra Attack feature said it required a short rest between uses. This was a 'misprint'.

Soldier

• Weapon Master: Strafe moved to 7th level. Attack as a bonus action, not free action.
• Weapon Master: Quick reload changed to Devastating Critical, gained at 15th level.

Engineer

• Max Tech Point progression increased
• Drones last one minute. Clarification about attack bonuses made. AC differs per drone
• Medic: Healing drone's healing done increases like cantrips (in-line with all other drones), but you gain additional stats at 14th level.
• Drone Jockey: New feature Improved Drones.
• Drone Jockey: Feature progression rearranged: Dual Drones @ 7th level. Improved drones @ 10th level.

Infiltrator:

Sneak attack doesn't need advantage if target is flanked.

Spells

• Barrier is an Action, with bonus action as available advancement. It was too easy to use all your Barrier Ticks for an attack, then cast it as a bonus action at the end of your turn for defense. While we like this possibility, it shouldn't be available right off the bat.

Grunt Generator

For the past month, I've been quietly working on the bestiary. For people who've read the DMG or used it to create monsters, you'll know it can be a complicated process. That's not a complaint. I love the details and thoroughness provided by WoC. But it means that creating really good monsters takes time.

My initial tentative list included a lot of archetypes. Not simply an archetype for each class, but archetypes that could span Challenge Rating (CR), races, classes, etc. But while working on the archetypes, I was repeating a ton of work. The silver lining was that I realized many of these archetypes could be 1) programmatically created and 2) randomized.

This led me to designing a utility that could generate archetypes with random stats, features, and actions. I call it the "Grunt Generator." No, this isn't a Home Improvement reference. A "grunt" is a throwaway NPC. It's not as specific or unique as a monster, but it doesn't have the time and effort of a reoccurring or important NPC (like a boss or rival team). Using the monster creation logic in the DMG, I created a very complex, programmatic "flowchart." It adjusts attack bonus, defensive bonuses, and damage per round based on the chosen CR level. This ensures that the generated grunts aren't too powerful or too weak.

Another benefit this utility brings is variety. With Wizard's Monster Manual, Volo's Guide, and the plethora of other books in existence, there are hundreds if not thousands of monsters to choose from. I could spend years working on Mass Effect monsters and not come close to the amount provided in D&D. So I took a short cut. The randomized stats, class, race, features, spells, tech and weapons means the number of unique grunts totals in the tens of thousands!

Finally, a hidden benefit I hadn't planned for was loot. Because the weapons that a grunt has equipped are randomized, when players take out a grunt, they can loot the body. This makes it really easy to pass out new weapon options to your players. Armor isn't a part of the grunt generator (yet?), so you'll still need to decided if there is any armor to loot. But at least the weapons are easy!

In the Player's Handbook, you'll find a new section, "GM Tools". In the future, I hope to fill this with other utilities, but for now you can use the Grunt Generator. Pick you target CR, class, and race get generating! You can save the generated grunt and make a list for your encounters. I'm eventually going to turn the list into a true encounter utility, which will let you pull in monsters from the bestiary. I've also got plans to improve the Grunt Generator, like advanced options to let you tailor you grunts a bit more.

Please note, I'm still working on the bestiary. Hopefully this new feature will keep your campaigns active and fun until I can get an official bestiary up. And don't be afraid to use monsters available in D&D, this is a large universe!