Hi everyone!  Brett here with your monthly update on Fiendish Forge!

Here is where we are at:

Writing: 90%
Design: 71%
Art: 97%
Total: 86%

You may notice our Design and Total % went down. This is because, after reviewing the data, I decided to reformulate Elite and Boss CR with a newer system. This means redoing every stat block in the book. Fortunately, with new systems in place, this should be feasible, especially while our art is finishing up. We've got some really cool stuff cooking from the previous month, and I think you guys will appreciate the extra time.

I will say with the new calculations, I really like the direction of all the creatures. It feels more balanced to the previous iterations that should connect well with 5e. In addition, the new sytem allows for more structure when it comes to creating your own creatures. New playtests will be coming soon this month to show off these changes, but internally, the stats feel good.

Superboss CR was removed as it troublesome. Since every GM has a different opinion of what a Superboss feels like, it led to some conflict between making a Superboss not challenging enough, to making it so powerful it was wiping parties. Ultimately felt that the removal of such a ranking was better off.

With that, I created an Underling CR! The idea with Underlings is that it should have the difficulty of 1 Player Character, allowing you to easily create a group of Underlings whose CR matches the party level. It's with my hope that GMs will be able to create encounters with ease with this new CR. 

After testing with the Legendary Action system, I got a lot of folks who were disappointed that Phase Turns were not part of creatures any more. Ultimately I was worried about multiple turns, and when effects were suppose to end. After some though and testing, I decided to combine the idea of Legendary Actions, but in an initiative order.  Effectively, this hybrid are called Phase Actions, and will include rules on how to add Phase Actions to the initiative count correctly. Unlike Phase Turns, which had a category of the type of turn, and what precise actions were taken (in which you'd have to reference in another section) - all the information for Phase Actions are right there *in* the action.  They are still actions, which means they cannot be taken when Incapacitated (much like Legendary Actions), and now we are including a Phase Action that is the turn of the creature itself, in which you would take the creature's turn as normal.  This is where all "Beginning/End of Turn" effects take place, so I'm hoping this solution will be elegant while keeping to the spirit of the previous Phase Combat.

This system would work here using an existing creature from 5e.

Adult Green Dragon (non Lair)
An Adult Green Dragon has 3 different Legendary Actions that we can easily convert into Phase Actions. Because the Green Dragon has an Initiative score of 11, we will have their turn take place on Initiative 21.  If there are 2 Phase Actions along with the Turn, I recommend adding/subtracting 10 from the Initiative count to place those Phase Actions into place. However, since there are 3 (4 in a Lair), I recommend adding/subtracting 5 - making the Phase Actions look like this in Initiative.

Much like Legendary Actions, these Burst Actions allow a creature to do a 1/Encounter action at the end of another creature's turn. This allows the combat to stay fresh with new things continuously happening in the encounter.  Burst Actions have their own damage calculation, meaning they don't take away from the damage a creature is suppose to do during a battle (thus "Burst") - allowing a GM to spike the difficulty as necessary.  When a Burst Action is taken, another Burst Action cannot be taken until the end of the creature's turn.

Once again, we're changing up how Legendary Resistances work. Creatures with Legendary Resistances has a number of uses that they can do it with. However, the Legendary Resistance now costs something to the creature. Originally this was a Legendary Action use, but this can now alternate depending on the creature. Some creatures may activate Legendary Resistance by skipping a Phase Action, while others may activate it by taking damage inflicted upon themselves. I've been finding this system a great way for players to feel like their efforts are being rewarded, even if a Legendary Resistance is used. 

I have a lot of life changes happening this month (including a big move), along with some work events I'm attending. However, I'll do my best to get a playtest scheduled for you guys! Be sure to sign up over at our discord. https://discord.gg/e9RCf8bFke 

Brett