Player Equivalent CR (5e Variant Rule)

Player Equivalent CR

Anyone could tell you that 5e's CR is a little broken. With this variant rule, all creatures are built from the ground up as player characters. This variant rule is intended to replace 5e's base CR, and thus is not readily applicable to every campaign.

When balancing a combat encounter, add the players' levels and the CR of any friendly creatures fighting alongside them with each creature's proficiency bonus. The result is the Party's Combat Value (PCV). Next, add the CR of any creatures fighting the party with each creature's proficiency bonus, with the result being the Threat's Combat Value (TCV). If a creature's CR or level is less than half the average level or CR of the other side, their CR or level counts as 0 when calculating their side's Combat Value. With PCV and TCV calculated, use the following calculations to determine the difficulty of a combat encounter. Additionally, each difficulty has a PCV penalty meant to represent how much of their resources the party will likely lose during the encounter in an outright assault, which would reasonably make later encounters harder. PCV penalties are successive, not cumulative. Taking a long rest removes any PCV penalties, and taking a short rest removes half of all PCV penalties.

PCV ÷ TCV	Penalty
2 - 1.75	10%	Easy encounter. The party really has no reason to lose, with only minor losses in the worst case scenario.
1.75 - 1.5	20%	Medium encounter. The party might take some bad hits, but no major loses should occur.
1.5 - 1	50%	Hard encounter. The party is on near-even footing with the opposition, making death a real possibility.
1 - 0.5	75%	Deadly encounter. The party is fighting an uphill battle, and at least one death is almost confirmed.

Below is an overview of non-setting specific creatures using this variant rule.

PECR Creatures

Name	CR	Speed	Size	Type	Alignment
Small Beast	1	40 ft.	Small	beast	unaligned
Tiny Beast	1	30 ft.	Tiny	beast	unaligned
Bandit, Variant	2	30 ft.	Medium	humanoid	any non-lawful alignment
Medium Beast	2	30 ft.	Medium	beast	unaligned
Soldier, Variant	3	30 ft.	Medium	humanoid	any lawful alignment
Large Beast	3	40 ft.	Large	beast	unaligned
Thief, Variant	3	30 ft., climb 30 ft.	Medium	humanoid	any alignment
Huge Beast	5	40 ft.	Huge	beast	unaligned
Gargantuan Beast	10	45 ft.	Gargantuan	beast	unaligned
Assassin, Variant	12	30 ft.	Medium	humanoid	any non-good alignment
Champion, Variant	20	30 ft.	Medium	humanoid	any alignment
Knight of the Round Table	20	30 ft.	Medium	humanoid	lawful good
Commoner, Variant	0	30 ft.	Medium	humanoid	any alignment

Derivative PECR Creatures

Name	CR	Speed	Size	Type	Alignment
Aroma Bat (JJBA Supplement)	2	15 ft., fly 15 ft.	Tiny	monstrosity	unaligned
Baoh Parasite (JJBA Supplement)	2	15 ft., climb 15 ft.	Tiny	monstrosity	unaligned
Goro Majima	13	45 ft.	Medium	humanoid	chaotic neutral
Goro Majima, Young	11	30 ft.	Medium	humanoid	chaotic good
Kiryu Kazuma	14	30 ft.	Medium	humanoid	neutral good
Kiryu Kazuma, Young	12	30 ft.	Medium	humanoid	neutral good
Martin (JJBA Supplement)	5	30 ft., climb 30 ft.	Large	monstrosity	chaotic evil
Mr. Shakedown	14	15 ft.	Large	humanoid	any non-good alignment
Sap Spider (JJBA Supplement)	4	30 ft., climb 30 ft.	Medium	monstrosity	unaligned

Incomplete PECR Creatures

Name	CR	Speed	Size	Type	Alignment

Additional Optional Rules

Alternate Character Creation

When creating a character, you may forgo a player may forgo choosing a race, class, and background to instead choose a PECR creature with a disclaimer not listing a background or class with a CR equal to the level the character would have been to be your character. If this character gains a level, you must multiclass.

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