Dungeons and Dragons, CR 0, Monsters: Cat, Chimeric Baboon, and Chimeric Cat

Whether the dreaded total party kill (TPK), the loss of a beloved non-player character (NPC), or the proud moment of defeating an enemy in battle, death is a common aspect of D&D. What shouldn’t be so common is the false belief that all monsters are balanced.

In this post, the monsters covered are the Cat, Chimeric Baboon, and Chimeric Cat. This allows an interesting comparison. While the Cat and Chimeric Cat are nearly identical other than two additional senses, the Chimeric Baboon is different from the normal Baboon in the ability to deal more damage. All three creatures belong in CR 0 based on their stats as written, but due to the pack tactics and increased damage of the Chimeric Baboon, I recommend boosting the monster to CR 1/4 which I will cover in its section.

Cat- CR 0

Has a zero attack bonus and deals an average one point of damage per round, both of these stats fall into CR 0.

Has a twelve armor class and only two points of health which both constitute a CR 0.

Chimeric Baboon- CR 0

The Chimeric Baboon has an attack bonus of one which is CR 0 and deals an average four points of damage per round or if rolling for damage then 1d4 -1 piercing and 1d6 poison damage which falls into CR 1/4.

Has a twelve armor class and three points of health which are both CR 0.

I recommend bumping the attack bonus up to three, leaving the damage the same, raising the armor class to thirteen, and putting the health total anywhere between thirty-six and forty-nine hit points. This makes all the stats into a CR 1/4 creature.

Chimeric Cat- CR 0

An attack bonus of zero and one point of average damage are both CR 0 ranking.