Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is LIVE! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Reworking the MM Stat Block
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Benjamin Olson" data-source="post: 8391122" data-attributes="member: 6988941"><p>Seems like this, as outlined, either creates video game monsters, incapable of doing or having done to them anything outside of what the designers specifically programed them for, or just requires a lot more information in the stat block. The ability scores plug monsters into general system mechanics for ability checks and weapons beyond whatever specific actions are included. Particularly in a game with 6 separate ability bonus based saving throws it doesn't gain you anything in terms of economy of space to not have the abilities but still have to assign them saving throw bonuses for each ability.</p><p></p><p>That said, I think your goal is served perfectly fine by just accepting that monsters can have attacks which, through whatever particular abilities they have, are modified from the normal mechanics of hitting things based on ability score, which is already possible. A bugbear, for example, has the "brute" feature, which gives them an extra damage die with melee weapons. This allows them to hit harder, while still letting them have a respectable but not particularly high 15 strength. It also creates a generally applicable rule for them, so if the DM decides to swap out the morningstar for a greatsword, or whatever, they just have to calculate out how the different weapon would work based on the normal game mechanics modified by the particular rule. </p><p></p><p>Generally I think there are probably a few monster stat blocks that would be stronger if the desired to-hits bonuses, damage averages, and skill bonuses were achieved with the help of special critter specific features, rather than trying to make everything conform to what ability scores and proficiency bonuses would determine. The current system leads to practically every dumb animal having fairly strong wisdom, because they want them to be perceptive.</p><p></p><p>I also think there is no good excuse for not listing the proficiency bonus in monster stat-blocks. The value in stat blocks having ability scores is in letting the DM determine how they interact with various game mechanics and to make it clear why they operate the way they do, but then you have to extrapolate from listed attacks, saves, and skill bonuses what their proficiency bonus is before you can actually use this ability score information much of the time.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Benjamin Olson, post: 8391122, member: 6988941"] Seems like this, as outlined, either creates video game monsters, incapable of doing or having done to them anything outside of what the designers specifically programed them for, or just requires a lot more information in the stat block. The ability scores plug monsters into general system mechanics for ability checks and weapons beyond whatever specific actions are included. Particularly in a game with 6 separate ability bonus based saving throws it doesn't gain you anything in terms of economy of space to not have the abilities but still have to assign them saving throw bonuses for each ability. That said, I think your goal is served perfectly fine by just accepting that monsters can have attacks which, through whatever particular abilities they have, are modified from the normal mechanics of hitting things based on ability score, which is already possible. A bugbear, for example, has the "brute" feature, which gives them an extra damage die with melee weapons. This allows them to hit harder, while still letting them have a respectable but not particularly high 15 strength. It also creates a generally applicable rule for them, so if the DM decides to swap out the morningstar for a greatsword, or whatever, they just have to calculate out how the different weapon would work based on the normal game mechanics modified by the particular rule. Generally I think there are probably a few monster stat blocks that would be stronger if the desired to-hits bonuses, damage averages, and skill bonuses were achieved with the help of special critter specific features, rather than trying to make everything conform to what ability scores and proficiency bonuses would determine. The current system leads to practically every dumb animal having fairly strong wisdom, because they want them to be perceptive. I also think there is no good excuse for not listing the proficiency bonus in monster stat-blocks. The value in stat blocks having ability scores is in letting the DM determine how they interact with various game mechanics and to make it clear why they operate the way they do, but then you have to extrapolate from listed attacks, saves, and skill bonuses what their proficiency bonus is before you can actually use this ability score information much of the time. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Reworking the MM Stat Block
Top