Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 LFK Jul 05, 2014 13:28:05	Seeing as the Monster Manual has yet to go to print here's some notes based on the Start Set collection of Monsters.   Most of these suggestions are aimed at reducing the cognitive load on the Dungeon Master as much as possible. The DM is the one player who is basically always "on." Anything that slows down the DM multiplies through the game, so it is imperative to reduce busywork, searching, confusion, and obfuscation as much as possible. Many of these suggestions also improve predictability and mechanical clarity. Why does X have Y, and so forth. A DM who knows how and why things work the way they do is a DM who can easily tailor the game to their players.     Note: unless things have changed between the writing of Lost Mine of Phandelver and today, CR and XP are equivalent. Every available monster of a given CR has the same XP value. Variance within a CR bracket is not modulated by XP value.     • Transparent Monster Roles - D&D is full of hundreds of monsters ranging from the familiar to the niche to the downright obscure. While some of these monsters communicate their use and design through inherent features, many do not. While an Ogre is fairly easy to grok at a first glance, what about a Ghoul, or a Grick, or even a Giant Spider? How about a Catoblepas, a Yochlol, or a Neogi? Transparent monster roles speak volumes about what something is, what it does, and how it does it in very few words.     • Transparent Monster Progression - tied to the above, why does a Goblin have d6 hit dice when other CR ¼ monsters are all d8's? Why is a Stirge only 1d4 when Cultists, who are also CR ⅛, have 2d8? Both are melee attackers with comparable defences and damage. On the note of Hit Points in particular, these knobs could be greatly simplified by modulating #d based on CR, and d# based on role. Looking at CR 3 monsters we have 8d8, 6d8, 7d10, and 6d8. Based off the baseline progression these should all be 7d8 with the Brute Owlbear getting 7d10, and the more fragile Spectator and Wraith getting 7d6. This all goes just as much for damage progression as it does for HP progression.     • Stat Block Caster Cleanup - Caster Mobs have terrible stat blocks, often hybridizing their spellcasting with spell-like abilities. The Flame Skull, for example, doesn't really need to be a 5th level spellcaster. Making it a caster condenses its stat block at the expense of 1) requiring cross-referencing and 2) obfuscating the creature's tactical features. It's more busywork on the DM.     • Stat Block Information Cleanup - While the deeper issue here is the move from 3 NADs/saves to 6, the main problem is in the reading. All of a creatures saving throws aren't in the same place, only the ones that they have an extra proficiency bonus are singled out. This wouldn't be an issue, except the base value isn't predictable. Say I target an Evil Mage with a Dex save. I cross reference the bonus saving throws and see Int +5, Wis +3. Dex isn't there, but I can't assume Dex is +0, I have to go up a line and cross-check the creature's base Dex bonus, which is +2. This information should be condensed, all in one place. Not only does this make it easier to use in the moment, it makes it easier to quickly assess what a creature's strengths and weaknesses are.     • Encounter Information Cleanup - drifting a little from thing that could apply to the Monster Manual, encounters within an adventure should have a tactical summary with all the relevant monsters and their XP values in one place. This makes it easier when reading an adventure to assess the difficulty/hazard of various elements. While the CR 8 Young Green Dragon optional encounter is a clear warning sign, both because of its high CR relative to the adventure level and the memetic familiarity with dragons, the 10 Stirges encounter only falls into perspective once the DM is intimately familiar with Stirges. Lastly, when monsters are introduced inline both their name and number should be bolded as a visual cue, and numbers should be numerals, not words. "Clinging to the ceiling like bats are 10 stirges" not "clinging to the ceiling are ten stirges."
#2 Slyck314 Jul 05, 2014 15:08:18	I'm not a fan of your first point. I don't think monsters need to be pigeon holed into a role anymore then characters do. What I do expect in the moster manual is a bit of a description of a monsters typical strategies and tactics. The point about saves is quite fair though. I very much expect the DMG will pull the curtain back for things like CR and encounter design as it will likely be the place where they describe creating or modifying your own monsters.
#3 LFK Jul 05, 2014 15:36:44	Slyck314 wrote:
#4 The_Jester Jul 05, 2014 15:39:50	LFK wrote:
#5 LFK Jul 05, 2014 16:22:07	The_Jester wrote:
#6 The_Jester Jul 05, 2014 16:54:20	LFK wrote:
#7 pukunui Jul 05, 2014 17:28:19	LFK wrote:
#8 LFK Jul 05, 2014 17:48:28	The_Jester wrote:
#9 The_Jester Jul 05, 2014 18:59:44	pukunui wrote:
#10 Rhenny Jul 05, 2014 20:43:41	LFK wrote:
#11 pukunui Jul 05, 2014 20:44:23	The_Jester wrote:
#12 MechaPilot Jul 05, 2014 20:57:18	The_Jester wrote:
#13 LFK Jul 05, 2014 20:57:40	Rhenny wrote:
#14 Rhenny Jul 05, 2014 21:10:00	I don't think the basic is what people expected.  I think there is much more in the basic than people expected.    This is is still only partial basic and it is over 100 pages of content.  More will be added.     There are also numerous changes from the playtest to what we are seeing in the free PDF.
#15 The_Jester Jul 05, 2014 21:11:04	MechaPilot wrote:
#16 Prom Jul 05, 2014 21:27:48	pukunui wrote:
#17 pukunui Jul 05, 2014 21:47:29	Prom wrote:
#18 MonsterEnvy Jul 05, 2014 22:15:49	Hit Die is based on size it looks like. Small gets a d6, Medium d8, Large d10.
(Reply to #8) Slyck314	LFK wrote:
#20 LFK Jul 06, 2014 1:02:10	Slyck314 wrote:
#21 Slyck314 Jul 06, 2014 1:08:16	Read the articles.  He has a ton of info for a wide variety of even unique un-clusterable monsters.  I'm expect something between 4e MMs and 2e where there was at least a page for stat block.
#22 LFK Jul 06, 2014 1:24:18	That's not actually indicative of the contents of the book. Remember, 4e published two entire splat books before the entition even launched that were nothing but unused lore. They write a ton of stuff that then just get shelved, or filed away in some design bible for the freelance artists.   There was an entire thing in 4e about Humans and their relationship with horses, that beasts of burden were somewhat unique to human civilization (which was basically lifted from babylon 5, but I digress) and they wrote all that stuff out purely because it helped them decide on a clear cultural theme for the art to reflect, like the stlye of boots that humans should be wearing. The ecology articles even note that they're built from story briefs.
#23 pukunui Jul 06, 2014 1:31:18	LFK wrote: