Mike Shea

Or are they just kind of filling out a book with a bunch of stuff that I'm probably not going to use? And from a publisher standpoint, it's how do I write better products to help good, experienced game masters run their games more easily or add more fun to their games and things like that? So it's something that I'm definitely thinking about.

Or are they just kind of filling out a book with a bunch of stuff that I'm probably not going to use? And from a publisher standpoint, it's how do I write better products to help good, experienced game masters run their games more easily or add more fun to their games and things like that? So it's something that I'm definitely thinking about.

But that whole topic kind of shifted my mind and I think kind of pushed me in a new direction. So really interesting interview, thought-provoking for me, and something that I'm going to think about in the future. Speaking of D&D 2024, this past week in my Wednesday game, I said, you know what I'm going to do is I'm going to flop out.

But that whole topic kind of shifted my mind and I think kind of pushed me in a new direction. So really interesting interview, thought-provoking for me, and something that I'm going to think about in the future. Speaking of D&D 2024, this past week in my Wednesday game, I said, you know what I'm going to do is I'm going to flop out.

But that whole topic kind of shifted my mind and I think kind of pushed me in a new direction. So really interesting interview, thought-provoking for me, and something that I'm going to think about in the future. Speaking of D&D 2024, this past week in my Wednesday game, I said, you know what I'm going to do is I'm going to flop out.

This is one of the great things about 5e is I can flop out the Monstrous Menagerie, which I had been using for my monster book for my Wednesday game and flop in the 2025 Monster Manual. Again, I did get a preview copy of the 2025 Monster Manual. I also bought my own copy and I bought my own copy on Foundry. So my money's where my mouth is as well.

This is one of the great things about 5e is I can flop out the Monstrous Menagerie, which I had been using for my monster book for my Wednesday game and flop in the 2025 Monster Manual. Again, I did get a preview copy of the 2025 Monster Manual. I also bought my own copy and I bought my own copy on Foundry. So my money's where my mouth is as well.

This is one of the great things about 5e is I can flop out the Monstrous Menagerie, which I had been using for my monster book for my Wednesday game and flop in the 2025 Monster Manual. Again, I did get a preview copy of the 2025 Monster Manual. I also bought my own copy and I bought my own copy on Foundry. So my money's where my mouth is as well.

But I thought, let me just try some of these 2025 monsters. Let me actually see what they're like. And the monster that I was going to run, my group is ninth level. We have half of the group are running 2024 D&D characters. The other half of the group are running level up advanced 5e characters in the same game. I've talked about that before. Turns out it works just fine.

But I thought, let me just try some of these 2025 monsters. Let me actually see what they're like. And the monster that I was going to run, my group is ninth level. We have half of the group are running 2024 D&D characters. The other half of the group are running level up advanced 5e characters in the same game. I've talked about that before. Turns out it works just fine.

But I thought, let me just try some of these 2025 monsters. Let me actually see what they're like. And the monster that I was going to run, my group is ninth level. We have half of the group are running 2024 D&D characters. The other half of the group are running level up advanced 5e characters in the same game. I've talked about that before. Turns out it works just fine.

and but it gives me the opportunity to run 2024 the 2025 monster manual monsters and this past week i had the opportunity to really run two two kinds of monsters Yeah, three. Three monsters. I ran the Treant stat block, I ran the Stone Giant stat block, and I ran the Adult Black Dragon, all from the 2024 Monster Manual. And they worked great. I was very happy with them.

and but it gives me the opportunity to run 2024 the 2025 monster manual monsters and this past week i had the opportunity to really run two two kinds of monsters Yeah, three. Three monsters. I ran the Treant stat block, I ran the Stone Giant stat block, and I ran the Adult Black Dragon, all from the 2024 Monster Manual. And they worked great. I was very happy with them.

and but it gives me the opportunity to run 2024 the 2025 monster manual monsters and this past week i had the opportunity to really run two two kinds of monsters Yeah, three. Three monsters. I ran the Treant stat block, I ran the Stone Giant stat block, and I ran the Adult Black Dragon, all from the 2024 Monster Manual. And they worked great. I was very happy with them.

They ran fine, they hit hard, they were interesting, they did things that we didn't expect, that the players didn't expect. Overall... Big thumbs up. They hit hard. They challenged the group. Everything worked out. The Treant was interesting. It is CR9 with only 138 hit points. Again, if I'm looking at it, usually about 20 hit points per challenge rating. So I'd expect about 180.

They ran fine, they hit hard, they were interesting, they did things that we didn't expect, that the players didn't expect. Overall... Big thumbs up. They hit hard. They challenged the group. Everything worked out. The Treant was interesting. It is CR9 with only 138 hit points. Again, if I'm looking at it, usually about 20 hit points per challenge rating. So I'd expect about 180.

They ran fine, they hit hard, they were interesting, they did things that we didn't expect, that the players didn't expect. Overall... Big thumbs up. They hit hard. They challenged the group. Everything worked out. The Treant was interesting. It is CR9 with only 138 hit points. Again, if I'm looking at it, usually about 20 hit points per challenge rating. So I'd expect about 180.

In fact, I did up the hit points on the Treant a little bit to give it like an extra round. What's really interesting about the Treant is that all of its challenge rating is really bundled into the animate trees option. One time per day, it can summon two other trees that use its own stat block to attack, and it attacks right after it does.

In fact, I did up the hit points on the Treant a little bit to give it like an extra round. What's really interesting about the Treant is that all of its challenge rating is really bundled into the animate trees option. One time per day, it can summon two other trees that use its own stat block to attack, and it attacks right after it does.

In fact, I did up the hit points on the Treant a little bit to give it like an extra round. What's really interesting about the Treant is that all of its challenge rating is really bundled into the animate trees option. One time per day, it can summon two other trees that use its own stat block to attack, and it attacks right after it does.