Sean Merwin

We saw some preview pages for that online.

Mm hmm. Yep. The as we know, the Monster Manual will not be out until 2025. So they're probably still making a tweak here or there on the Monster Manual. But Teos is taking a good look at the Player's Handbook stats, and we're going to talk about them and how they may have changed between 2014 and 2024. But first, as we always do, we'll go back and we'll look at the design goals for these things.

Mm hmm. Yep. The as we know, the Monster Manual will not be out until 2025. So they're probably still making a tweak here or there on the Monster Manual. But Teos is taking a good look at the Player's Handbook stats, and we're going to talk about them and how they may have changed between 2014 and 2024. But first, as we always do, we'll go back and we'll look at the design goals for these things.

So what is the design goal of a monster stat block? I didn't write this in our show notes, but I should have thought about this because we've been going all the way back to first edition. And in first edition, we obviously had the Monster Manual. You could open it up and there were stats that you could see and a description, just like we have in Monster Manuals.

So what is the design goal of a monster stat block? I didn't write this in our show notes, but I should have thought about this because we've been going all the way back to first edition. And in first edition, we obviously had the Monster Manual. You could open it up and there were stats that you could see and a description, just like we have in Monster Manuals.

But when you read something in an adventure, in a module, as we called it back then, you would just get a very brief line. It might be one full line or maybe a line and a half that would give all the information that you really needed to run that monster. And over the additions, that has gotten more and more and more complicated.

But when you read something in an adventure, in a module, as we called it back then, you would just get a very brief line. It might be one full line or maybe a line and a half that would give all the information that you really needed to run that monster. And over the additions, that has gotten more and more and more complicated.

Yeah, third edition was the addition that broke me. Me too. It was the addition. As I was editing my millionth stat block for some product or project, and I'm counting how many ranks of rope use something has because enough ranks in rope use gave you a benefit in Escape Artist or something strange like that. I said, okay, this is too much. Yep. So why do we need and why do we have stat blocks?

Yeah, third edition was the addition that broke me. Me too. It was the addition. As I was editing my millionth stat block for some product or project, and I'm counting how many ranks of rope use something has because enough ranks in rope use gave you a benefit in Escape Artist or something strange like that. I said, okay, this is too much. Yep. So why do we need and why do we have stat blocks?

What is their purpose? Teos, do you wanna take a swing at this?

What is their purpose? Teos, do you wanna take a swing at this?

And one of the reasons that in first edition and second edition to a degree, you could just have a single line for your monster or multiple monsters is because you really only needed to know for most of them, their AC, their hit dice, their hit points, and their attack roll and damage.

And one of the reasons that in first edition and second edition to a degree, you could just have a single line for your monster or multiple monsters is because you really only needed to know for most of them, their AC, their hit dice, their hit points, and their attack roll and damage.

when we get to third edition specifically but also fourth and fifth the the principle of like one cool thing kicked in you don't want the goblin to just be a small sack of hit points and an ogre be a large sack of hit points you wanted them to both feel like they belong somewhere or have some meaning in the world

when we get to third edition specifically but also fourth and fifth the the principle of like one cool thing kicked in you don't want the goblin to just be a small sack of hit points and an ogre be a large sack of hit points you wanted them to both feel like they belong somewhere or have some meaning in the world

And you want them to, for the Game Master's purpose, be able to do something cool mechanically as part of a game. That could both be fun for the Game Master and also to sort of surprise the players. So that's where you get things like the goblins being able to... Disengage, shift, whatever, five foot step, as a bonus action. So that differentiated them from other monsters.

And you want them to, for the Game Master's purpose, be able to do something cool mechanically as part of a game. That could both be fun for the Game Master and also to sort of surprise the players. So that's where you get things like the goblins being able to... Disengage, shift, whatever, five foot step, as a bonus action. So that differentiated them from other monsters.

Whereas orcs may be... They could, if they were... driven to zero hit points. Actually, the first time, come back at one hit point. That showed that they were tough, and that was a little bit surprising to players when they first encountered them. It's like, oh, he slumps down, and oh, but he stands back up.

Whereas orcs may be... They could, if they were... driven to zero hit points. Actually, the first time, come back at one hit point. That showed that they were tough, and that was a little bit surprising to players when they first encountered them. It's like, oh, he slumps down, and oh, but he stands back up.

Same with zombies, same with skeletons, same with anything, giving them this one cool thing. And in fact, I've sort of made a rule for myself now Whereas when I make a monster, I want to have one cool thing per proficiency bonus minus one. All right, so if the monster has a proficiency bonus of two, which is the lowest it could have, take away one from two, you get one.