Sean Merwin

This is not one of those, oh, vampires are cool, friendly, just misunderstood folks.

This is not one of those, oh, vampires are cool, friendly, just misunderstood folks.

I think the important thing is that as a designer of monsters, you recognize how game masters use monsters. And they use them very differently depending on the kind of game they run. So I'm running a game at a convention and I know that the party is super optimized, then I am going to take the time to look up Cone of Cold.

I think the important thing is that as a designer of monsters, you recognize how game masters use monsters. And they use them very differently depending on the kind of game they run. So I'm running a game at a convention and I know that the party is super optimized, then I am going to take the time to look up Cone of Cold.

I'm going to take the time to position it at its best possible angle, and I'm going to take the time to have everyone roll the save, take the time to roll all the dice and add them up, because that's what the party seems to want. I'm running a home game with a little looser set of people.

I'm going to take the time to position it at its best possible angle, and I'm going to take the time to have everyone roll the save, take the time to roll all the dice and add them up, because that's what the party seems to want. I'm running a home game with a little looser set of people.

I don't want a monster that only does D4 of physical fighting damage at CR 10 because I don't want to take the time to do all of that. I just want to do the thing that makes the story the most fun. So I think when I was designing and developing and editing monsters, I tried to find that place where you want to do the quick and simple thing. It's there and it's right.

I don't want a monster that only does D4 of physical fighting damage at CR 10 because I don't want to take the time to do all of that. I just want to do the thing that makes the story the most fun. So I think when I was designing and developing and editing monsters, I tried to find that place where you want to do the quick and simple thing. It's there and it's right.

I did get a few monsters wrong, I will admit. Wrong in the sense that they do rely on a spell list. They do rely on the game master doing a couple of different things to get them in the right position to do their thing. But that is also just part of the game, and that's why I've always been a fan of, in a monster manual, get rid of the spell list and just write out that, okay, this thing does

I did get a few monsters wrong, I will admit. Wrong in the sense that they do rely on a spell list. They do rely on the game master doing a couple of different things to get them in the right position to do their thing. But that is also just part of the game, and that's why I've always been a fan of, in a monster manual, get rid of the spell list and just write out that, okay, this thing does

It's either the save, or better yet, give me an attack roll. Let me just do the attack roll, let me do the damage, and we'll move on instead of having to figure out the area of effect and everybody in the right position in a game that you're not supposed to need a map to play. Let's simplify it a bit. For those DMs who just want to tell the story and want things to move along,

It's either the save, or better yet, give me an attack roll. Let me just do the attack roll, let me do the damage, and we'll move on instead of having to figure out the area of effect and everybody in the right position in a game that you're not supposed to need a map to play. Let's simplify it a bit. For those DMs who just want to tell the story and want things to move along,

My first response is get rid of the spell list. Anything that is in the spell list can be written as an action, a bonus action, or a reaction. So just list them there and tell me what they do. And of course, you can't then counterspell, I know.

My first response is get rid of the spell list. Anything that is in the spell list can be written as an action, a bonus action, or a reaction. So just list them there and tell me what they do. And of course, you can't then counterspell, I know.

You still could absolutely say that. Yeah, get Counterspell out of the game completely and just let things happen. But it's fine to have those options. But again, you don't want to overload a monster with But I like that maybe give every monster a couple of actions, a reaction, and maybe a bonus action. And that's something that DMs already understand because it's part of the game.

You still could absolutely say that. Yeah, get Counterspell out of the game completely and just let things happen. But it's fine to have those options. But again, you don't want to overload a monster with But I like that maybe give every monster a couple of actions, a reaction, and maybe a bonus action. And that's something that DMs already understand because it's part of the game.

And I'm not one for making monster equal PC. I think they should be different, and I like games where they're completely different. But we already have that rhythm down. We are, and we're getting more and more bonus actions and more and more reactions on the player side. So we're going to get more and more used to it in 2024.

And I'm not one for making monster equal PC. I think they should be different, and I like games where they're completely different. But we already have that rhythm down. We are, and we're getting more and more bonus actions and more and more reactions on the player side. So we're going to get more and more used to it in 2024.

So I think it's OK if we see some of those things sneak into monsters, because there are very few monsters relatively speaking in the 2014 that have like reactions, bonus actions. So if you are going to expand and you are going to give more options, put them there. So rather than picking from 12 actions, I can only do one. Don't give me 12 when two of them are obviously best.

So I think it's OK if we see some of those things sneak into monsters, because there are very few monsters relatively speaking in the 2014 that have like reactions, bonus actions. So if you are going to expand and you are going to give more options, put them there. So rather than picking from 12 actions, I can only do one. Don't give me 12 when two of them are obviously best.