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
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
3.5 Stat Blocks Kill my creativity
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="Ulrick" data-source="post: 2189333" data-attributes="member: 775"><p>I discovered this awhile back:</p><p></p><p>I HATE typing up stat blocks for NPCs. It's tolerable with lower level NPCs but by mid-level, stats blocks become a burden. And I've seen stat blocks for a high level character take most of a page (2 columns) in Dungeon Magazine. </p><p></p><p>Sure, I could use an NPC generator, but a lot of those results are kinda wacko for my tastes and I end up tinkering with them anyway. </p><p></p><p>Everytime I write up an adventure, I think of a cool encounter where the characters face off against several NPCs. I go through all the neats ideas but then I get to "oh crap, I have to type up the stat blocks."</p><p></p><p>So I break out the books. I use the pregenerated NPCs in the DMG as a guide or I cut and past stat blocks from previous adventures. But its still time consuming work that I'd rather use on writing up the adventure. Thank God for word processors. 3e/3.5 would be horrible to run if you had to hand write up these stat blocks. I wouldn't play it if I had to. </p><p></p><p>All these options and feats and skills and special abilities are great--but they are hard to remember--unless you have huge stat block for reference!</p><p></p><p>In order to combat the stat block generation from intruding too much into my story generation time I've done the following:</p><p></p><p>1. Including only necessary stats. If the NPC is going to be only used in a combat encounter, I don't include any knowledge or social skills. </p><p>2. If I know how a special ability works, I don't list it. </p><p>3. I don't write down every single stinking spell a spellcaster has memorized. </p><p>4. I page reference for Bards and Rangers. Especially Bards. </p><p></p><p>Lastly, I've concluded that, because of this and other problems that get in way of the story, I don't like playing Dungeons & Dragons. So when my campaign ends in the next month, that's it! I'm done. </p><p></p><p>I'll still play RPGs--just not D&D.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ulrick, post: 2189333, member: 775"] I discovered this awhile back: I HATE typing up stat blocks for NPCs. It's tolerable with lower level NPCs but by mid-level, stats blocks become a burden. And I've seen stat blocks for a high level character take most of a page (2 columns) in Dungeon Magazine. Sure, I could use an NPC generator, but a lot of those results are kinda wacko for my tastes and I end up tinkering with them anyway. Everytime I write up an adventure, I think of a cool encounter where the characters face off against several NPCs. I go through all the neats ideas but then I get to "oh crap, I have to type up the stat blocks." So I break out the books. I use the pregenerated NPCs in the DMG as a guide or I cut and past stat blocks from previous adventures. But its still time consuming work that I'd rather use on writing up the adventure. Thank God for word processors. 3e/3.5 would be horrible to run if you had to hand write up these stat blocks. I wouldn't play it if I had to. All these options and feats and skills and special abilities are great--but they are hard to remember--unless you have huge stat block for reference! In order to combat the stat block generation from intruding too much into my story generation time I've done the following: 1. Including only necessary stats. If the NPC is going to be only used in a combat encounter, I don't include any knowledge or social skills. 2. If I know how a special ability works, I don't list it. 3. I don't write down every single stinking spell a spellcaster has memorized. 4. I page reference for Bards and Rangers. Especially Bards. Lastly, I've concluded that, because of this and other problems that get in way of the story, I don't like playing Dungeons & Dragons. So when my campaign ends in the next month, that's it! I'm done. I'll still play RPGs--just not D&D. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
3.5 Stat Blocks Kill my creativity
Top