Do you prefer Monster statistics in an adventure's text or at the end

[Aristotle]

I voted for all in the back, and that is exactly what I want.

Putting them in with the ecounters is okay, but what if they come up more than once in an adventure? You have to keep refering to the first encounter with the monster? ...or you want to waste page count with redundant stat blocks throughout the product?

Yeah, I definately prefer a nicely done apendix of creatures, NPCs, and so forth. And I want *all* of the creatures in the apendix, not just the special ones. I've been running the adventure path modules and am currently running "Speaker in Dreams". It doesn't have all the creatures like the other adventures did, so I have to reference the MM every other encounter. I don't mind page flipping, but I most certainly do mind having to have multiple books open for reference for one lousy encounter.

The pull-out section would be an okay compromise, but I still dislike the idea of having multiple booklets open when I could just have a bookmark in the monster apendix at the back of the adventure so I can flip back and forth quickly for reference.

 

[Trickstergod]

In general, I prefer them right up where their stats first matter. As has been mentioned, page flipping is obnoxious. I particularly hate losing my place when I still need to see what's on that first page while I'm skipping around for the one with the monsters stats on it.

Now, if a monster shows up multiple times, I think the stats should be in the back. Furthermore, in regards to NPC's, I think their stats are the only integral thing to have right on the page where they're mentioned; the background can go in the back. You're not constantly going to need to refer to his dead father's ghost and how it wants him to avenge his murder, whereas needing to check AC, saves, etc, will be needed on hand fairly regularly during a fight, or even possibly during a social situation (Diplomacy, Bluff, etc).

For the most part, though, if I can have the stats on the page where they're needed, hey, wonderful. Saves me page flipping.

 

[Plane Sailing]

I vote for the text where they are used.

I find stat blocks at the back to be worthless (RttToEE was a particularly heinous example - even after photocopying all the pages they weren't even grouped by encounter so I was *still* page flipping to bring all the bad guys together.)

 

[Liolel]

Depends, if most stat blocks are only used once or twice then in the adventure itself would be nice. But if you have say 3 commonly used evil minions the best thing would be to put them at the back, because the two alternitives I see are worse. One is printing it every time and that wastes a lot of space that could be used to make the adventure better. The other is to print it at the begining of the first encounter with those stats and then reference this on every other encounter (Dungeon does this sometimes). The problem with that is your still flipping to another page, just this way the page is harder to find then turning to the back.

Also if you are doing a pdf, it would be nice to include them both in the text and at the back as page count isn't much of an issue, and you have the best of both worlds this way.

 

[Silveras]

Since I use an Access database to hold the monster, PC, and encounter information, I can print the same creature in multiple encounters should I need to. I have also written routines that take the basic Monster Manual entry data and create a specific creature from it. This way, I can populate an encounter with 20 orc Warriors at the touch of a button, and each gets different hit points.

My stat blocks are generated in a report, as are the checkoff sheets.

That sounds like a cool system.

It works for me, which is what is important to me. It is still a work-in-progress, though.

Actually, because preferences vary so much, it is really hard to state a "best" answer. I see people complaining about losing track of separate sheets of paper while running the session. Oddly, I *love* my separate sheets. Each to his own, as the saying goes.

 

[Mark]

Both, preferably.

 

[FireLance]

I'd vote for whatever minimizes flipping as it can really bog down the running of an adventure.

Unique monsters (in the sense that there's only one of them in an adventure) that are encountered in only one location (a guardian creature, for example) could be statted out in the adventure text.

For creatures that are encountered several times, or could be encountered in several locations, an appendix may be best, but there should be a clear reference (with page number) from the adventure text.

An option to print out stat cards for each monster sounds good, too.

 

[Destan]

Dagnabbit pogre, I wish I would have seen this poll a few weeks ago.

I just finished writing a module to be published for GenCon, and I wrestled with this very issue (among others, such as how much a gelugon's carapace weighs - but that's a topic for a different poll).

I ended up sided with the minority on this issue - the statblocks are included in an appendix in the rear of the adventure. The reason was mainly editorial; some of the critters - especially those with multiple special abilities and/or spells - would have gobbled up half the page if included within the specific adventures. I felt embedded statblocks might make things confusing for DMs trying to make heads or tails of my rambling, and so I threw all the numbers into the back of the book.

If I were to do it all over again, I guess I'd say I'd like a preforated, tear-out section in the back with the stats of both the "unique" creatures and those from the MM.

Just tossin' in my 2 coppers,
D

 

[pogre]

Dagnabbit pogre, I wish I would have seen this poll a few weeks ago.

I just finished writing a module to be published for GenCon, and I wrestled with this very issue (among others, such as how much a gelugon's carapace weighs - but that's a topic for a different poll).

I ended up sided with the minority on this issue - the statblocks are included in an appendix in the rear of the adventure. The reason was mainly editorial; some of the critters - especially those with multiple special abilities and/or spells - would have gobbled up half the page if included within the specific adventures. I felt embedded statblocks might make things confusing for DMs trying to make heads or tails of my rambling, and so I threw all the numbers into the back of the book.

If I were to do it all over again, I guess I'd say I'd like a preforated, tear-out section in the back with the stats of both the "unique" creatures and those from the MM.

Just tossin' in my 2 coppers,
D

Hey D -

Do what Wulf is doing - have the company post the stat blocks in a pdf download. That way DMs who prefer a pull out section do not have to make their own. Looking forward to seeing your stuff!

I really, really wish they had not pushed GenCon back into football season!

 

[Turanil]

I would prefer a short stat block in the text near its "normal" location, with a matching lookup stat block in the summary list.

Me too.