Level Up (A5E) Do you want more monster complexity?

[R_J_K75]

I think those are very reasonable requests. And I really really miss having Habitat and Morale and No. Appearing in the stat block.

The activity cycle, ecology sections etc were also very helpful when creating an encounter or fleshing a portion of your campaign. Id like to see a return to the 2E monster stat block format with 5e type mechanics. This always made them seem as if they had more purpose in the game which was removed with 3e and after.

 

[Mort]

I agree. I think 5e monster design is much weaker than its class design, there is a lot more room for improvement

Yeah,

I think 4e was a massive improvement in monster design from 3e - then 5e was a step back. So what we have is not as needlessly complex yet limited as 3e (good) but not nearly as robust (while still being easy to plop in and run) as 4e (bad). Definite room for improvement!

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I think 5e monster design is fine, but a little dull. I’d love to see Level Up embrace more action-oriented design. Give us some neat special actions on monsters that make them feel like more than bags of hit points with multiattack. Those simpler monsters are good to have in the toolbox, but some more monsters with exciting special abilities would be really useful to have alongside them.

One way to do this would be to create NPC templates. This way any 5e critter could become a Skirmisher, or a Falconer (gaining a secondary critter that isn’t a threat on its own but effectively extends the Falconers reach), a Lurker, a Brute, an Elite, or whatever.

 

[Nebulous]

I agree. I think 5e monster design is much weaker than its class design, there is a lot more room for improvement

At least they're easy to mod, but not everyone likes doing that. The Monster Talents book by Dragonix is really useful in that regard, it has scores of little abilities to slap onto foes to make them more unpredictable.

 

[Zaukrie]

More like 4e for sure. Lots more cool things about monsters would be great, more abilities, auras. I'm a DM, and as long as I have DnDBeyond and can do homebrew monsters, the statblocks aren't too bad to manage.

Also, few monsters have really weakpoints for PCs to use/attack (or the converse). Like many things in 5e, I find the monsters way too generic. Way too generic.

 

[Nebulous]

The activity cycle, ecology sections etc were also very helpful when creating an encounter or fleshing a portion of your campaign. Id like to see a return to the 2E monster stat block format with 5e type mechanics. This always made them seem as if they had more purpose in the game which was removed with 3e and after.

I would love love the 2e style statblock with 5e mechanics.

 

[Zaukrie]

At least they're easy to mod, but not everyone likes doing that. The Monster Talents book by Dragonix is really useful in that regard, it has scores of little abilities to slap onto foes to make them more unpredictable.

There are some amazing products on DMsGuild to help fix the generic monster problem, for sure. As I do 5e conversions of old Dungeon mags, I keep ending up with bandit/archer/guard and other boring things as the best humanoid options.

 

[Nebulous]

There are some amazing products on DMsGuild to help fix the generic monster problem, for sure. As I do 5e conversions of old Dungeon mags, I keep ending up with bandit/archer/guard and other boring things as the best humanoid options.

Yeah, if you take advantage of the DMsG options I would say that DOES fix the 5e monster problem, for me anyway.

 

[Gradine]

I would prefer to move away from "monsters" and towards "adversaries". Making combat more tactical can involve increasing the number of combat options available to PCs, but it can (and IMO should) also involve broader combat applications of abilities traditionally considered "non-combat". A more well-defined and complex skill system could allow scenarios wherein talking your way out of/sneaking around a combat can be as intricate and involved (and as fun!) as just fighting it out.

A crunchier skill system combined with re-designed approach to "monsters", can, therefore, create more tactical options towards encounter resolution beyond "different ways to kill monsters".

 

[ThatGuySteve]

Don't complicate base monsters, I'm happy with a simple goblin when I've got 8 to track.

A set of templates, with CR appropriate versions would be more useful. Preferably not so powerful that it increases CR. These can be used on any 5e monster without the worry that Level Up monsters are creeping up in power compared to basic.

For example:

Leader
CR up to 4 - as a bonus action, target creature can use its reaction to move its speed and gains 5 temporary hit points.
CR 5-10 - as a bonus action, target creature can use its reaction to move its speed and gains 10 temporary hit points.
CR 11+ - as a bonus action, target creature can use its reaction to move its speed, make a single attack, and gains 20 temporary hit points.