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That strikes me as a fine distinction with a lot of fuzziness, even though I agree it's a good principle. It all kind of depends on how it comes up in play. "Aha! But your plans have failed, because what you don't know is that the Duke of Geoff is a werewolf, and has betrayed you to his master...

I tend to agree. Even the most "boring," bucket-of-HP monster becomes interesting if it makes interesting moves during the battle, and that's not always something you can account for with an exhaustive list of actions in the statblock.

This is a good point, and true, with the caveat that I think it applies mostly to solo monsters. Consider that a horde of plain-vanilla goblins can overwhelm the resources of even a high-level party. By the same token, a by-the-numbers boosted-CR goblin champion in plate with 15 HD won't last...

(I talked about this a bit over on the "Lore isn't rules" thread, as fair warning to anyone who's been there and isn't interested in watching me do my "Let me tell you about my campaign!" spiel twice.) My home game is set in 1501 DR, on an alt-history timeline where the Spellplague didn't...

Honestly, I wasn't talking about anyone in particular; this was a response to seeing a handful of threads about monster variants that hit many of the same notes, and this seemed like a potentially useful point to single out as part of the meta-conversation.

I think the way you lay this out is pretty much exactly how I'd thread the needle. I also recognize the value that lore has in establishing expectations; heck, I do that all the time myself, so I hope I'm not giving the impression of being all "lore is stupid and you should ignore it." At its...

Ahem. [blushes, coughs awkwardly] I don't normally disclose this kind of thing, but I'm typing this in a batik button-up, a Steven Universe t-shirt, and plaid pajamas. So only one of these things can possibly be true, and I have my doubts about the other one. :) ... But I take the compliment in...

I absolutely get this. It does suck. And believe it or not, I actually share your feelings here - it's a shame to see this extension of the property end, for Realms fans to not have a way to continue to enjoy the setting in this medium when they step away from the table. It's always a sad thing...

Mostly agreed, with the caveat that a couple of variants can make an encounter with minion monsters a lot more interesting than, frex, Here We Are Fighting Generic Orcs One Through Nine Again. It doesn't have to be twelve distinct abilities for each action type; it can be just spicing it up with...

Well, er, um, I had hoped that my framing of this was laden with subtext that read "Brand Identity Aside," but I seem to have not signalled that strongly enough. :) Suffice to say that in this context it isn't a subject I find terribly interesting, except that I have a sneaking suspicion many...

One of my own conclusions in contemplating all this is that CR is such a deeply flawed system that it's kind of a shame so many fiddly things in 5e hang on it. OTOH, I'm not sure what I'd replace it with, either, so that's not a very useful observation. :) (@Hemlock, your CE calculator is a...

For the last swiving time: I am not being "gleeful." This is not a "victory." I am pleased with this development. I think it a vast improvement over the previous handling in many ways, and that it solves more problems than it causes. I have taken some pains to articulate why I think this is...

I actually mentioned these in the OP, though not in that paragraph: So more accurate to say that it's two pages of features, some of which might affect CR. And they do so by, as you say, adjusting effective AC and DPR and so on - meaning there's nothing on there that's a sure bet for a CR bump.

I am, frankly, as croggled by this characterization as I am by why you feel insulted and saddened by WotC handing the keys of their major RPG setting over to you. Saying "Actually, I think this is a good thing and I don't understand the mindset that finds being empowered upsetting" isn't lack...

In discussions about 5e monsters, there are two major areas of criticism: most monsters are bags of hit points with few interesting actions, and there aren't enough variants that scale up low-level foes to challenge higher-level parties. These two ideas are often conflated, or at least...

You're smart enough to be an RPG hobbyist; surely you're smart enough to grok the use/mention distinction.

I would also like to point out that I just got told I'm not allowed to be happy in public about something that matters to me as a fan of that property, from someone who it seems wants to have as much leave as they like to moan and whine in public about the same thing. Sorry, but that's not on.

That thing I mentioned, where the hardcore canon-and-continuity buffs paint themselves as the Real True Fans and other people are fake, shallow pretenders? You're doing that. Cut it out.

I love seeing all these perspectives, many of which seem like subtly different lenses on the same ideas (as befits a proper multiverse). I do think the way we approach this is revealing - probably of something like a lumper/splitter divide, but also (as with lore in general) whether we're...

There are two issues with this, though, one practical and one aesthetic. On the practical end, providing this takes work, and D&D is a skeleton crew. Everyone on staff has quite enough to do without adding "Keeper of the Faerun Timeline" to someone's list of titles. But further, it's clear...