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Weird. It's two weeks post-release in North America and there are plenty of copies, some discounted 20%, available on eBay. I wonder if there was a logistics mistake, given it's been a few weeks. When two products are so similar in specifications - weight, size, etc. - it's easy to get them...

Thanks! FWIW, used them in my game yesterday and was happy with how they worked. I had a gang of troglodytes with the Lazy trait guarding an area. One PC used Stealth to scout out the room, and I described the trogs as lounging about and sluggish. The party used a combo of Calm Emotions and a...

Wow, I am sorry to hear that. I'm a big believer that the GM should have at least as much fun as the players. Spending all the time prepping to find that people don't want to play what you prepared is rough. I'd suggest trying Gloomhaven. The Jaws of the Lion game is relatively inexpensive and...

So has anyone taken a look at the new stat block format for D&D '24? At a first glance, I really like the two column format. EDIT: The Basic Rules have a selection of familiar and summoned monster stat blocks.

Tiefling has fire resistance IIRC, and barbarian is the big one. Though honestly, I kind of wish that rage just gave a renewing pool of temporary hit points each round. Resistance is very feast or famine.

It matters somewhat. Mostly for creatures that an energy type defines, like a fire elemental. I think you can safely ignore types and resistances as long as you are upfront with the players. I don't think it makes for particularly good gameplay, unless the monster is a puzzle to solve.

So @SlyFlourish mentioned FATE-style aspects, so I took a pass at adding those to my orc stat block. Here's what I have: Traits are keywords to help guide roleplay and they grant advantage to checks that take advantage of them and disadvantage to checks where they would be a hindrance. In this...

Nifty! I like this approach and am going to look at using it in my games. I like that it makes spellcasting more of a menu of focused options. If I keep it to simple spells, I might even be able to summarize spells within the stat block.

Agreed.

Inspired by this thread the work done by @Quickleaf and @SlyFlourish here is my own take on a reduced stat block. I've started with the orc, so a much simpler monster, but I also found that I could junk the six ability scores, saves, and skills by reducing down to three attributes that should...

And FWIW, if you haven't looked at Forge of Foes and are interested in this thread's topic, it's a must buy. I've found it invaluable.

This looks cool! I've been thinking about developing two stat blocks. One for a monster book entry that has all the details, and an abstract one that just gives what you need to run a critter at the table. I literally just ran a session (finished 11 minutes ago by my clock!) with some critters...

I can't love this comment enough. TTRPGs are so great because they make us all game designers, glad you're digging into it!

Ha! It's definitely tricky, having been part of it for 4e, 5e, and in my own designs. And I know you're joking but FWIW, in my own games I took a cue from video games and treat it like a terrain feature. I've been using these rules for a few years now. Shadowed terrain lets you hide. It has a...

Hey all! Very late to the responses thanks to Gen Con (fun!), COVID (not fun!), and other such stuff. Really appreciate the encouragement here. It definitely keeps me fired up for design. Thanks!

Inspired by the years I spent working on Magic: the Gathering, I'm trying to get the core stats down so that I can create design space for more interesting effects. I think monsters have too much detail for running them at the table, and much of that detail doesn't add much fun for the DM. A...

Added a preview of the ranger subclass coming next Tuesday: https://www.patreon.com/posts/ranger-sneak-107475397?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

I think there's a tendency for TTRPGs to grow more complex with each new edition, recapturing current players but losing its ability to gain new ones. There were factors beyond game design that played a role in AD&D becoming the main version of the game - TSR basically lost its ability to sell...