Quickleaf
Legend
I'm pretty sure you're asking a layout question, so I'm zipping my mouth about content changes I would/do make.As an avid monster maker I am interested in the changes to the 2024 monster statblocks. There are lots of interesting structural changes that I am thinking about implementing in my homebrew monsters. However, I am not 100% sold on the new design and I am thinking about a hybrid approach. So, which do you prefer?
Option 1: 2024 Monster Statblock
View attachment 368538
Option 2: 2014/2024 Hybrid Monster Statblock
View attachment 368539
Layout-wise, a few things:
- White or off-white backgrounds for text is the most modern and readable way to do it. D&D books have mostly left the textured papyrus look by the wayside, so that whole yellow tint / parchment border to the old statblock isn't really doing much for ease-of-acquiring-info. The text color choice - the reddish tint – matter here too, because red on yellow (to me) reads less distinct than red on white/light grey – I can read the text on white/light grey ever so slightly faster and feels like less eye strain. YMMV of course.
- Similarly, the curved bounding box is like a pendulum swinging too far in the other direction of "magazine article callout" or "scifi rpg text box." I don't see that adding anything to the usability/readability either, and it detracts from the feel of the game.
- Font in both are fine, but could do a little better with a more readable font choice – something like Merriweather that reads better at smaller font sizes might be a good idea.
- Color boxes around Stats/Saves are the kind of thing I can see working fine when the monster is used in isolation, but a new GM running a couple monsters could get confused between the Stat and the Save – ironically THOSE are the two boxes (Strength Stat Mod & Strength Save) that should be differentiated by the tone/hue of the color box, as opposed to the Stat below it. Linework could really help there to make it more clear at a quick glance.
- From a color-blind perspective (I am not, just used to game with a friend who had RGB color blindness), I don't think adding color tints to the color boxes around Stats/Saves is doing much. In fact, it's breaking the nice Text-on-White/Light Grey which is so readable.