3.5 Stat Blocks Kill my creativity

[ColonelHardisson]

And really like the "typical dwarven defender" and "typical gnome illusionist" stat-blocks in the Races of... books. I've been stealing liberally from a friend's copy of them.

Aww, and I was really trying not to find a reason to pick up those books...

 

[Kelleris]

Aww, and I was really trying not to find a reason to pick up those books...

I know, I really wanted to dislike them too, but those stat blocks are gold. They're fairly extensive too, taking up, IIRC, 10-20 pages in each book, or something like that. See if you can borrow them from someone else and do a few hours of typing, I'd say.

 

[shilsen]

Different strokes...

My creativity not only kills stat blocks but then desecrates their limp, lifeless bodies, pounding the piles of information they contain into a dozen or less lines of text. Stat blocks are over-CRed, in my opinion.

 

[Psychic Warrior]

Alas poor Ulrick - I knew him not at all Horatio!

I still 'eyeball' stats and powers for my NPCs to this day - just like I used to in 1 & 2E. Now I have various 'feat trees' and 'skill trees' that I plop onto my NPCs. Of course 1E & 2E never had feats but they did have skills (using a much more obtuse system too). Spells are still my main problem (as in previous editions) but I now go with a general guideline of what the NPC will cast on the first 4 rounds. AFter that I may or maynot have to wing it (my players hate spellcasters and I don't know if I've had one last past round 4 anyways).

 

[GlassJaw]

Ah, the "D&D is too complex" thread. Been a while, thread, nice to have you back.

Nothing complicated about it. It's just addition after all. But it is time-consuming, especially if you actually want to *gasp* do it right.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Hmmm, went back to edit my post to make it less nasty, and found that it wasn't as nasty as I thought that it had been... just grumpy. I guess the headache wasn't as bad as I remembered.

The Auld Grump

 

[Dark Jezter]

Ah, the "D&D is too complex" thread. Been a while, thread, nice to have you back.

It could be worse. We could have one that starts out as a "D&D is too complex" rant but then turns into a 280 post long argument.

 

[Von Ether]

Try Castles & Crusades.

Better yet, Savage Worlds. You get rid of stat blocks, hit points and many, many spells. Best yet, it's just as "house rule" friendly as C&C.

Right now, my group is stuck on DnD, so I've no luck in switching systems. On the other hand, I have no problem usings templates, describing +1 sword as cybernetic punch daggers, and using NPC classes for anyone I don't give a care about. I also steal from the NPC matrix in the back of the DMG and other stat blocks from my old stuff.

I also use mission-based XP, so the amount of combat that goes on is irrelevent and doesn't add to power creep. It also lets me use lower or higher CR rated critters to lean on the players.

The latest trick I use is the "hit point" range of the monster. With quite a few critters you have an boggling range of possible hit points, from 32 to like 92 or more in some cases and the monster manuals seem to spit out the pregen hit points somewhere in the middle.

Depending on how easy or tough the fight is, I'll let the damage rack up. As long as they haven't capped out the total, the monster dies only after it's had a good run.

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

I've never fully statted out an NPC, unless the NPC is going to be a long term adversary for the players.. AC, HP, Attacks, Damage, Saves, and Weapon Stats are all I use.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

I just used PCGen and created a whole bunch of point buy characters, then record their names when I need to put a particular character in the game. Hmmm, need a leader for a thieve's guild...* rustle, rustle, rustle!* or *Click, click, click* depending on how far away from my comoputer I am. Aha, Phanum Biggs! He'll be fun. Copy, paste. Done!

The Auld Grump