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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mustrum_Ridcully" data-source="post: 4107214" data-attributes="member: 710">I definitely can always can create variations, but I suck at making this stuff on the fly (unless you're talking about low level monsters. That might work.) Can you also do it 100 % according to the rules, or do you give yourself some leeway here? I probably would, and I don't feel it as a "strength" of a rules system that I sometimes ignore it rules to get faster results...And what if we're not talking about Barbarians, but spellcasters? Can this still be done on the fly?But will our Gnoll Barbarian still feel like a Gnoll? Or will he just be Barbarian with funny hair? Is he just another "bog-standard Barbarian, but this time specialised in mobility and hyena-like?"Will the players really notice the difference between Gnoll Barbarian 1 and Gnoll Barbarian 2? A general phenomena (and not one I ever noticed that much before 4E) in 3E is that the monster race (at least for humanoids) becomes meaningless over time. You slap on class level, and the racial identity is quickly gone. A Gnoll Fighter 10 isn't really different from a Hogboblin Fighter 10. 4E monsters seem to have at least one racial signature ability that will always come in play when using them. Even if you now go the 3E route and add class levels, you still have that signature ability, and people will notice the difference between 3 Hobgoblin Fighter 10 and 3 Gnoll Fighter 10 working together. 4E now goes a little further - it gives you  "ready to use" variants of the same race, all preserving their racial flavor, but also adding unique abilities fitting their role. This means, if I ever want to use that race, I can immediately use these ones, without ever adding class levels, choosing powers, feats or skills for that monster. I use it, and I can trust (as far as we can trust anything in the MM) it will do its intended job. And if I need something special, I can still take the creature and add class levels to it. The 4E MM gives you more "instant usability" per monster then the 3E MM give you. (This might cost you something, though. If class advancement and PC rules are little more complex in play, if you ever go the 3E route and add levels to your monster, you will probably have some more work then in 3E - at last for non-spellcasters.)</blockquote>

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