What about the thought processes or inspirations for all the abilities, actions, ect. that you put into the creatures? I struggle quite a bit with this part of monster creation.
OK, I understand. That is the difficult part really. Here are some of my thoughts on that (in no particular order):
- Monsters should have a theme (in general) and the monsters traits and powers should reinforce that theme.
- If you are having difficulty coming up with interesting / thematic traits and actions, find a similar published (WotC, 3PP, reddit - anything really) monster and copy and modify from there. It doesn't have to been something as powerful as what your making, you can always increase the power of a trait/action, you just want to be thematic.
- It is always a good idea to look at previous versions of the monster if it has any.
- Solo monsters need a way to deal with ranged attackers and focus fire. An escape action/bonus action/legendary action is a good idea. And ranged or area attacks and/or defenses are a must.
As and example, let's look at your Cronus request. Cronus was the titan of time. Thus I would like to see some time based traits and actions. That can be tricky to design, but luckily there is already a D&D monster that is time based, the Phane. There isn't an official 5e phane, but you can look at past editions for ideas, or look for homebew 5e versions. There are several and your welcome to look at my 5e
Phane for inspiration.
Actually, if you use my Phane as template I think that is a good place to start thematically. I would add a sickle attack option, legendary actions, and some deity / titan-like powers ( like
Kord) and I would probably give him the mythic / elite trait like my
Seraphim.
So, if I were to make Cronus I would probably start with my Seraphim, bump it to whatever CR and stats I deem appropriate, revise the greatsword attack to be a sickle, and then layer-in / replace a bunch of time themed traits and powers from the phane (with some unique tweaks) and your pretty much done.
The big then to remember, make your life easier and use the good ideas from other people. Good luck!