overgeeked
Open-World Sandbox
Monster Overhaul is great. One of the main reasons is because, as you say, it's designed with the GM's use in mind. Like this stuff...One thing I adore about Skerples' Monster Overhaul book is that there's a lot of attention to what the GM is going to use that monster for. Knowing how the kobold or sphinx is different from the mimic or bulette – and designing its monster entry toward that ideal/common usage is what I would like to see.
Absolutely. Like the Adventurer entry in Monster Overhaul. The stat block is this:Maybe the kobold section has 2 lines of stats like @overgeeked 's griffon example, and then gets into tons and tons of traps & ways the kobolds interact with traps & maybe some collective lair actions that attack your gear/light sources/separate the party. Whereas the sphinx section might also have a very pared down stat block and instead be rife with trials / riddles / tests of the worthy. The mimic section might have a random table of unusual mimics. And the bulette section stays about how it is in the MM.
# Appearing: 1d4, or parties equal to the PCs +1
HD: 4 (18 HP)
Appearance: varies widely. Often outlandish, well-armed, and swaggering.
Voice: professional and bold.
Wants: wealth and power. Roll for variations below.
Morality: pragmatic. Not above light torture.
Intelligence: at least as smart and paranoid as the PCs. Adventurers grow cunning with age.
Armour: varies. As leather, chain, plate, or plate+shield depending on wealth and role.
Move: normal.
Morale: 9
Damage: varies. 1d6+1 for lighter weapons, 1d10+2 for heavier weapons. Fighter-types can attack twice each round. Thief-types deal double damage when attacking by surprise.
That's maybe 1/6th of a page. The rest of the page is filled with GM advice and tips on using adventurers, random charts (d10s or d12s) for vices, goals, why they're here, type, and subtype. Then the next three pages are filled with random charts (d100s) for names, features, skills/profession, special tools, and more charts with more names for elves and dwarfs and unusual names and places they could be from.
So everything you might need for that entry is within a few pages while the main stat block itself is short and sweet.
This is how the whole book is done. It's amazing.
Agreed.Most monster books (not just talking Monster Manual) for 5e cling to the standardized format, and I think it actually restricts creativity and pushes the game even more towards being primarily about fighting. I get it, it's D&D, but there actually are tons of really cool lore bits that never manifest in the monster stat blocks.