Any word yet on what's happening to monsters?

[Ravenknight]

Im hoping that class lvl still will be possible for monsters. Or specific monster classes and templates. Well we will just have to wait and see.

 

[Ravenknight]

Im hoping that class lvl still will be possible for monsters. Or specific monster classes and templates. Well we will just have to wait and see.

 

[Umbran]

Whatever happened to role play in 4E?

Whatever happened to actually seeing the finished product before getting into a high dudgeon about it?

Razz, we are currently in a state of change, with minimal information. When 3e came out, there were lots of isolated bits of information we got, and it turned out we didn't know in full what they meant. So, perhaps it is a tad early to be leaping to the conclusion that there's going to be any problem.

Speculation is supposed to be fun and interesting, but it makes a poor basis for cries of doom and despair.

 

[DreadPirateMurphy]

I heard the new Monster Manual was going to be done by Pixar, and all the Monsters are Incorporated! It's true!

 

[Baby Samurai]

Considering how much *better* the redesigned Ogre Mage and Rust monster are for actually playing D&D, it is my fervent hope that they remove every klunky 1e artifact from every single monster in the freakin' book.

Totally agree.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Im hoping that class lvl still will be possible for monsters. Or specific monster classes and templates. Well we will just have to wait and see.

I expect adding classes to monsters will still be possible.

That seems like the kind of thing that's just hard to take away after adding it in.

 

[Grazzt]

For example, will they still keep the various types (and subtypes)?

Personally, Im hoping Giant becomes a subtype applied to the other types. (I mean a Giant really is just a Large or larger humanoid....more or less. I think GR did this in their True20 stuff actually.)

 

[SPoD]

What I'd like to see is that every monster in the book is created with the assumption that someone, somewhere, will want to play one as a PC. Make each monster type like a class that gains a special ability every level, and then just build the monsters from a giant menu of special abilities that are balanced against PCs of the same level. A minotaur is actually a character with a minotaur base race and 8 levels of "Monstrous Humanoid". You would be able to play any monster in the game right out of the box.

 

[Simplicity]

I'd personally be very interested in just how stat blocks are being reduced.
I think it has to be more than just reduction of Special Abilities to get me interested.
There's way too much number crunching in Monster creation.

Frankly, I think it was a heck of a lot easier to DM when monsters DIDN'T have ability scores.
That entire aspect of that stat block should just be removed from non-class-based creatures.

I also think that one of the biggest things that slows down my game is initiative. It's not hard, but it's ANNOYING. What'd you roll, Bob? 17? Well then let me just draw an arrow to put you between the 16 that other Bob got and the 18 my monsters got... And then you Tom, you got? A 16? Well, what's your Dex? And my monster's Dex is...
STUPID. For the sake of speed, can we just not roll that at all and always go in Initiative bonus order? Or maybe just ONE roll to determine if the party or the monsters go first. And you can have a special feat for rogues that lets them go out of order. So, I vote initiative should get removed from the stat block too.

We've seen the Star Wars Saga edition. We know there's going to be fewer skills. And we also probably also don't need to keep track of individual skill bonuses any more. Just Trained, Focused, or not.

I also wouldn't be surprised if 4e is the edition where AC bites the dust. The Fort/Ref/Will defenses concept from Star Wars Saga edition is a pretty good one. It makes sense. And more importantly, it could be used to Eliminate Typed Bonuses. That alone would make the edition worth it. No more... enhancement? armor? deflection? No... it just applies to one of the defense types. End of story. Okay, that's probably not going to happen just because of Mage Armor vs. normal Armor... But I can hope.

I propose that critical hits apply maximum damage (not x2/x3). And there's no confirmation roll. That'd make that go faster and reduce the block size even more.

 

[Shade]

Personally, Im hoping Giant becomes a subtype applied to the other types. (I mean a Giant really is just a Large or larger humanoid....more or less. I think GR did this in their True20 stuff actually.)

Good call. I never really saw the need for the distinction between humanoid and monstrous humanoid for that matter, either. If it's weird enough, make it an aberration. Otherwise, the differences were fairly minor. It seemed like it was mainly an excuse to increase the BAB.