Anyone else not too fond of the new stat block setup?

[MerricB]

The examples are all fine and dandy as long as the HP remain in the low teens. What happens when I have a monster with 85 HP? 85 Freakin' boxes? Screw that noise.

They don't bother. XCR doesn't have the boxes. Have you bothered reading the posts?

The boxes are a convenience for novice players only.

 

[Land Outcast]

If they would just show the hit dice type and the modifiers, it would fix everything.

Yep, 100% of agreement here;
remember also the AC thing they had (now it's fixed, right?) of not stating the modifiers which made up said AC.

 

[EricNoah]

I like the idea of checkboxes for hit points -- and in fact have used them many times to good effect. Especially helpful when you are dealing with subdual damage -- just mark off the hp starting on the left side, and mark off subdual starting on the right side, and when the two cross over, the creature is unconscious.

The two most helpful visual things in my own stat blocks are a) different font colors (I do AC in red so it's easy to spot, and I do different energy types and poison in different colors to make them stand out), and b) I use some horizontal lines to separate my blocks into sections.

 

[Grymar]

Here you go: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20061115a

Thank you.

I do like the full stat blocks, but not that shortened adventure style.

As a matter of fact, I use the format for all of the npc's I generate. Finding the right information quickly is paramount to me when running.

 

[Cam Banks]

They don't bother. XCR doesn't have the boxes. Have you bothered reading the posts?

The boxes are a convenience for novice players only.

But XCR does move the hit points away from Hit Dice and puts them up underneath the name of the creature.

Cheers,
Cam

 

[MerricB]

But XCR does move the hit points away from Hit Dice and puts them up underneath the name of the creature.

It does. I'm undecided on that change; primarily because I haven't used it yet!

Cheers!

 

[Psion]

PLEASE FIX THE HIT DICE IN THE NEW STAT BLOCKS!

I'm fine with hit points: 34 (Hit Dice 4d12 +8),
but not hit points: 34 (Hit Dice 4)

If I get hit points: 34 (Hit Dice 4) and I want to re-roll the hit points, I don't know what type dice to roll or what modifiers to use.

I agree with this. I'll also add that whatever gains are had introduce more problems with confusion from inconsistency than that actual benefits from the format itself.

I'd just as soon they revert to the old format.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

Here you go: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20061115a

Having taken a look at that, here's my suggestion. The statblocks would probably be more useful on a pull-out or photocopyable set of sheets at the back of the adventure, even if they're also in-line. I say this because the first thing I thought of when I saw the HP boxes and notes for each individual, was that I'd want to photocopy the statblock to use it. But then, I'd have also photocopied a bunch of text that I don't necessarily want to duplicate. If I'm going to be writing on it, I want it to be as convenient to photocopy as possible. A stat-block digest at the back of the adventure would accomplish that.

The other thing is that the HP boxes aren't such a bad thing. Neither is having a line for notes on each individual, considering that things get Entangled, Shaken, Blinded, etc. It saves having to copy a lot of info over to a scratchpad. The HP boxes, on higher-level critters, could probably work in increments of 5 or 10, with slightly larger boxes so you could write the numerals from 1 to 9 in the box, and then cross it off when you hit 10. Of course, just having a line for current HP instead of the boxes would probably work just as well. It's handy to be able to keep track of HP on the same sheet as the statblock, instead of on a separate sheet, which is what I normally do unless I'm printing off my own statblocks, in which case I add a "current HP:" line.

 

[Dykstrav]

I kind of like the older stat blocks myself. A smaller footprint on the page is better for me, as I can use less paper to print my material and it's tougher for the players to read while getting up and going to the kitchen or something.

What I do as a DM is type out all my stat blocks myself- I don't strictly need to to run an adventure, but it makes the information sitck in my head much better. Then when I run the adventure, I only need the stat blocks for numbers, not really for the critter's special qualities or attacks.

In theory, I can appreciate the redesigned stat block. Having it set up for other peope's turns and the critter's turn is a good idea. It still doesn't jibe too well for me though, but that's probably becuase I've been playing with tiny stat blocks since 2000. I also don't like how much page space it eats up. This seems to also have to do with the font sizes in the products as well as the new layout.

 

[Klaus]

Ditto!!!

Qft!!!!