Arg, Too Many Monster Stat Blocks

[molepunch]

Hi all,

While I'm still passionate about DMing, I've been getting lazier and lazier in copying down monster stat blocks into my DM notes. Sometimes, I keep flipping back and forth between the pages in the Monster Manual bookmarked by index cards.

Am I the only one here? I just can't be arsed to jot all the abilities down anymore.

For a period of time I just used that one famous DM cheat sheet to work out the basic stat blocks and just go. The problem is, past my colorful DMing, the monsters play out similarly and are boring for my players to battle.

Perhaps someone can please help me come up with a short list of quirks some popular monsters do, like:

orcs: do something nasty when they get bloodied or when they die
goblins: free shifts before attacks(?)
ghosts: insubstantial and are weak against radiant dmg
barbarians: charge a lot

 

[the Jester]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with actually using the books for reference. I do it all the time. I'll only copy a stat block into my notes if it makes a significant difference in how things run- which is to say, generally, only if I'd have to flip through multiple books an annoying amount in order to handle the variety of monsters in a single encounter.

 

[S'mon]

80% of the time I run them out of the books. I normally try to use monsters that are either on two facing pages, or in two completely different books, for ease of use. I avoid having 4 different monsters from 4 different parts of the same book.

This seems to work fine.

 

[keterys]

I used to love the old monster builder cause I'd just put stuff to jpeg, cluster all the jpegs on one page and print it up.

One thing you could do is just jot or type down the 1-2 important abilities for a monster, or adopt a short hand you're used to.

In one game what I was doing was filling in a little chart that was
Name Init AC Fort Ref Will HP

then below just had 1-4 lines for each:
Rolth - Dmg 1d10+6 necrotic
Soul Worm - m or r10: +14W/Dmg+Link SE. Link = heal + save when target does.
Grasp/E - A2Ein20: +14R/Dmg+dazeSE, Miss: Dmg, Eff: Zone enter/start 5 nec
Steal/RBl - CS5 Living: +14F/Dmg, Eff: og5 nec, Fail Save: Rolth heals 5

Which are...
Soul Worm (At-Will) -
Melee Basic or Ranged Basic 10
+14 vs. Will,
Hit: 1d10 + 6 necrotic + the target is soul linked (save ends).
Soul Link: Whenever the target heals or makes a save, Rolth heals the same amount or makes a save.

Grasp of the Grave (Encounter)
Area burst 2 in 20, enemies only,
+14 vs. Reflex,
Hit 1d10 + 6 necrotic and dazed (save ends).
Miss: 1d10 + 6 necrotic.
Effect: Creates a zone in the burst where enemies that start or enter the zone take 5 necrotic damage.

Steal Life (Recharge when Bloodied)
Close blast* 5, living creatures only
+14 vs Fortitude
Hit: 1d10 + 6 necrotic.
Effect: Ongoing 5 necrotic.
Failed Save: Rolth heals 5 damage.

* Close burst and blast were too close, so I renamed (in my head) blasts to sprays, so now I can use C + CS instead of CBu CBl or similar. (Bl is also too close to the Bl I use for bloodied, so eh)

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

I write monsters from books (and adventures) onto index cards, along with custom-designed ones. Among other things, this lets me mod levels up and down easily.

I have four boxes of 4x6 inch index cards at the moment.

 

[Dice4Hire]

I also try to mix and match from different books, or if not possible, I jsut copy one block at the local copy store to make things easier.

 

[The Human Target]

Old monster builder made it easy to collate and then print out.

New monster builder/compendium is still pretty easy.

The print screen button is a wonderful thing.

 

[molepunch]

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the helpful tips.

There has to be a an easier way to not have to visually plough through blocks of olive and dark olive textboxes. :/ Maybe I'll scour the web later. I recently found this page explaining how to use a numberless monster health tracking system. It's fantastic.

 

[Rechan]

I also do the notecard thing. That way I can organize them in terms of initiative. I use 4x6 notecards for normal monsters, 3x5 for minions (and magical items).

It would be very easy to basically have all stats (HP/Defenses/Attack Bonuses) on a spreadsheet organized by monster level and role. Stick that in your folder/on your DM screen. Then, all you ever need to look for are powers.

 

[Incenjucar]

I just look monsters up in the Compendium, copy-paste their stats into word, and then cram those stats in to tables with a more efficient-for-my-fantastic-eyesight format, along with the very basics of the encounters I'm running. Depending on the monster, I can fit 1-3 of them on a page.