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<blockquote data-quote="Jeff Wilder" data-source="post: 4608505" data-attributes="member: 5122">Mine, too.&nbsp; But starting a couple of years ago, I began fixing it.&nbsp; Now I very happily create monster abilities, even sometimes on the fly.&nbsp; I wing DCs.&nbsp; I tell my players, &quot;Look, if you pump your ACs into the stratosphere, the monsters are going to magically get stratospheric attack bonuses.&quot;This is all despite my meticulous nature.&nbsp; Three years ago, if I didn't have a major villain stat-block fully completed, we couldn't play that encounter.&nbsp; Now ... ehn.&nbsp; (Don't get me wrong ... I still prefer a complete stat-block, but the lack comes nowhere near paralyzing me now.)It's been very liberating, and it solves a lot of DMing headaches under 3.5.&nbsp; Even -- maybe especially -- at high levels.&nbsp; The irony, of course, is that 3E did train me to be so rules-dependent in the first place, no question.&nbsp; A rule for everything was one of the things the designers strove for, and they did too good a job.I just wish there were a full-page, 24-point font section on, &quot;There are a bazillion fiddly little rules here, but if it will speed up your game, screw 'em.&nbsp; Learn them when you learn them.&quot;&nbsp; We all know that, but as Wisdom Penalty testified, the knowledge erodes gradually.&nbsp; In at least some of us.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Jeff Wilder, post: 4608505, member: 5122"] Mine, too. But starting a couple of years ago, I began fixing it. Now I very happily create monster abilities, even sometimes on the fly. I wing DCs. I tell my players, "Look, if you pump your ACs into the stratosphere, the monsters are going to magically get stratospheric attack bonuses." This is all despite my meticulous nature. Three years ago, if I didn't have a major villain stat-block fully completed, we couldn't play that encounter. Now ... ehn. (Don't get me wrong ... I still prefer a complete stat-block, but the lack comes nowhere near paralyzing me now.) It's been very liberating, and it solves a [i]lot[/i] of DMing headaches under 3.5. Even -- maybe especially -- at high levels. The irony, of course, is that 3E [i]did[/i] train me to be so rules-dependent in the first place, no question. A rule for everything was one of the things the designers strove for, and they did too good a job. I just wish there were a full-page, 24-point font section on, "There are a bazillion fiddly little rules here, but if it will speed up your game, screw 'em. Learn them when you learn them." We all [i]know[/i] that, but as Wisdom Penalty testified, the knowledge erodes gradually. In at least some of us. [/QUOTE]

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