InspectorHound
First Post
updating old Monsters (someday)
When it comes to updating MM1 and MM2 monsters (or all old monsters for that matter), I find it interesting that the Monster Builder application doesn't currently have the New Math from the July Update. (note, I saw this pointed out in some other posts, but I'll re-iterate my point here)
What I'm talking about is the little "suggestion" reset arrows when you are editing a monster. They are highlighted when a particular stat is 'off' from normal. Right now, 'normal' in the MB is the page 184 chart from DMG1, not the update from July.
proof 1) create a new monster in MB. say a Level 16 Brute. An attack vs AC starts out Level +3 and an attack vs non-AC is Level +1
proof 2) find a level 16 Brute from MM3 (Warped Slave). The Warped Slave basic attack is Level +5 (i.e. the new math). Now edit the Warped Slave and select its At-Will "Bite" attack to edit: you'll see that the little helper arrow is suggesting that you "Reset to 19" for the Attack Bonus.
So I gotta think that at some point, WotC will want to change the math in Monster Builder so that it is using the July Update numbers. And at that point, if you open up an old monster to edit it, you could look for all the little helper arrows and "reset" them all to the new MM3 math. Dont'cha think?
I don't know about you, but when I prepare for an evening's encounters, I go into MB and copy-paste all the needed monsters into a Word Doc and then print them out so that I can scribble all over them during the fight. Pretty small step to run through and quickly Reset any older monsters in my encounter plan. (i.e. I don't feel compelled to update all old monsters ahead of time. I prefer just-in-time updating)
side note: the Monster Builder >does< have the new layout for all monsters, which is nice. So you want a MM1 monster with the new stat-block structure? Get it from the Monster Builder!
When it comes to updating MM1 and MM2 monsters (or all old monsters for that matter), I find it interesting that the Monster Builder application doesn't currently have the New Math from the July Update. (note, I saw this pointed out in some other posts, but I'll re-iterate my point here)
What I'm talking about is the little "suggestion" reset arrows when you are editing a monster. They are highlighted when a particular stat is 'off' from normal. Right now, 'normal' in the MB is the page 184 chart from DMG1, not the update from July.
proof 1) create a new monster in MB. say a Level 16 Brute. An attack vs AC starts out Level +3 and an attack vs non-AC is Level +1
proof 2) find a level 16 Brute from MM3 (Warped Slave). The Warped Slave basic attack is Level +5 (i.e. the new math). Now edit the Warped Slave and select its At-Will "Bite" attack to edit: you'll see that the little helper arrow is suggesting that you "Reset to 19" for the Attack Bonus.
So I gotta think that at some point, WotC will want to change the math in Monster Builder so that it is using the July Update numbers. And at that point, if you open up an old monster to edit it, you could look for all the little helper arrows and "reset" them all to the new MM3 math. Dont'cha think?
I don't know about you, but when I prepare for an evening's encounters, I go into MB and copy-paste all the needed monsters into a Word Doc and then print them out so that I can scribble all over them during the fight. Pretty small step to run through and quickly Reset any older monsters in my encounter plan. (i.e. I don't feel compelled to update all old monsters ahead of time. I prefer just-in-time updating)
side note: the Monster Builder >does< have the new layout for all monsters, which is nice. So you want a MM1 monster with the new stat-block structure? Get it from the Monster Builder!
