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Message: <blockquote data-quote="FireLance" data-source="post: 5186358" data-attributes="member: 3424">It is perhaps a legacy of 3E's comprehensive stat blocks, but I think that many DMs have come to look to a monster or NPC's stat block for information on how it interacts with the PCs and with the rest of the game world. This has led to an attitude of "if it isn't in the stat block, it doesn't exist," which was arguably absent from 2E and earlier editions. The upshot of this is that stat blocks may need to contain more than basic combat information, if only to hint to a less experienced DM that the PCs can interact with at least some monsters or NPCs in ways other than direct combat. So, conclusion #1: Stat blocks need to contain more non-combat information. This can be separate from the combat stats so that DMs who only need the combat stats can ignore this part of the stat block.That said, there is an implementation issue. Certain information such as personality, motivations, and unique non-combat interactions would tend to be specific to individual creatures. They would be great additions to the stat blocks of a specific monster or NPC in a module, but they would not be appropriate for a book on generic monsters (unless you are willing to accept that every adult red dragon has exactly the same personality and motivations). Conclusion #2: Non-combat stat blocks in modules need to be more comprehensive and detailed than non-combat stat blocks in generic monster books. Certain types of non-combat information should be an integral part of the stat blocks in generic monster books if the very nature of the monster suggests certain non-combat interactions are likely, e.g. skill challenges to communicate with a slaad or to discover a doppleganger's true identity.</blockquote>

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