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<blockquote data-quote="evilbob" data-source="post: 4613794" data-attributes="member: 9789">To reply to the OP:A lot of people in this thread (and others) have said that the &quot;extended stat blocks&quot; aren't necessary because you can just have the monsters &quot;do&quot; whatever it is you need them to &quot;do&quot; and not worry about it.&nbsp; I don't disagree with this.However, this is never really mentioned - or implied, I think - anywhere in the core books.&nbsp; I think a lot of people are thinking like the good DMs they are, and they understand that just because a devil god doesn't have some specific &quot;open a portal to another plane&quot; power listed in his stat block, that doesn't mean he can't do it.&nbsp; But this is never really stated or said anywhere in any of the books for anyone who isn't already an experienced DM, which I think is a little troublesome.&nbsp; It also leads to the type of question you posed.And frankly, one of the things I liked about the extended-stat system was that it did two handy things:- it gave you cool ideas about what these monsters could or would do, and- it gave them limits.Maybe you don't need the first if you're very creative, but the second one was really a nice thing to have because it made these monster super-capable... but also fallible.&nbsp; If &quot;the devil-king can open a portal to another plane&quot; is something the DM just made up, then how does it work?&nbsp; How can you stop it?&nbsp; Sure, maybe the DM can just create an in-game reason or way to stop it as well, but really the biggest danger of all is how does that stop the DM from abusing the power to railroad the characters?&nbsp; Is it fair?Having a set rule means that the characters can work to bend or break that rule - but at least the whole situation isn't just arbitrary.&nbsp; Half the fun of Castle Ravenloft in 3.5 was working with/around/against all the crazy vampire rules that took half a page to stat out.&nbsp; Now, vampires have a couple powers that do damage and that's really it.&nbsp; If you want those extra rules you can always add them, but then they're more arbitrary and possibly less fair.Personally, I feel like 4.0 sort of forces you to become either a really good DM who comes up with lots of extra rules, or a really average DM who works only with what's written.&nbsp; I highly encourage you to be the former.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="evilbob, post: 4613794, member: 9789"] To reply to the OP: A lot of people in this thread (and others) have said that the "extended stat blocks" aren't necessary because you can just have the monsters "do" whatever it is you need them to "do" and not worry about it. I don't disagree with this. However, this is never really mentioned - or implied, I think - anywhere in the core books. I think a lot of people are thinking like the good DMs they are, and they understand that just because a devil god doesn't have some specific "open a portal to another plane" power listed in his stat block, that doesn't mean he can't do it. But this is never really stated or said anywhere in any of the books for anyone who isn't already an experienced DM, which I think is a little troublesome. It also leads to the type of question you posed. And frankly, one of the things I liked about the extended-stat system was that it did two handy things: - it gave you cool ideas about what these monsters could or would do, and - it gave them limits. Maybe you don't need the first if you're very creative, but the second one was really a nice thing to have because it made these monster super-capable... but also fallible. If "the devil-king can open a portal to another plane" is something the DM just made up, then how does it work? How can you stop it? Sure, maybe the DM can just create an in-game reason or way to stop it as well, but really the biggest danger of all is how does that stop the DM from abusing the power to railroad the characters? Is it fair? Having a set rule means that the characters can work to bend or break that rule - but at least the whole situation isn't just arbitrary. Half the fun of Castle Ravenloft in 3.5 was working with/around/against all the crazy vampire rules that took half a page to stat out. Now, vampires have a couple powers that do damage and that's really it. If you want those extra rules you can always add them, but then they're more arbitrary and possibly less fair. Personally, I feel like 4.0 sort of forces you to become either a really good DM who comes up with lots of extra rules, or a really average DM who works only with what's written. I highly encourage you to be the former. [/QUOTE]

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