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Message: <blockquote data-quote="el-remmen" data-source="post: 9260422" data-attributes="member: 11">How I prep monsters in 5E D&D (a 7 and a half step process <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /> ). 1. I choose the appropriate monster based on the scenario, terrain, my understanding of its relative power throughout my time running D&D of various editions, etc. . . 2. I look up the monster in the 5E Monster Manual or other 5E book that might contain it. I might also google it. 3. I inevitably find it unflavorful and mechanically dull and/or not the power level I want. 4. I look to see if I can find it in MCDM's Flee Mortals 5a. If it is in there, I inevitably quibble with their thematic take but take note of what abilities they give it. 5b. If it isn't there, I look at similar monsters, if present, and take note of their abilities. 6. I look up the monster in the 1E and/or 2E (rarely, 3E) MM and read about it and see how its powers worked (however vaguely written) back then. 7. I make my own version, taking/tweaking powers from Flee Mortals or other sources and/or making them up using the older edition versions as a guide. 7a.  If necessary, I peek at [USER=54840]@SlyFlourish[/USER] and Co's Forge of Foes and do some very rough monster math - mostly to have a CR I can use to award XP for defeating it (though this is a new thing, and I am just as likely to just eyeball it).Basically every time.  Today I did it for the Black Pudding. This is not a complaint, tho. It work for me and I am not sure that even if I found the 5E MM to be a better book, that my inclination to tweak would not lead me down the same basic path. For me, it feels like the culmination of an approach I started doing in 3E (customizing monsters) but not as fiddly.</blockquote>

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