D&D 5E How would you enhance monster entries?

[Thomas Rainsborough]

IMO, turn immunity is misguided. You've taken one of the BIG reasons for clerics being good against undead and said "nah, don't think so."

If the cleric "wins" the encounter with such a resource? That's what it's there for, and he doesn't get it back for a bit unless there is time for a short rest. The encounter isn't "ruined" it is overcome. Sometimes the bad guys just go down like chumps. Makes the players feel good - and you still have infinite dragons at your disposal.

My preferred way is to recognize that these resources exist and to design encounters with them in mind rather than nerf them. Likely for ex. there would have been undead BEFORE the deathlock and if the cleric still has his turn undead, well that's either lucky or good play - not going to penalize that!

I understand the idea of a high level cleric turning a high level BBEG. I see no problem with that. I DO have a problem with a 2nd level cleric, Wis of 16, having a DC 13 of turning ANY undead. AD&D had a vastly superior method of dealing with this issue, but you know, charts are complicated, and complicated is "no fun" in 5e.

 

[Blue]

I've going to crib directly from the 13th Age Bestiary, my favorite monster book for any RPG.

1. Have variations so that you can have unified encounters with different roles. And at different levels.
2. Remember that at the end the goal of a monster book is not to present monsters. It's to present foes to challenge the party in some way (not necessarily combat), as well as neutral and allies. Focus on material needed for that.
3. Talk about building battles - common allies, tactics, and the like.
4. If setting related, talk about how they fit into the setting. Not just geographically but what forces and deities they align themselves with commonly.
5. For intelligent monsters, give some sample names and some stereotypical RP traits - everything a DM needs to plan or improv them in a scene.
6. Specialty touches - what does this type of dragon horde and collect, what's in a giant's pouch.
7. Adventure hooks.
8. Lore (potentially by setting).

 

[Mort]

I understand the idea of a high level cleric turning a high level BBEG. I see no problem with that. I DO have a problem with a 2nd level cleric, Wis of 16, having a DC 13 of turning ANY undead. AD&D had a vastly superior method of dealing with this issue, but you know, charts are complicated, and complicated is "no fun" in 5e.

It's not a question of complicated at all - that's not even REMOTELY what I said.

Turn undead is an ability dedicated to making undead flee. It's SUPPOSED to be used against a superior undead foe (or # of foes) that the party otherwise would have serious trouble dealing with - that's the whole point of the ability. It's supposed to give the PCs an edge against undead and a chance (to at least flee) if there are undead above their paygrade (so the fact that it only has about a 50% shot is actually rather weak, actually).

Now as to the general point - some monsters are just WAY too weak for their CR and not a proper challenge for the PCs (see Mummy Lord a CR 15 baddie that won't likely even be a speed bump for PCs of level 9 or so plus). Yes, that's certainly a thing and requires some planning or even redesign of certain monsters.

 

[Thomas Rainsborough]

It's not a question of complicated at all - that's not even REMOTELY what I said.

Turn undead is an ability dedicated to making undead flee. It's SUPPOSED to be used against a superior undead foe (or # of foes) that the party otherwise would have serious trouble dealing with - that's the whole point of the ability. It's supposed to give the PCs an edge against undead and a chance (to at least flee) if there are undead above their paygrade (so the fact that it only has about a 50% shot is actually rather weak, actually).

Now as to the general point - some monsters are just WAY too weak for their CR and not a proper challenge for the PCs (see Mummy Lord a CR 15 baddie that won't likely even be a speed bump for PCs of level 9 or so plus). Yes, that's certainly a thing and requires some planning or even redesign of certain monsters.

There should be ZERO chance a 2nd level char can Turn a CR 8 or 9 Undead, let alone a Lich. Ignoring a Lich's LR's, a 2nd Level Char with a DC of 13 still has a tiny chance of turning a Lich. That is ridiculous. Some things should be completely impossible for chars of low levels.

This become a philosophical question about how a DM treats the party. Does the DM make it an Disney adventure ride where nothing bad can happen, or put the chars into F1 race cars where chance of disaster is very real.

 

[Yaarel]

Personally, I would enhance D&D monsters by deleting the Monster Manual − and instead, writing numerous Monster Manuals that are specific to each official setting. There would be a Greyhawk/Blackmoor bestiary, a Faerun bestiary, an Underdark bestiary, an Eberron bestiary, a Dark Sun bestiary, a Feywild bestiary, a Shadowfell bestiary, a Radiant (ethereal) bestiary, etcetera.

Each bestiary would double down on the flavor and ecology of how the creature fits into its setting. The approach encourages the DM to modify and customize each monster entry, to make it more suitable for the setting that the DM is running.

Also there is an SRD version of each creature that is minimalist and flavorless to help the DM customize its flavor.

Ultimately, there would be both lots of flavor to spark the imagination, and freedom to create new worlds.