D&D 5E How would you improve monsters?

[Sword of Spirit]

I'm in favor of more interesting special abilities/action options for many of the monsters. If you compare the monsters in later books to the MM, the ones in later books have more of that sort of thing. Bringing them up to par with later books is really the way to go.

While I strongly disagree with removing spells from monsters for setting and style reasons, a compromise could be to also include abbreviated write ups of the spells they are most likely to use in their stat blocks. If their list of spells includes fireball, you also make a fireball action with just the facts, a shield reaction, etc.

 

[BlivetWidget]

I would like every creature to have both a damage type resistance and a damage type vulnerability. The game makes such a big deal about what type of damage every attack/effect does, yet does so little with it.

Aside from that, mostly I think it's fine.

 

[CubicsRube]

There's some great suggestions here, and I think I can only mirrir those that fit my preferences.

• A brief general tactics write up per monster
• A morale suggestion
• A couple of unique powers for each monster. This is the big one for me. Maybe an ogre should knock you back 10 feet on a club attack, or have the option of picking you up and throwing you, while an elitc orc warrior might knock you prone on a succesful hit. Spells shoukd also be written as powers in the stat block to keep them self contained.

Those are the big items for me. As a DM i want to have unique fights to throw against my playera, and as a player I want the fights to feel different, and I want that diacovery of fighting some weird new monster and not knowing what it can do.

 

[Shiroiken]

I'd rewrite the style the way they did in 2E. Statistics would include active cycle, environment, and society. The description would start with a visual descriptions (pictures don't always do it), include a brief history, how they fit into the ecology, and finally a description of preferred tactics.

Mechanically I'd give all monsters at least 1 save, probably 2 (same as PCs). I'd consider giving a skill or two, depending on the specific monster.

 

[CAFRedblade]

The monster list(s) by environment/terrain should be in the Monster Manual, (they fixed that with later Monster related books from Wotc) with a note in the stat block to favoured terrain/environment. Some sample random encounter tables by CR - Terrain.

 

[Eltab]

• Run a "The Monsters Know What They Are Doing" -type analysis before printing the monster. Does his primary magical attack use his dump stat? (Oops). Does it have the DEX / camouflage / Stealth to Hide effectively?
• Make sure its powers and the fluff and the suggested tactics match up.
• 4e style monster types (skirmisher, brute, &c). Minions too.
• Section describing how to upgrade / downgrade a monster. I want a Mummy for an L1 party and King Kobold for L15.
• Tough monsters get reactions and/or bonus actions. (Minions don't)
• Spells have a bare-bones description of the spell's effect
• Shorter (combat-oriented?) spell lists for non-recurring foes
• Physically big foes have zone physical attacks (Tail Sweep), not single-target (Tail Slap).
• Some "signature ability" for each monster: Troglodyte Stench, Dragon Breath, Giants Throw Rocks / Boulders, Kobolds Grovel Cower And Beg

 

[Benjamin Olson]

I think intelligent, equipment-using enemies should be differentiated from proper monster monsters. Problematic-ness of grouping them in as monsters aside, they just have different needs. I would like more transparency in how "people enemies" work so that I can equip them differently on the fly, know how their weapons will function when the PCs loot them. If their weapons function differently than standard ones is it because the weapons are special or because of a special ability? What is their actual proficiency bonus? This is all eminently reverse engineerable and ruleable for me as DM, but that is just more work I have to do that could be streamlined.

 

[cbwjm]

I'd include some templates to change monsters up. I've created some loosely based in 4e templates but you could also include class templates granting a couple of low-level class abilities. I guess I already do this so I don't really need templates but others might find ready usable templates useful. Templates to apply elite and solo abilities would be neat, even if all it involves is more hit points, legendary actions (perhaps chosen from a list for ease of use in play/saves) and a flavourful "always on" ability.

Give some monsters reaction abilities so they have at least 1 off-turn ability that isn't an opportunity attack.

Bring back bloodied and tie mechanics to it. A dragon will be a lot scarier if its breath weapon recharges when bloodied and they can immediately use it as they were capable of in 4e.

I quite like how some monsters (I think medusa and cockatrice) have abilities that scale depending on how poorly you fail the save but I wouldn't want every ability that requires a save to do this.

 

[Maxperson]

If I could improve monsters, it would be to change the balance so that you can challenge a party with a single encounter or two, rather than 5-8.

 

[Maxperson]

My biggest problem is that the challenge rating doesn't really work. Very often, my players steamroll threats that at their appropriate CR. On rarer occasions they get curb stomped by something that shouldn't have been so challenging.

Has it ever worked? It didn't in 3e, either. I don't know about 4e.