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General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Let's talk about monster design philosophies, by way of examples.
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<blockquote data-quote="J-H" data-source="post: 8747760" data-attributes="member: 7020951"><p>The theory of having lots of actions and bonus actions and reactions and spell options is great. In practice, as a DM running a high-level campaign that I wrote, the big 2-4 hour temple assault battles with 6 different enemy types, terrain, weather, and 4 18th level PCs becomes a lot to keep track of. Most of the reactions like "does a bit of lightning damage when hit" or "apply disadvantage to one attack roll you can see within 30 ft" or "+5 AC against one melee attack" go by the wayside because I'm busy figuring out who's moving where and what spells they're casting next, and who can or cannot see what.</p><p></p><p>In a small fight in a dungeon with one enemy type, reactions aren't too bad... but for big battles, they need to be saved only for big monsters, and need to be around the power level of a legendary action to be worth tracking.</p><p></p><p>I've also started writing casters with a combat-focused spell list and a note that they may have other spells for use outside combat. I also divide the spell list up into categories like Damage, Buff, Crowd Control, Mobility, etc., to make it easier to scan and find the right option out of 6 pages of typed statblocks in front of me.</p><p></p><p>+1 to the suggestion of mobs for goblins above. Anything low level that shows up en masse (zombies, ghouls, etc.) should have a Mob statblock in the MM.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="J-H, post: 8747760, member: 7020951"] The theory of having lots of actions and bonus actions and reactions and spell options is great. In practice, as a DM running a high-level campaign that I wrote, the big 2-4 hour temple assault battles with 6 different enemy types, terrain, weather, and 4 18th level PCs becomes a lot to keep track of. Most of the reactions like "does a bit of lightning damage when hit" or "apply disadvantage to one attack roll you can see within 30 ft" or "+5 AC against one melee attack" go by the wayside because I'm busy figuring out who's moving where and what spells they're casting next, and who can or cannot see what. In a small fight in a dungeon with one enemy type, reactions aren't too bad... but for big battles, they need to be saved only for big monsters, and need to be around the power level of a legendary action to be worth tracking. I've also started writing casters with a combat-focused spell list and a note that they may have other spells for use outside combat. I also divide the spell list up into categories like Damage, Buff, Crowd Control, Mobility, etc., to make it easier to scan and find the right option out of 6 pages of typed statblocks in front of me. +1 to the suggestion of mobs for goblins above. Anything low level that shows up en masse (zombies, ghouls, etc.) should have a Mob statblock in the MM. [/QUOTE]
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Let's talk about monster design philosophies, by way of examples.
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