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<blockquote data-quote="Amal Shukup" data-source="post: 1687259" data-attributes="member: 6291">With respect to Stat Blocks:Hate 'em. Definitely an 'Evil'. Too dense. Too hard to find the number I'm looking for. Usually need a bunch of additional info on hand to actually use them in play (ability/feat/magic item descriptions etc.). They take up way too much space in a published module, and as they almost always need to be modified or tweaked in some way, they're just not all that useful.&nbsp; I'd rather they focused on the module itself, and those things that make an encountered critter 'unique' (hitpoints, motivations, magic items and equipment, tactics etc.) I can take it from there. If there's a non-core or really unique critter, I'd rather they be given a MM style write-up in the appendix (or web enhanced or something).OTOH, having a stack of books to riffle through during a combat does not make me a happy DM either...So, when prepping a module for use (or just building encounters myself), each encountered critter (or homogenous group) gets their own 5&quot; x 8&quot; unlined index card. On one side I put a MM/SRD style write-up with notes on description, tactics, special features. This info is pulled from the SRD and/or the Module and advanced/modified as required. On the other side I try to put a picture of the critter (&quot;As you turn the corner, you come face to face with... This!&quot;)When I bring a module to the table, it is accompanied by a stack of these index cards, sorted and keyed by encounter area. It DOES take some additional prep, but the templates and SRD are all on my computer ready to go. Also, lots of 'standard' critters get reused all the time and are strored in a little filebox (I make in-game notes using pencil and erase if I'm likely to reuse the critter). I find it works pretty well - and I'd rather do an extra hour of Prep than have a combat drag out for an extra hour because info is not on hand.A'Mal</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Amal Shukup, post: 1687259, member: 6291"] With respect to Stat Blocks: Hate 'em. Definitely an 'Evil'. Too dense. Too hard to find the number I'm looking for. Usually need a bunch of additional info on hand to actually use them in play (ability/feat/magic item descriptions etc.). They take up way too much space in a published module, and as they almost always need to be modified or tweaked in some way, they're just not all that useful. I'd rather they focused on the module itself, and those things that make an encountered critter 'unique' (hitpoints, motivations, magic items and equipment, tactics etc.) I can take it from there. If there's a non-core or really unique critter, I'd rather they be given a MM style write-up in the appendix (or web enhanced or something). OTOH, having a stack of books to riffle through during a combat does not make me a happy DM either... So, when prepping a module for use (or just building encounters myself), each encountered critter (or homogenous group) gets their own 5" x 8" unlined index card. On one side I put a MM/SRD style write-up with notes on description, tactics, special features. This info is pulled from the SRD and/or the Module and advanced/modified as required. On the other side I try to put a picture of the critter ("As you turn the corner, you come face to face with... This!") When I bring a module to the table, it is accompanied by a stack of these index cards, sorted and keyed by encounter area. It DOES take some additional prep, but the templates and SRD are all on my computer ready to go. Also, lots of 'standard' critters get reused all the time and are strored in a little filebox (I make in-game notes using pencil and erase if I'm likely to reuse the critter). I find it works pretty well - and I'd rather do an extra hour of Prep than have a combat drag out for an extra hour because info is not on hand. A'Mal [/QUOTE]

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