Jaeger
That someone better
I guess one of my questions is how do you pull up stat blocks on the fly if your players decide to be murderhobos? What if they go a complete different way (They will) and you don't have stats for what they want to do? Do I just make it up? I've been making npcs into stat blocks and it takes forever.
First - you don't need full stat blocks for NPC's. They're NPC's.
Redhammer is correct, appendix B is the #1 pace to go. Just remember you don't have to copy the full stat block to use them in the game.
All you really need is the HP, AC, and what attacks they have.
If you had a cool, named pirate captain and the party decided they were going to kill him, how would you create a stat block for this character on the fly? The DM never thought the players would kill this character so you didn't stat them up. How do you deal with that?
Baldurs_Underdark has it right. 100%
I was going to type a reply, but I'd just repeat him.
Just a quick 3-4 line write up is the way to go. Maybe add - Saves at: +3
Yes, it's a single save for everything. Your players will never know the difference.
For 99% of what a GM does, You just don't need a full stat block. (IMHO WotC adding in the full 6 stat block for monsters was a mistake.)
A common mistake is thinking you have to emulate the MM stat block when you prep for a session. Too much work. Don't do it.
Just use the NPC shorthand Baldurs showed. Even when copying from the MM.
The only time it is worth more effort is for a major villain that the PC's have been after. Even then you shouldn't have to do more than a few of them for an entire campaign.