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<blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 8665731" data-attributes="member: 22779">I have to admit that this thread has become somewhat eye opening for me. As I mentioned, in my last session I used one of these Deathlock Masterminds in the encounter.&nbsp; Now, a bit of background - the party has entered the Shadowfell to follow a quest for one of the PC's and have come to the attention of Vecna (I won't bore you with the details) who is very interested in capturing said PC.&nbsp; So, since the Deathlock got away, I figured I'd use him to taunt/talk to/expository infodump on the party during their next long rest.&nbsp; I wanted to have some way for the baddy to communicate with the party without actually being right there and getting pretty much instantly killed.&nbsp; So, the first thing I did was look at the stat block.&nbsp; It's a caster, after all, so, does it have something like Message, or whatnot?&nbsp; Nope.&nbsp; Hrm, nothing in the statblock is going to help me.&nbsp; Darn, guess I'll have to change my plans.But, wait.&nbsp; Isn't a lot easier to just not worry about the stat block?&nbsp; The Deathlock Mastermind animates some small animal, sends it into the party and talks through it.&nbsp; Poof, problem solved.&nbsp; How does he do it?&nbsp; No idea.&nbsp; Don't know, and, really, really don't care.&nbsp; Why should I rewrite my adventure just so some stat block isn't changed?&nbsp; It's funny though.&nbsp; In the past, I absolutely would have done that.&nbsp; The game says that the monster can't do X, so, it can't do X.&nbsp; Now?&nbsp; Yeah, rulings over rules baby.&nbsp; Full DM power ahead.&nbsp; I don't have to restrict myself to the stat block.&nbsp; Poof, instant change, and my fun idea is full steam ahead.&nbsp; To me, THAT'S the liberating point about truncated stat blocks.&nbsp; Making that absolutely clear to DM's that the stat block is just meant for combat.&nbsp; All the other stuff?&nbsp; That's what those paragraphs of information written in nice descriptive text is for.&nbsp; I agree with the point made way, way back that the 2e monster write ups were fantastic.&nbsp; Very evocative.&nbsp; Lots of information.&nbsp; But the stat blocks?&nbsp; Hell, the 2e stat blocks didn't even tell me what the stats of the monster were.&nbsp; Nothing in the game had a Dex score unless it was a PC.&nbsp; And that didn't ever seem to matter too much.&nbsp; So, again, if the baseline is a combat of 3-5 rounds, why does a monster stat block (not the monster itself, that's a different story, but, just the stat block) need more than 5 discrete actions?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Hussar, post: 8665731, member: 22779"] I have to admit that this thread has become somewhat eye opening for me. As I mentioned, in my last session I used one of these Deathlock Masterminds in the encounter. Now, a bit of background - the party has entered the Shadowfell to follow a quest for one of the PC's and have come to the attention of Vecna (I won't bore you with the details) who is very interested in capturing said PC. So, since the Deathlock got away, I figured I'd use him to taunt/talk to/expository infodump on the party during their next long rest. I wanted to have some way for the baddy to communicate with the party without actually being right there and getting pretty much instantly killed. So, the first thing I did was look at the stat block. It's a caster, after all, so, does it have something like Message, or whatnot? Nope. Hrm, nothing in the statblock is going to help me. Darn, guess I'll have to change my plans. But, wait. Isn't a lot easier to just not worry about the stat block? The Deathlock Mastermind animates some small animal, sends it into the party and talks through it. Poof, problem solved. How does he do it? No idea. Don't know, and, really, really don't care. Why should I rewrite my adventure just so some stat block isn't changed? It's funny though. In the past, I absolutely would have done that. The game says that the monster can't do X, so, it can't do X. Now? Yeah, rulings over rules baby. Full DM power ahead. I don't have to restrict myself to the stat block. Poof, instant change, and my fun idea is full steam ahead. To me, THAT'S the liberating point about truncated stat blocks. Making that absolutely clear to DM's that the stat block is just meant for combat. All the other stuff? That's what those paragraphs of information written in nice descriptive text is for. I agree with the point made way, way back that the 2e monster write ups were fantastic. Very evocative. Lots of information. But the stat blocks? Hell, the 2e stat blocks didn't even tell me what the stats of the monster were. Nothing in the game had a Dex score unless it was a PC. And that didn't ever seem to matter too much. So, again, if the baseline is a combat of 3-5 rounds, why does a monster stat block (not the monster itself, that's a different story, but, just the stat block) need more than 5 discrete actions? [/QUOTE]

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