D&D 5E Reducing Power Gaming

That's something that I've been giving a lot of thought to - but I don't quite have the solution yet. You see, I think that 5e Monster Statblocks make the best PC character sheets, but make terrible monsters. The sad thing is, most of the time, the Monsters don't really actually have a lot of abilities and traits - and yet the block is still so huge and wordy (IMO). Much more than it has to be.

Recently (like, mostly yesterday) I started looking at monster statblocks and busting them down. For example, here's my take on the 2024 version of the Ogre:

OGRE (CR2). Lg.CE.Giant.
AC:11 HP:68 Spd:40'
FORT(+6) REF(-1) WILL(-2) PP:8.DV
ACT: Club.10'MA(+6)2d8+4b.
Javelin.30/120'RA(+6)2d6+4p.

(The Fort/Ref/Will is something that Mike Mearls has been doing with 5e Monsters on his patreon. Basically you take the higher of STR & CON for Fort, DEX for Ref, and the highest of INT,WIS, & CHA for Will. (And then Adjust for skill & save proficiencies) You use these new 3 stats for all ability checks and saves. It just shrinks the statblock to a more manageable level). The only thing I effectively skip is languages, but I'm pretty sure that I can guess what those are when it's important.
Stuff like this is a great place to start, but it gets hard when you tackle creatures which are more than just big sacks of HP.

How would you do, say, a Vampire?

I agree there is too much useless information in 5E stat blocks and like others that creatures (barring maybe BBEG usage) should be fairly straight-forward.
 

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Here is another issue I have run into (and could use thoughts on): while the characters have these blizzards of abilities, spells, actions, reactions. bonus actions, etc.---so do the freaking monsters and NPCs! As a DM, I have found it hard to hold all of this stuff in my head while creating encounters and running combats. Not only am I keeping what the characters can do top of mind, but I have to manage what their opponents can do, too. Any thoughts on how to better manage that?

At the end of my last campaign, the PCs were 6th level. As the big show stopper event, I basically made mirror images of each character, complete with weapons, spells, abilities, etc. and said "have at it" and them run the combat against themselves. It was...insane. Just insane.
Notes and checklists maybe?

It is sad as DMs you have so much to juggle in 5E when it comes to creatures (and players have when it comes to PCs).

Have you ever explored the Nimble 5E rules and concepts? While not ideal, it has some good concepts to simplify and speed things up.
 


Here is another issue I have run into (and could use thoughts on): while the characters have these blizzards of abilities, spells, actions, reactions. bonus actions, etc.---so do the freaking monsters and NPCs! As a DM, I have found it hard to hold all of this stuff in my head while creating encounters and running combats. Not only am I keeping what the characters can do top of mind, but I have to manage what their opponents can do, too. Any thoughts on how to better manage that?

At the end of my last campaign, the PCs were 6th level. As the big show stopper event, I basically made mirror images of each character, complete with weapons, spells, abilities, etc. and said "have at it" and them run the combat against themselves. It was...insane. Just insane.

Running 6 PCs by yourself would be crazy time. I have a quick reminder in my prep notes for special things. So for example I had a Hobgoblin Devastator in my game yesterday (low level but still a fair number of options).

Two options. First, before I had DDB I would just shorthand most of their information on attacks and powers. So ...
Army Arcana. When the hobgoblin casts a spell that causes damage or that forces other creatures to make a saving throw, it can choose itself and any number of allies to be immune to the damage caused by the spell and to succeed on the required saving throw.​
Actions​
Multiattack. The hobgoblin makes two Quarterstaff or Devastating Bolt attacks.​
Quarterstaff. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d6 + 1) bludgeoning damage, or 5 (1d8 + 1) bludgeoning damage if used with two hands, plus 13 (3d8) force damage.​
Devastating Bolt. Ranged Spell Attack: +5 to hit, range 60 ft., one target. Hit: 21 (4d8 + 3) force damage, and the target is knocked prone.​
Spellcasting. The hobgoblin casts one of the following spells, using Intelligence as the spellcasting ability (spell save DC 13):​

Becomes greatly shortened. I can always look stuff up if I really need to, but this is quick for me to read at a glance. I find I can put everything I need to run the vast majority of monsters on a large index card.
- Ignore allies for spell AOE​
Attacks x2​
- Quarterstaff +3/5(1d8+1) +13 force​
- Devastating Bolt: +5/12(4d8+3) force, knocks prone​
Spells​
- At will: Mage hand, prestidigitation​
- x2: Fireball (8d6/28); fly (spd 60), fog cloud (20 ft sphere), gust of wind (push 10x60), lightning bolt (8d6/28)​
Or, because I use DDB now I just jot a couple of notes of the important things.
- Army Arcana ignore allies; start with fireball or lightning bolt; fly if have chance​

The latter is even more helpful on much higher level monsters. Just a quick reminder of special abilities and how they're likely to open combat. Especially with spellcasters, what they're likely to cast on the first round or three of combat.

An example of the monster on a card that I used to do, which I probably could have shortened even more.
1730738716748.png
 

Stuff like this is a great place to start, but it gets hard when you tackle creatures which are more than just big sacks of HP.
Absolutely. It's why I don't understand why they bother making them so wordy, when they're something like that.
How would you do, say, a Vampire?
Well, first of all, I'd probably build a Vampire differently, period. I've been thinking about a method of building "Solo" monsters that treat them like they are multiple monsters - but I'm not there yet. I've run Dragons with it, and it works very well, but I'm not sure that I could "show my work" yet. I think a Vampire would count. (no pun intended!)

I agree there is too much useless information in 5E stat blocks and like others that creatures (barring maybe BBEG usage) should be fairly straight-forward.
Yeah.
 

That's one of my preferred takes on high-level play. I don't think that that alone is enough to solve the OP's issues, but I know it partially solves mine (although so far it my solution has been simply not to play at levels where PCs have spells 6th-9th level...)
I get that. I prefer to have those effects exist and be technically available in the setting though.
 

Stuff like this is a great place to start, but it gets hard when you tackle creatures which are more than just big sacks of HP.

How would you do, say, a Vampire?

I agree there is too much useless information in 5E stat blocks and like others that creatures (barring maybe BBEG usage) should be fairly straight-forward.
I don't find any of that information useless. It describes that creatures place in the setting and what they're capable of. It's not my fault D&D's current designers have decided such things aren't a priority anymore.
 

I don't find any of that information useless. It describes that creatures place in the setting and what they're capable of. It's not my fault D&D's current designers have decided such things aren't a priority anymore.
The sort of information you're mentioning isn't part of the stat block, however.
 

This is not to start an argument, but to seek advice: I am not thrilled with how quickly characters become powerful in 5e. I am a dude who started with 1st, then 2nd, then 3rd edition, and I find the powers that characters have very quickly in 5e is a bit...vexing. Similarly, they just get too many powers, in my observation. So what are some ways to take some of that out? Remove bonus actions and reactions? No feats? Limit spell choice (like a ranger could only take spells like Animal Friendship)? I'm open to ideas.

My crew plays on Roll20, so it's not hard to futz with the built in 5e character sheet. I'd love some FRIENDLY, POLITE council. I'm not yucking anyone's yum.
There's tons of things a GM can do to reduce PC power in 5e, but for your purposes I think it's more of an engineering question – Given the constraints with how 5e player-facing rules are implemented in Roll20, what CAN you actually change within the Roll20 environment?

I could imagine rewriting class level advancement to cover 40 levels (instead of 20) and breaking up the goodies PCs get across those levels to slow down acquisition of new powers. But is D&D-integrated Roll20 equipped to handle that? My hunch is no.
 

The sort of information you're mentioning isn't part of the stat block, however.
Monster abilities are part of that information. Descriptions of how an ability listed in the statblocks actually works is part of that information.
 

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