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<blockquote data-quote="Knightfall" data-source="post: 5777530" data-attributes="member: 2012">I think that 4E monster design was good thing in many ways. Simpler stat blocks for &quot;standard&quot; monsters is a boon for any DM. The monsters presented in the MM as well as any &quot;standard&quot; monsters presented in adventures or sourcebooks should be designed so that everything you need to run the monster is right there in front of you.However, it shouldn't be the only way to create NPCs and important monsters. I want an opt-in choice for making more complex characters.And, the iconic characters of the D&amp;D settings should use the same character stats as the PCs. Thus, Elminster should be a complex character with class levels. He's not just somebody you kill although some might disagree with that idea. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue&nbsp; &nbsp; :p"&nbsp; data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" />I would say that the DMG should have a section that details how to create &quot;the quick &amp; the dead&quot; NPCs and monsters. Guidelines for coming up with random bad guys that can be used within minutes, not hours. You could also have a &quot;quick PC replacement&quot; section that allows a player to build a new character in a flash using the simple NPC generation method.It would give the player an NPC style character to use in play if his or her PC bites the dust unexpectedly.Creating complex characters and monsters would have its own section too. However, I'd prefer to see a product that acts as a NPC creation guidebook. It would take you through the entire process from start to finish in 10 to 20 minutes, and the result would be a complex character or monster that would use (almost) all the same rules as the PC.If you wanted an NPC that had more than just combat stats, you'd focus on the tables that dealt with personality, skills, etc.If you wanted a super-hard demon lord, you'd run through the tables for special attacks &amp; defense, spells (or powers), armor &amp; weapons, and magical enhancements or items.Think of the sourcebook as a D&amp;D[sup]N[/sup] Complete NPC Toolkit.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Knightfall, post: 5777530, member: 2012"] I think that 4E monster design was good thing in many ways. Simpler stat blocks for "standard" monsters is a boon for any DM. The monsters presented in the MM as well as any "standard" monsters presented in adventures or sourcebooks should be designed so that everything you need to run the monster is right there in front of you. However, it shouldn't be the only way to create NPCs and important monsters. I want an opt-in choice for making more complex characters. And, the iconic characters of the D&D settings should use the same character stats as the PCs. Thus, Elminster should be a complex character with class levels. He's not just somebody you kill although some might disagree with that idea. :p I would say that the DMG should have a section that details how to create "the quick & the dead" NPCs and monsters. Guidelines for coming up with random bad guys that can be used within minutes, not hours. You could also have a "quick PC replacement" section that allows a player to build a new character in a flash using the simple NPC generation method. It would give the player an NPC style character to use in play if his or her PC bites the dust unexpectedly. Creating complex characters and monsters would have its own section too. However, I'd prefer to see a product that acts as a NPC creation guidebook. It would take you through the entire process from start to finish in 10 to 20 minutes, and the result would be a complex character or monster that would use (almost) all the same rules as the PC. If you wanted an NPC that had more than just combat stats, you'd focus on the tables that dealt with personality, skills, etc. If you wanted a super-hard demon lord, you'd run through the tables for special attacks & defense, spells (or powers), armor & weapons, and magical enhancements or items. Think of the sourcebook as a D&D[sup]N[/sup] Complete NPC Toolkit. [/QUOTE]

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