el-remmen
Moderator Emeritus
As I have gotten more used to 5E in the last 2+ years that I've been running it, more and more I find myself creating my own versions or iterations of monsters to make use of in my game. I am the kind of DM who sees the version in the Monster Manual (or whichever book) as a template with which to construct an idiosyncratic version for use in the game. I also tend to like a variety of monsters from older editions that a) have not been officially adapted yet, b) have been adapted but in a version I don't like, or c) in a book I don't own (or didn't own at the time I needed it). As such, some of the stat blocks I am sharing might be for monsters you can find elsewhere. Some might also be just a named iteration of a monster that is otherwise as-listed in a book.
Another caveat is that I don't pay much attention to CR and only use it to determine how much XP to award (which I then tweak depending on how the monster played). I don't have much interest in so-called "balanced" encounters and tend to build them based on what makes sense for the setting, scenario, and/or a very rough idea of what the PCs are capable of without crunching numbers. For those interested in those crunched numbers, I have been doing it after the fact and posting the results in this thread.
As time went on, I adopted a few idiosyncratic ways of writing up a stat block as well, as you may notice. For example, I never waste space with the average damage number since I always roll for monster damage, I avoid repetition of words like "range" or "damage." I stopped listing the number of targets and the monster's reach unless it is something other than the standard on creature/5' reach. Oh, and I tend to give most monsters one or two good saves.
Oh and I don't have physical descriptions of the monsters here (I usually either just have them in my head and/or use art from a book to show the players) and sometimes I also don't like the descriptions as they exist (or prefer a description from a different edition). So, if you are totally stumped by a monster just comment and I will do my best to find you an image or description.
Lastly, if anyone ends up using or adapting any of these monsters, I would love to know which and how it went.
I will be listing the monsters in the posts to come in the order the PCs encountered them (or could have encountered them), not in CR order (since as I said, CR doesn't mean much to me).
Another caveat is that I don't pay much attention to CR and only use it to determine how much XP to award (which I then tweak depending on how the monster played). I don't have much interest in so-called "balanced" encounters and tend to build them based on what makes sense for the setting, scenario, and/or a very rough idea of what the PCs are capable of without crunching numbers. For those interested in those crunched numbers, I have been doing it after the fact and posting the results in this thread.
As time went on, I adopted a few idiosyncratic ways of writing up a stat block as well, as you may notice. For example, I never waste space with the average damage number since I always roll for monster damage, I avoid repetition of words like "range" or "damage." I stopped listing the number of targets and the monster's reach unless it is something other than the standard on creature/5' reach. Oh, and I tend to give most monsters one or two good saves.
Oh and I don't have physical descriptions of the monsters here (I usually either just have them in my head and/or use art from a book to show the players) and sometimes I also don't like the descriptions as they exist (or prefer a description from a different edition). So, if you are totally stumped by a monster just comment and I will do my best to find you an image or description.
Lastly, if anyone ends up using or adapting any of these monsters, I would love to know which and how it went.
I will be listing the monsters in the posts to come in the order the PCs encountered them (or could have encountered them), not in CR order (since as I said, CR doesn't mean much to me).