D&D 5E Stat Blocks for Monsters I've Used in 5E (now w/ notes on my own version of the stat block)

[J.Quondam]

I dig all these posts, not just for the statblocks, but also to hear your little mods* to encounter structures, adventure plots, NPC motives/backgrounds, and all those little details.
Good stuff, thanks!


* Btw, I adore the name "Perspicua Besmirch". That's sooooooo much better than her name in the official module, which imo sounds like it was dreamed up by a precocious 5th grader OD'ing on thesaurusine.

 

[el-remmen]

Returning to this thread to add Gluklux - The Gibbering Troll - who comes into existence when multiple trolls are chopped up and their limbs and other parts are mixed up - and as they slowly regenerate they bond and mutate - becoming something like a gibbering mouther troll - in fact I forgot to add it to this block - but when this troll's loathsome limbs ability comes into effect, rather than re-attaching, the limb transforms into a small gibbering mouther on its own!

The random number of bite and claw attacks are meant to emulate multiple mouths and arms either having reach or growing and shrinking into the body itself, round by round.

 

[el-remmen]

I made this updated version of my Troglodyte Juggernaut for sharing on Instagram. It updates the version that appeared in HOW I RUN IT #3 and earlier in this thread. The image is a photo of a blue slaad which I used as said juggernaut when I ran my version of Against the Cult of the Reptile God.

This the second to last draft, so I might still make some changes/correct typos.

 

[el-remmen]

I made some revisions before I posted these on Instagram and Twitter today for #TroglodyteTuesday!

 

[el-remmen]

I also made slides explaining my own version of the stat block:

 

[GMforPowergamers]

View attachment 153935

bugbear layabout is amazing

 

[nevin]

My stat blocks are as slimmed down as possible. I don't want to read a paragraph if I forget what it's weaknesses are. The entire page should be able to be summed up in a short paragraph by an experienced DM. I should be able to write stats, to hit and special attacks for about 25 to 50 monsters on one page for my dm session. All the fluff and description are nice for Dm's the first time they read about the monster. After that it just gets in the way.

 

[el-remmen]

All the fluff and description are nice for Dm's the first time they read about the monster. After that it just gets in the way.

That's fine for personal use, but when you share a thing you can't know who is reading, how familiar they are with a monster, or if the conception of the monster you are trying to put across matches theirs.

Personally, I get about four stat blocks per page for non-complex monsters and that works for me. Economy of space is important, but cramming too much in a small space can be as confusing or easy to overlook a detail as a single expansive entry with lots of details.