Updating Monster Stat Block Format

[indyjoe]

I'm in the processing of converting a bunch of monsters, and I think it would be more clear if I at least added the Special Attacks, Special Defenses and maybe Magic Resistance, Alignment and Size to the stat block. Do any other LL AEC or officially compatible products use these? If so which ones are added? I'd like to be consistent. Thanks!

[petespahn]

I'm in the processing of converting a bunch of monsters, and I think it would be more clear if I at least added the Special Attacks, Special Defenses and maybe Magic Resistance, Alignment and Size to the stat block. Do any other LL AEC or officially compatible products use these? If so which ones are added? I'd like to be consistent. Thanks!

I do. I include alignment, but not size. I include Special Abilities (SA) which includes special attacks, defenses, etc. Looks something like this:

Giant Rat (6): AL N; MV 120' (40')/swim 60' (20'); AC 7; HD 1d4 hit points; hp 4, 3, 2, 2, 2, 1; #AT 1; Dmg 1d3 + special; SA disease; SV F1; ML 8; XP 6.

Just the way I do it. Not anything official.

Pete

[Wizardawn]

I do. I include alignment, but not size. I include Special Abilities (SA) which includes special attacks, defenses, etc. Looks something like this:

Giant Rat (6): AL N; MV 120' (40')/swim 60' (20'); AC 7; HD 1d4 hit points; hp 4, 3, 2, 2, 2, 1; #AT 1; Dmg 1d3 + special; SA disease; SV F1; ML 8; XP 6.

I would rearrange this and have the HP, HD, AC, & Dmg closer to the name of the creature...only because those are the most common numbers used during combat and the eye catches them easier. Things like AL, MV, SV, XP, and ML are pushed toward the end as they are used less often.

[petespahn]

I do. I include alignment, but not size. I include Special Abilities (SA) which includes special attacks, defenses, etc. Looks something like this:

Giant Rat (6): AL N; MV 120' (40')/swim 60' (20'); AC 7; HD 1d4 hit points; hp 4, 3, 2, 2, 2, 1; #AT 1; Dmg 1d3 + special; SA disease; SV F1; ML 8; XP 6.

I would rearrange this and have the HP, HD, AC, & Dmg closer to the name of the creature...only because those are the most common numbers used during combat and the eye catches them easier. Things like AL, MV, SV, XP, and ML are pushed toward the end as they are used less often.

Yeah, I think I do it out of habit now. Back in the late 90s I think DUNGEON magazine had a required format that resembled that so I just got into the habit of doing it that way.

[indyjoe]

Thanks guys, but that's not quite what I meant. I guess I meant the long version stat block as in the monsters section of the book:
No. Enc.: 1d4 (1d4)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 60′ (20′)
Climb: 60′ (20′)
Armor Class: 4
Hit Dice: 3
Attacks: 2
Damage: 2d4/2d4
Special Attacks: filament
Save: F3
Morale: 7
Hoard Class: VI
XP: 65

Special attacks is new in that list and if the creature had some special defenses I could put those under special attacks. Maybe add size, int, and magic resistance?

In addition, and importantly I'm thinking of having a separate paragraph for each special attack and defense. (They may only be a sentence of two.) And the paragraph starts with the name of the attack/defense bolded. Ex:

Filament: There is only a 20% chance to see it and then only within 10 ft. It has a powerful adhesive that can only be released by strong alcohol or the creature’s own blood. It can only be severed by +1 or better edged weapons. An opponent may walk into it, or may be hit with it (the cave fisher attacks with its filament as a 6th level fighter.) Once attached, the cave fisher may reel in a foe of up to 400 lbs at 15′ per round. When a foe is reeled in, it strikes with its front two pincers. Its other pincers can anchor it in place with the same adhesive as the filament. It takes 1 round to reel in its filament without a victim.

The creature's description would have a couple of other paragraphs discussing is physical characteristics, ecology, etc. and while that's good info, it makes it harder to find what you need during combat.

I'm not doing anything ground-breaking (I know other games make these things more plain), but it seems to me this would make it easier/faster to find and skim the special abilities of each creature.

Thoughts/additions/suggestions?

[petespahn]

Sounds good to me. I think OSRIC lays out special abilities like that. I tend to do it the LL way to keep things consistent, but this way certainly has its benefits.

[elf23]

I'm in the processing of converting a bunch of monsters, and I think it would be more clear if I at least added the Special Attacks, Special Defenses and maybe Magic Resistance, Alignment and Size to the stat block. Do any other LL AEC or officially compatible products use these? If so which ones are added? I'd like to be consistent. Thanks!

Realms of Crawling Chaos adds an Intelligence rating to the monster stat blocks (as this ties in with the psionics rules presented in the book). I don't think any official (as in published by Goblinoid Games) LL supplements use magic resistence at all or have a Size entry in the stat block. Alignment is in the default LL monster stat block.

Special attacks seem to be listed as "+ see below" in the Attacks and/or Damage section. Special defences seem to be only described in the text of a monster's description. I agree though that your suggestion makes this clearer (of course at the expense of a slightly longer stat block).

[Wizardawn]

I'm in the processing of converting a bunch of monsters, and I think it would be more clear if I at least added the Special Attacks, Special Defenses and maybe Magic Resistance, Alignment and Size to the stat block.

When you write this, my mind tells me "module stat block" as that is the only area we used the term "stat block". So that is where the confusion comes in with petespahn and my answers.

Do any other LL AEC or officially compatible products use these?

No as LL is an emulation of Moldvay D&D, which did not bog itself down with some of these elements. Alignment is already used in the monster block. Size is something of an AD&D element when you have damage vs size variables for combat. I think "size" is a "neat to know" thing but usually in this type of RPG players just want to know if it is small, medium, or bigger than them. Magic resistance is another AD&D element that is not a concern to adjudicate in this type of RPG as we just use the SAVE AS element that LL and Moldvay use. Special attacks/defenses are usually contained in the monster description, but again...AD&D tried to put a "blurb" about them in those two categories...

Special attacks seem to be listed as "+ see below" in the Attacks and/or Damage section. Special defenses seem to be only described in the text of a monster's description. I agree though that your suggestion makes this clearer (of course at the expense of a slightly longer stat block).

So if you start adding the Special Attack/Defense...no one will hate it.

Realms of Crawling Chaos adds an Intelligence rating to the monster stat blocks (as this ties in with the psionics rules presented in the book).

This is something to keep in mind if you want to have your monsters ready for use for RoCC or Mutant Future for example.

[indyjoe]

Thanks for the feedback so far. So adding Special Attacks, Special Defenses, Int, Size and MR isn't too much of a problem... based on what I'm hearing. MR would be the most controversial, but it could simply be dropped for those who don't use it?

One complication is I'm doing this for a deck of monster cards, so space is at a bit of a premium. I want to add things to make the creature more clear, but I've got to also make sure I preserve space. Therefore, how about this example (the underscores are just to space out rows with multiple values):

Aboleth
No. Enc.: 1d4 (1d4) __________ Alignment: Lawful evil
Movement: 30′ (10′) Swim: 180′ (60′)
Armor Class: 4 ______________ Hit Dice: 8
Size: L _____________________ Intelligence: High
Attacks: 4 1d6/1d6/1d6/1d6
Special Attacks: enslavement, illusion, mucus cloud, slime
Save: F8 ______ Morale: 9 ____ Magic Resist: Standard
Hoard Class: XVII ____________ XP: 2560

Aboleth are a race ancient, evil, amphibious masterminds. Physically, they resemble a giant catfish with three glowing red dots lined up vertically on what would be their foreheads. They are blue-green to patchy grey in color with tan underbellies. They usually dwell in underground lakes and caverns.

They hate land animals and seek to enslave them. With lifespans of thousands of years, Aboleth plot for the long game.

Enslavement: An aboleth can try to enslave another creature up to three times per day. The foe must be within 30′ and must save vs. spells or else desire to serve the aboleth. It will not fight for the aboleth but is will follow any other telepathic commands. If an enslaved creature moves more than one mile from the aboleth it receives a new save. Remove curse, dispel magic and the death of the aboleth will end this condition.
Illusion: If it concentrates and does nothing else in a round, it can use any of its illusory spell-like abilities: hallucinatory terrain, hypnotic pattern, project image.
Mucus Cloud: While underwater, it exudes a cloud of transparent slime. All creatures drawn to within 1′ must save vs. poison each round or else inhale the slime. If inhaled, a creature will lose the ability to breathe air (but gain the ability to breathe water) for 3 hours. Renewed contact with an aboleth’s mucus cloud and failing another save extends the effect for another 3 hours.
Slime: A creature hit by an aboleth’s tentacle must save vs. spells or his skin and flesh transform into a clear, slimy membrane over the course of 1d4+1 rounds. If the creature’s flesh isn’t kept moist, it dries quickly and the victim takes 1d12 points of damage every 10 minutes. Cure disease , cure serious wounds and similar effects can restore an afflicted creature to normal, but immunity to disease offers no protection from this attack.

--end example--
So in cases where some values are always short, I'd sometimes put two things and in one case 3 on one line in the block. In the rare case that a value gets long (say there are several XP values based on HD, I can add it to the text with "see below". A "Special defenses" line would be added for those creatures with those abilities. Or special attacks/defenses could be merged into just "Special Abilities".

This is for the backs of the cards. The fronts would have full color art. I'd also likely be trimming the text above, rephrasing to cut words and abbreviating.

[Wizardawn]

What does MAGIC RESIST: STANDARD mean?