Tag: DnD

#5e #DnD One-Stop Stat Blocks for Volo’s Guide to Monsters cc: @CartridgeBros #rpg

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Edit: You can find the one-stop stat blocks starting here. Each sourcebook conversion was published as a separate post on the same day, so just go to the link provided, then jump to the bottom of that page, and then click on the link to the next post in line.

At the request of a Twitter user, I’ve resumed my work on the One-Stop Stat Blocks for Volo’s Guide to Monsters. I’m nowhere’s near finished — I’ve finished only 17 of the 45 stat blocks I intend to convert — but something is better than nothing, and more are coming. Also of note is that I found some errors in two of my existing docs, so they’re replaced below. Please contact me with any errors you find.

These were removed on May 12, 2019, at 8:14 PM EDT. They should be back within the week, along with other material that I wasn’t planning on publishing. If you loved what I was doing, you’re really going to love what’s coming.

I don’t do this for the money, but if you’d like to donate to my efforts, feel free to send me whatever you want (including nothing) via PayPal.

As a last note, I get a recurring question on these docs. People have requested the Word document that I use as a template to create these stat blocks. I don’t give that out because I don’t want to make this easy for people to copy all of the stat blocks from any of the books (something that is clearly on the minds of many people criticizing me*** for not publishing the template). Doing so could damage Wizard of the Coast’s sales for their books. My intent is to fill a hole that they left in their work, not to replace their work entirely and harm their sales. I appreciate the hard work they did in producing the game and want them to enjoy the benefits of that work.

*** Yeah, you read that correctly. I’ve actually been criticized for delivering a free, supplemental product that isn’t comprehensive enough.

Here’s the complete list of stat block files.

OSSB Monster Manual
OSSB Volo
OSSB Tome of Foes
OSSB Dragon Heist
OSSB Mad Mage
OSSB Ravnica
OSSB Saltmarsh
OSSB Tomb of Annihilation
OSSB Yawning Portal

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D&D Beyond and the Operatic Bard Class for #5e #DnD #RPG

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An opera singer has created the Operatic Bard subclass for 5th Edition D&D, which she’s selling on the DM’s Guild for $1.99. This is interesting, but not necessarily in the way you think.

Journey To Ragnarok AvatarWhy would I pay one cent for this if I didn’t know whether or not it was useful to me?

On the other hand, if she published it without a paywall, then asked for money, she’d get next to nothing regardless of how good it is.

Unlike adventures, content like this will always be cursed by this paradox unless the content retains a value after being published as a PDF. Ergo, I believe the solution here is for WotC to facilitate incorporation of this material into their digital system, D&D Beyond. Beyond doesn’t allow us to create custom classes or builds because it requires more complicated coding behind the scenes. Therefore, the only way for it to be incorporated into Beyond is for WotC to do it themselves, which opens up the market for this kind of community-created content. She could sell the Operatic Bard for $1.99 and get the same cut that she currently gets for the PDF. Or more. Or less. The details don’t currently concern me.

The timing of this article is of particular interest to me because I just received the magnificent Journey to Ragnarok and have no way of incorporating the new class (Rune Master) into D&D Beyond, nor can I add the new builds for the barbarian, bard, cleric, druid, fighter, monk, paladin, ranger, rogue, sorcerer, warlock, or wizard (yeah, pretty much all of them). My gaming has dropped off dramatically as of late. Long story short, it’s not worth the time investment to play. Being able to run Journey to Ragnarok with access to D&D Beyond would be quite an incentive to get me back into the fold. If not, then my interest will continue to wane. I don’t know if I’m in any way representative of a large group of people, but there’s some anecdotal evidence as to why this is a good idea.

Again, I don’t think this applies to NPC stat blocks because they’re easily added to Beyond by the end user. I also don’t think this applies to adventures because players are willing to take chances on adventures based on the synopsis and based on the fact that even a “bad” adventure can still be fun. This applies only to classes, builds, or anything else that end users can’t add to D&D Beyond themselves.

What do you think? Is WotC dropping the ball to some extent by not incorporating community-created classes and builds into D&D Beyond? Would you be more inclined to create classes and builds if you knew they could sell.

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“Pure” #5e #DnD One-Stop Stat Blocks for the Monster Manual #rpg cc: @bandofmisfits @stitched

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Please visit this post for the latest status.

Well, that was fast. Converting my original “one-stop” stat blocks document to a “pure” form was easier than expected. What does “pure” mean?

In the original document, I edited the stat blocks for a couple of reasons. Monsters over CR 5 are typically underpowered with respect to how much damage their Actions do. I suspect that the reason for this is related to the fact that the Monster Manual and Dungeon Master’s Guide were released separately. While that time difference is relatively short, I suspect the two were written independently and thus aren’t in sync. I suggest the following changes in order to reconcile these stat blocks with the table on page 274 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide, Monster Statistics by Challenge Rating.

Some of these changes, however, I suggest because I found the monsters as written boring or otherwise lacking. While I found the giants far too similar to one another, I was especially annoyed by the fact that the Azer, Githzerai, and Githyanki don’t have ranged attacks. As far as I’m concerned, a DM should be able to create an encounter based on what’s interesting rather than whether it makes tactics too easy for the PCs, and the entire point of this project was to make things easier on the DM. I also find it incredulous that a Cloud Giant doesn’t have a Create Beanstalk power. C’mon!

Nevertheless, my changes resulted in complaints. The Adventurers League players were concerned that my stat blocks were “illegal” because they made changes that the DMs weren’t permitted to make those changes. To satisfy their concerns, I created an index that  showed exactly how I changed the stat blocks. Converting them back to their boring, underpowered selves would be a snap.

Nope. Still not good enough for some, so in the spirit of making this as easy for the DMs as possible, I’ve created a “pure” document in which the stat blocks have no edits. Then I changed the appendix to reflect my edits as suggestions. That’s what I’ve provided here. As a reminder, the same rules apply to this document, which includes, among others, that I used shorthand to keep them as reasonable in length as possible. This means that one could take advantage of loose language to maximize the creatures. If you choose to do that, that’s on you. Also, I could use your proofreading, and if you have any other suggestions, please let me know. As you can see from the original post, I respond.

My next project will be based on Volo’s Guide to Monsters, and will take much longer to complete. Moreover, it’s competing with some other projects I have. Please be patient.

Here’s the complete list so far (in order of creation):

Latest Versions Available Here

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#5e #DnD One-Stop Stat Blocks for Tales from the Yawning Portal. #rpg @bandofmisfits @stitched

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Please visit this post for the latest status.

As promised, I’ve converted stat blocks as necessary for Tales from the Yawing Portal using my “one-stop” method. I may need your help proofreading the document, so keep your eyes open. Note that this time I didn’t make any modifications to the stat blocks. They are mechanically identical to those appearing in the source material. However, the same rules apply, which includes, among others, that I used shorthand to keep them as reasonable in length as possible. This means that one could take advantage of loose language to maximize the creatures. If you choose to do that, that’s on you.

My next project will be to create what @stitched refers to as a “pure” copy of my original document. My original document made changes to the stat blocks to make them more interesting (in my humble opinion) and provided an appendix specifying all of my modifications. This resulted in some complaints (though I can’t imagine anyone not liking what I did to the Azer). In the “pure” document, I’ll remove my modifications from the stat blocks and alter the appendix to include those modifications as suggestions. Both documents will remain on my site, so you can use what whichever you want.

The project after that will be based on Volo’s Guide to Monsters, and will take much longer to complete. Be patient. I’m committed, so you’ll get them eventually. As some of you may know, a friend and I are designing our own RPG system, and we’re ready for alpha testing. What little free time I have is being divided between all of these projects, so again, be patient.

Here they are: Latest Versions Available Here 

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The Sunless Citadel: #5e #DnD One-Stop Stat Blocks #rpg @bandofmisfits

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As promised yesterday, I’ve completed the one-stop stat blocks for the recently-released preview of the Sunless Citadel, as it will appear in the upcoming Tales of the Yawing Portal.

Here they are: Latest Versions Available Here. There aren’t many, but I’ll be hard at work on Volo’s Guide to Monsters soon enough.

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Resolved: More #5e #DnD One-Stop Stat Blocks Are Coming. #rpg @bandofmisfits

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Please visit this post for the latest status.

I had some back and forth on Twitter today with @bandofmisfits, and that got me thinking. I’ve decided that I’m going to create a new document of my one-stop stat blocks. It will include the creatures from Volo’s Guide to Monsters. I have some other things to deal with this weekend, but I’ll at least start the project. Stay tuned.

Also, I intend to run some of the adventures in Tales of the Yawing Portal, and if there are any of those that require conversion, I’ll do that as well. The Sunless Citadel has already been released, so I’ll have that one done tomorrow night.

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And….. DONE! #5e #DnD One-Stop Stat Blocks #rpg cc: @slyflourish @koboldpress @monkeyking

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Please visit this post for the latest status.

I’ve finally finished my one-stop stat blocks for 5e D&D. It was quite a chore, but those who’ve used it make it clear that it was worth the effort. Remember, if you want Kobold Press’s upcoming project, Tome of Beasts, to use this format, pummel them (@KoboldPress) and Wolfgang Baur (@monkeyking) with tweets. Maybe they’ll listen. 🙂

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Yet Another Update to My #5e #DnD One-Stop Stat Blocks #rpg

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Please visit this post for the latest status.

I’ve made some more progress on my one-stop stat blocks for 5e D&D. I’ve gotten all the way to the slaadi, and perhaps my most tiring statblock is up next: the androsphinx. After that, I have the gynosphinx, the unicorn, all three yuan-ti, and all four yugoloths. Mike Shea, a.k.a. Sly Flourish, reminded me that my work still won’t be done after that. I still have a few NPCs in the back of the monster manual that could use some work: the archmage, the cult fanatic, the druid, the mage, and the priest.

*sigh*

By the way, I sent a tweet to Wolfgang Baur (@monkeyking) requesting that he use my format for his upcoming project, Tome of Beasts. If you like my work, you might want to inundate him with similar requests. Only spellcasters need my format, so it wouldn’t be much of a burden on them to add this format to those few creatures that needed it.

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Another Update to My #5e #DnD One-Stop Stat Blocks #rpg

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Please visit this post for the latest status.

Yep, another update, and that lich stat block is unbelievable. When you have those spells at your fingertips, the lich can be run in its full glory, and it’s a true solo creature. It was also draining to convert, so please help me out and check it (and the lizardfolk that follows) for errors.

Here’s the link: Latest Versions Available Here

However, I’ve included some notes over at the original post that might be of interest to you, so you should probably link from there if you haven’t read them.

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X-Men: 4th Edition Style #DnD

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Here’s a post from the Gamers’ Syndicate blog: X-Men Post . It was my attempt to create 4th edition stat blocks for the X-men. I’m not a comic reader, but I like the movies, and I have access to Wikipedia, so they’re probably close to right.

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