Stat Blocks?

[LOTRfan]

So, I am sort of getting annoyed by the stat blocks in the DMG II and later Monster Manuals.

Stat Block #1
Name
Size and Type (Subtype)
Hit Dice:
Initiative:
Speed:
Armor Class:
Base Attack/Grapple:
Attack:
Full Attack:
Space/Reach:
Special Attacks:
Saves:
Abilities:
Skills:
Feats:
Environment:
Organization:
Challenge Rating:
Treasure:
Alignment:
Advancement:
Level Adjustment:

Stat Block #2
Name and CR
Alignment, Size, and Type (Subtype)
Init
Aura
Languages

AC
HP (HD); Damage Reduction
Immunities
Resistances
Saves

Speed
Melee
Range
Space ; Reach
Base Atk ; Grp
Atk Options
Special Actions

Abilities
SQ
Feats
Skills Bluff
Possessions

This is mainly because I have difficulty understanding why there needed to be a change. Could someone explain why WOTC changed from stat block #1 to #2? Also, does anyone have any opinions on which is better, and why?

[Claudius Maximus]

Yeah, I very much preferred the first style myself. It has some basic things that are glossed over in the newer one.

[AslanCross]

I like the newer-style statblocks. You have the "encounter" stuff on top (the things you address when the encounter starts), the defensive stuff next, the offensive stuff third, the incidental stuff fourth, and finally the explanations of the abilities. What's missing here? I liked how all of the ability explanations are part of the statblock, instead of the old format where the explanations are in the COMBAT section and separate from the actual block.

Both are better than the 3.0 style ones, though, where you have all of the stats in one paragraph.

Some books are confusing in that they have all three styles. I believe Heroes of Horror uses the new style for sample characters in the PrC section, the MM 3.5 style in the monsters section, and the 3.0 "stat run-on sentence" in some other section.

[Runestar]

Wotc explains it here. :smallsmile:

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dd/20060707a

[Zeta Kai]

I like the idea of the new stat block, but I could never get used to how different it was from the old way, so I've never used it. They only implemented it about a year or so before switching to 4E, so I always wondered why they even bothered at that point. I'm so used to the old block that the new block is confusing gibberish to me, like reading 4E stats.

[LOTRfan]

Perhaps the point was to get player's used to the 4e stat blocks? So, Heroes of Horror use the new stat blocks for individual characters, you say?

[Thurbane]

I think there was a school of thought that the latter 3.5 stat blocks were easier to read, and worked better for NPCs as well as monsters. Whether it was a foreshadowing of 4E stat blocks is debatable.

I did like the latter stat block for a while, but slowly found myself drifting back to the original stat block...more because I was used to it than anything.

[Zeta Kai]

I think there was a school of thought that the latter 3.5 stat blocks were easier to read, and worked better for NPCs as well as monsters. Whether it was a foreshadowing of 4E stat blocks is debatable.

I did like the latter stat block for a while, but slowly found myself drifting back to the original stat block...more because I was used to it than anything.

Yeah, if I were a new player at the time, I probably would have preferred the new block. But 3E wasn't attracting enough new players, & it wasn't worth (maybe) catering to them at the risk of (probably) alienating the existing players. It was like a microcosm of the 3E/4E schism that came later. It's like they were trying really hard to break the base.

[true_shinken]

Second style is a lot better organized. I use it for my NPCs.

[KillianHawkeye]

I also like the second one because it's easier to find what you're looking for quickly since everything is divided into sections of related material.

[Yora]

I'm a great fan of the new stat blocks. They are not just one big wall of letters and the different parts are sorted by groups. This makes it much more easier to find the one line you need.
Also the best thing is probably in the first paragraph, where it lists Listen and Spot modifiers, special senses, and languages known. All the stuff you need to know when the party runs into the creature and you have to determine what happens next.