Monster Building in 5e

[ArchLich]

Hey there,

while I absolutely love the new MM, I also enjoy making monsters of my own...now, sadly, there are no clear rules being given in the MM, which I find one of the few downsides of the book. Does anyone of you have any hints how to go about creating new monsters in 5e or converting 3e monsters to 5e? Any help would be appreciated.

[surfarcher]

My blog will probably of some assistance. You can find index here (http://surfarcher.blogspot.com/2014/07/d-5e-monsters-master-index.html).

[ArchLich]

Wow, thanks a lot! That is indeed immensely helpful ;) Let's hope the DMG will have some guidelines on monster design as well.

[surfarcher]

Glad you think it'll be useful.

The CR Evaluation article should be up in a few days.

And yeah the DMG is supposed to advise on making monsters.

[ArchLich]

Cool...will you make tables incorporating CR 11 and up eventually now that the MM is available?

By the way, am I the only one who's annoyed at the fact that Wizards is publishing the three essential rulebooks months apart from each other? I mean, really...what gives?

[D-naras]

Cool...will you make tables incorporating CR 11 and up eventually now that the MM is available?

By the way, am I the only one who's annoyed at the fact that Wizards is publishing the three essential rulebooks months apart from each other? I mean, really...what gives?

From what I have gathered online, this has been standard practice at least as far as 3.5. The adventures, starter sets and the free online material are supposed to tide players over until the core books are all released.

[ArchLich]

Maybe, but as a DM, it's quite annoying for me. I mean, to keep all the stuff one might need for evil NPCs like, say...the Death domain(!) in the DMG and then push that one back till December...or not include monster customization in the MM...I don't get it. Why keep essential infos from the players or DMs so they can't properly play/create adventures?

[surfarcher]

My understanding is they send the books off to the printers as soon as they are ready and then get stuck into the next one. The alternative would be to hold off until they are all ready, delaying launch by months.

Yeah the post after CR Evaluation will be a summary of all CR0 - CR10 tables. And once MM analysis is done there'll be a post with CR0 - CR 30.

[MaxWilson]

By the way, am I the only one who's annoyed at the fact that Wizards is publishing the three essential rulebooks months apart from each other? I mean, really...what gives?

My understanding is that having months-long lags between books is just how the (print) publishing industry works--it isn't unique to WotC and not really their fault. Publishing houses can only handle so many books at a time.

[hachface]

My understanding is that having months-long lags between books is just how the (print) publishing industry works--it isn't unique to WotC and not really their fault. Publishing houses can only handle so many books at a time.

Wizard released all three 4e corebooks simultaneously, or very close to simultaneously.

[surfarcher]

Wizard released all three 4e corebooks simultaneously, or very close to simultaneously.

Yes. for 4e they delayed the release of the first two books several months so that they could release all 3 together.