Statblock formatting

I don't really like the way statblocks are written in the official books, including sadly in the Definitive Edition. I think they're not designed for ease-of-use at the table.

I grant that this isn't very important, especially in our digital age. But I've been playing around with some options. Here is my current thinking:

What do you think? Is it an improvement? Do you have better ideas? Is the official format better? Is this a colossal waste of time?

My instinct is to swap Abilities and Combat - if I’m looking at a character or creature for the first time, what you’ve got under Abilities tells me more about them than the Combat section, which any given character (the local silversmith, a tricksy sylph, etc) may never be in. Depends on your playstyle though.

You may not want those headers to point at the next column.

The idea of the subheaders is nice, but as mentioned, they seem to point to the other column. Also, they seem to be the same size, or even slightly bigger than the creature’s name.

Yeah, that's definitely a matter of taste. For me, I'm thinking I first need the social-info as that's the first thing I reach for in an encounter, and then the combat thing if things go sour. If I need to get to the Abilities - this usually means we're deep into bargaining with it or something, and it's probably less urgent.

Alright, taking the above into consideration, and also adding in Level/Penetration for the Powers, here is a bigger statblock. Nearly a page.

And its Design block; too large to fit in the same page!

Would you mind if I adapt this to the Familiar entries on my Elder Magi pdfs?

I'd be very happy if you would :slight_smile:

A smaller statblock, for an unstatted NPC meant to be a background character used for social interactions only.

Your stat block doesn’t include the creature’s mundane qualities, magical qualities, or vritues/flaws

Indeed.

Features like virtues and flaws that may come into play at-the-table, are included. For example, Hrulgar is Unaffected by The Gift.

But for the most part, the effects of the virtues and flaws is included. For example, Hrulgar has a higher Magic Resitance against Animal.

The "Design Block" that accomapnies the statblock explains how the creature was design, for the curiosity and edification of the storyguide, if he does wish to read it. Here all the virtues are listed and so on.

But the idea is, to focus the statblock on what's important on-the-fly, at the table as you're playing the creature. And that too, in an abbreviated and graphically distinct manner so the required information will be easier to find - but also to provide all the necessary information, not refer to text elsewhere. It's meant to be used in-session, to make it as easy as possible to use the creature in-session. Not to explain how the creature was designed.

I like that you’ve got a lot of stuff sorted out so it doesn’t need to be calculated, like Animal Individual +1. Having MR, magnitudes needed for size for spells, and things like that already worked out should streamline play.

I am confused by things like Animal 40/25 in the powers. I was assuming this is the Form, level, and penetration, but that doesn’t match. Also, this second number is intermittently included in the right column of “More Powers.” What is the second number? Or are there just errors and inconsistencies? In Shadow Form, as the penetration should be 35-1x5=30, or 34 if you include Penetration. Also, if it’s penetration, why is the Penetration score seemingly included in Healing but not in the first three powers?

Yes, it's supposed to be Penetration. There may be math errors and inconsistencies, though, sorry :woozy_face:

Powers where Penetration shouldn't matter aren't supposed to have it.