| MARK CALDAROLA |
Reworking opponent stat blocks in PF2e
I am not a new game master having run many different rules systems and multiple other campaigns. But I am new to pathfinder 2e and decided to run the Season of Ghosts campaign path (which is awesome). But when setting up the first encounters I realized that the monster stat block were AWFUL. When I am running a game, I don’t have time to parse though a monster’s stat block for 3 minutes to find the creatures hit points. And it’s knitting skill is not the first thing I need to see.
SO, after a good deal of experimentation I came up with something a LOT better (in my opinion).
The opponents hit points, initiative, and defenses are at the top and delineated in a manner that lets me just glance at them to get the information. Attacks come next, and then special abilities.
And at the very end I have the monster’s knitting skill.
Attached are some examples: (These are on my Google Drive)
Elite Black Bear
Stat Block Picture
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LN4ZcxyoNKcmzboA5z7D1O0OwLKw9IoI/view?usp= drive_link
Stat Block MS Word template https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tpwX1ngavrANB8pmfTcodEKH7UVqzWj0/edit?u sp=drive_link&ouid=117667992309092153291&rtpof=true&sd=true
Viper Swarm
Stat Block Picture
https://drive.google.com/file/d/14dpoNFLgrjVBjqGdQX5Oo1r3CU8UwT7V/view?usp= drive_link
Stat Block MS Word template https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YfF5j_32aWlK68trE4Y4tHiHk-7IqLXn/edit?u sp=drive_link&ouid=117667992309092153291&rtpof=true&sd=true
| A Butter Idea |
I see nothing wrong with the way Paizo formats its stat blocks. The stat block presents information in the order I'm most likely going to want to access it. To give an example, let's say we're running a Monster Hunter style campaign where a player party of four are heading out into the wilderness to slay a basilisk.
https://2e.aonprd.com/Monsters.aspx?ID=2847
* When the party first takes the assignment, the first thing they're going to want to do is a round of Recall Knowledge checks to get the barest idea of what they might be up against. In this case, the Recall Knowledge DC is 20, and the players need to use Arcana or Nature to learn anything useful.
* As a GM, you're going to want to get a quick snapshot of a creature's behavior before you deploy it. Here, we see that Perception is +11 while its Stealth is +8, so right away we can tell that it's not an ambush predator. Furthermore, its Athletics is +13, which immediately clues us in that it's going to be a primarily physical attacker.
* Tracking the basilisk requires making Survival checks to Track against the basilisk's Survival or Stealth DC.
* In all likelihood, some of the PCs are probably going to opt for a stealthy approach via the Avoid Notice exploration activity. When gameplay switches to combat mode, all combatants need to roll Initiative, using their Stealth modifier if they're Avoiding Notice, or Perception otherwise.
* In a 4-on-1 encounter, it's usually the case that at least one PC will get their turn before the basilisk. When the PC attacks, they make an attack roll against the basilisk's AC if they're a physical attacker, or the basilisk makes a saving throw if the PC is a spellcaster.
* If and only if the attack connects, damage becomes relevant to track. This is where HP is listed.
* In the (admittedly unlikely) event that a party member tried to petrify the basilisk, this is the point where it's pertinent to know that the basilisk is immune to petrification.
* On the basilisk's turn, it's probably going to want to move, so it's pertinent to list its Speed here.
* Next, it's probably going to either want to attack or use its Petrifying Gaze.
* Finally, after it uses Petrifying Gaze to permanently take a PC out of the fight, the stat block lists the remedy.
All of this is to say that Paizo's design of stat blocks is far from "awful", as you describe. This is the end result of many decades of iterative game design, through multiple editions of Dungeons and Dragons through to Pathfinder.
Now, to contrast, let's take a look at how you've arranged your Elite Black Bear stat block.
* First, I notice you don't have the Recall Knowledge DC listed anywhere. That's a pretty big oversight, as the players need that to be able to discern its strengths and weaknesses using Recall Knowledge, either before or during combat.
* You list HP first, before any information pertaining to its Perception. Its Perception is needed to roll initiative, which needs to happen before any attacks are made. You also have its HP preceding its AC and saving throws, which doesn't make much sense, as you need to confirm that an attack or spell has connected before calculating damage.
* For some reason, you've gone and listed Skills all the way at the very bottom of the stat block. But if the party is tracking the bear (or if the bear is tracking the party), then its Survival modifier or DC should be one of the first pieces of information available to us.
You yourself admitted that you're new to Pathfinder 2e, and so it's expected that you would not yet be accustomed to all the rules of this rules-heavy game. However, it's important for you to recognize that you are an inexperienced GM, and that if a rule or design choice doesn't make sense to you, it's far more likely that you haven't yet learned the whys or hows, rather than it being an oversight on the designers' part. You need to understand the system before you can start trying to break it down and modify it.