I have recently been contemplating the Runequest game, which I find fascinating and challenging to approach at the same time.
One of the reasons I find it so difficult is that the stat blocks in the game are long. And there are a lot of them. One of the introductory adventures features the characters defending a town against raiders. And every single raider has their unique stat block, taking up a third to half a page—the adventure features over six pages of these stat blocks.
One of the best bits of advice I ever got about writing adventures is this: Do not use more than three different monsters in an encounter. The reason is to reduce overload on the Dungeon Master. Once the stat blocks start becoming complicated, most Dungeon Masters will start struggling.
Hiding Complexity
Of course, having a short stat block does not mean that the monster is easy to run. No stat block is complete – all rely on reference to other rules. Some depend on it more than others.
Games do not place how to use a skill in the stat block. An entry of “Speed 30 ft.” implies paragraphs of movement rules.
In Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, a monster would have a single entry “HD 4+1”. This entry was then referenced against tables (often placed on a DM Screen) to determine the attack modifier and saving throw bonuses. These days, the attack modifier and saving throws are given in the stat block.
During the last decade, how to represent spells has been controversial. Most versions of Dungeons & Dragons only give the spell’s name in the stat block. For example, “magic missile”. In 4th edition, the monster stat block would describe its effects in full. However, the space requirements were significant. Spell-using monsters only had a few spells listed, perhaps no more than three or four!
It was easy to use the creature, but they were more limited. Overall, it was not a success, which is why the fifth edition returned to the “monsters have many spells; descriptions in rulebook” technique. However, this works best for commonly used spells. Most DMs quickly get to know what fireball does. But animate objects? Not so much.
How Varied Are your Monsters?
In original Dungeons & Dragons, every HD 2 creature had the same attack bonus and saving throws as every other HD 2 creature. One feature of early D&D was only PCs and NPCs had ability scores, not monsters.
This lack caused problems when you created an effect that relied on ability scores! One of my favourite “bad design” moments in D&D comes from the introduction of the maze spell in the Master rules. Its effect depended on the Intelligence score of the foe. No monster had an Intelligence score, so that rulebook had a section that gave the intelligence scores for every monster published in the previous three rule sets! For one spell. It was not a great use of space!
The more varied you want monsters to be, the stat block has to be longer to accommodate that variation. Runequest was the first game I saw that used ability scores as a standard part of every stat block. It took until D&D 3E in 2000 before that became a feature of D&D, and it has stayed ever since.
Dungeons & Dragons moves away from further complexity by tying many abilities to those ability scores, and only listing them if they vary. If you know the Intelligence modifier of a creature, you know its bonus for Intelligence saving throws and its basic skill level in Religion, Nature and Arcane. Only if it has further training does the stat block list the variance.
The decision to allow more varied monsters in D&D has led to longer stat blocks. However, the current editions’ blocks are shorter than some I have seen.
How Many Skills Does the Game Need?
One game design decision that has a significant effect on the length of a stat block is how many areas of variation there are. And this becomes even more notable for areas like skills and spells.
D&D has few skills, but many spells.
Runequest has many skills and a moderate number of spells.
Consider these examples.
RUNEQUEST – Spells & Skills
Runes: Beast 75%, Darkness 60%, Death 75%, Earth 80%
Rune Points: 5
Rune Spells: Appease Earth, Command Swine, Death Binding, Fear, Pain Tooth
Spirit Magic: Coordination (2), Demoralize (2)
Magic Points: 49
Skills: Bloody Cut 92%, Hide 50%, Listen 60%, Ride (tusker) 115%, Scan 65%, Search 60%, Track 55%, Worship (Bloody Tusk) 60%
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS 5E – Skills & Spells
Skills: Arcana +6, History +6
Spellcasting. The mage is a 9th-level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 14, +6 to hit with spell attacks). The mage has the following wizard spells prepared:
Cantrips (at will): fire bolt, light, mage hand, prestidigitation
1st level (4 slots): detect magic, mage armor, magic missile, shield
2nd level (3 slots): misty step, suggestion
3rd level (3 slots): counterspell, fireball, fly
4th level (3 slots): greater invisibility, ice storm
5th level (1 slot): cone of cold
The D&D spell list is longer than Runequest’s, but both of these stat blocks need much that is in the rulebook and not in the stat block!
What Information do we Need?
There are times when the stat block gives details that seem redundant. The most obvious example of this comes from most weapon attacks in Dungeons & Dragons.
Consider the following:
Greatclub. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage.
That has a lot of material that you could assume. Would it be better as Greatclub. +6 to hit. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) damage?
We tend to make a lot of assumptions about what is needed based on our preferences. But some details might not be as apparent as we first think. Club=bludgeoning is obvious, but Shortsword=piercing is not as obvious.
Meanwhile, a default assumption that a weapon attack has reach of 5 feet unless stated otherwise is something that we could describe in the rules of the game. If most creatures have a reach of 5 feet, then that makes it a better default. If it does not work for the majority, then it is not such a good rule to include!
None of this material is simple – the designers made many choices before we got the stat blocks that we have today. However, it is worth examining what we need from a stat block and how better to represent it!