Well-designed monsters save you session preparation time. (Part 6)

The most common complaint of DMs and GMs everywhere is that it takes a long time to prepare sessions, and unfortunately, DM burnout will kill a campaign faster and deader than any TPK. How to save preparation time is the subject of much discussion. U20 believes a great place to start is with a well-designed monster.

We have made great strides over the past few years with the streamlined statistics blocks seen in the Monster Manual IV, and those that followed. with D&D 4e, monsters have never been simpler to run in combat, but what if you want some real depth in your combat, with multi-stage tactics or special maneuvers? What do you do if the monster's actions outside of combat are as important as those after you've rolled initiative? How can you get the crunchy and fluffy bits at the same time?

A well-designed monster will save you prep time by combining easy-to-read statistics and detailed, situational combat tactics (so you don't have to develop tactics of your own) with the ecology, history, and colourful bits that let you build a rich world and story around the players. And wouldn't it be nice if you had several versions of the critter to choose from to better suit your group, without having to modify it yourself?

Designing your own tactics is easy if you focus on the three big combat situations: before combat, when combat is going well, and when combat is going poorly. This will let you review a monster's arsenal, put together ideal tactics, and then develop an escape/contingency plan (even if it is just sprinting and screaming), all in just a few minutes. This will make the combat smoother, and the tactics and ideas you form here will likely transfer to other creatures, as well.