💥 Dr. Dhrolin's Dictionary of Dinosaurs! palaeogames.com/ Save 10% with code "BOB10" for a limited time! PS: Next week's video is inside because there's a heat advisory in my area and it's too sunny even in the woods!
For anyone unsure this book is chock full of absolutely great stuff, me and my friends are in a long form campaign that is using this and it has been absolutely hilarious amounts of fun
Yes on a breakdown of the new character sheet! Explorations of graphic design and information hierarchies are always fascinating and educational, whether you like DnD or not!
@@BobWorldBuilder I look forward to you filming in odder and odder locations, in less and less probably scenarios, and just never acknowledging the comments about how weird it is.
It's the primary way a player interfaces with the game on a mechanical level, since honestly I suspect most players don't read the rulebooks. I think it's a good thing to look over, since it gives us a look into what the designers feel is important to present to the players as "important", and will be what most players will end up familiar with.
I have strong opinions on character sheets. For example: Spell slot and HP tracker margins that you can slide a paperclip up and down on rather than erasing and re-writing those every time they change is true state of the art paper usage. (Reinforce them with clear tape for extra durability)
I've personally always wanted to merge all the skill and saving throw numbers into a few numbers next to the stat. STAT: (Mod), (Mod + Prof), (Mod + Expertise). It makes so much more sense to me as a DM. Especially when you do things like Intimidation (INT) checks, because you know more than them and they should listen to you.
Another good point about abbreviations: Thr person using the monster stat block is either invested in learning them or already knows what they stand for.
To me it is obvious that the start of the monster manual should have a dedicated page to explain how to read a stat block, with a sample stat block with explanations for each of the abbreviations and references to what they mean. That way you can minimize to your hearts content.
@@shinom0ri You know what's funny? It does. The 5e Monster manual has that. It's the whole beginning of the book where they break down each part of the stat block, and describe it. The only thing they don't do is have a sample statblock as an example, but there's literally a book full of them for reference. I think people just forget to read it sometimes. Likely the new one will also have this.
@@Lurklen I didn't know that, but it does not surprise me to hear that the old version did. I would however argue that there should be an example next to the explanation of how to read the stat-block. This to make it as easy as humanly possible for a first time user. You want the barrier of entry in D&D to be nice and low. It's easy to get demoralized if something is new and unfamiliar.
For anyone thinking about initiative, please let me give some advice: consider group initiative by type. Don't roll per monster, roll per type of monster. If you got 3 ghouls, 2 ghasts and a necromancer then you roll 3 times, once for the ghouls, once for the ghasts, once for the necromancer. The monsters act one at a time and can't mix up their actions, but they do go in whatever order you prefer.
I like to think the more videos Bob makes, the further in the wilderness he goes till eventually there is no civilization to be seen in any direction, and his channel turns into Dungeon master Vs. Wild
Funny enough, I'm inside for next week's video xD It's been way too hot this week, and with no clouds, it's hard to find good recording spots even in the woods
I think tables are so much easier to parse than lines of text in paragraph. The white space is very important for differentiating things. And it means that the info will be in the same physical spot across different stat blocks as the number of letters won't shift things around
Yes, I 100% want to see videos on the new character sheet! It's the stat block for PCs, and how info is organized effects how I'm able to find it, and thus how fast the game is able to move forward. I also like your idea for damage, but I wouldn't put the damage type *inside* the parenthesis like you have: +5 (1d4+3 Radiant) The damage type applies to both the static modifier and the rolled version, so it should be outside, like: +5 (1d4+3) Radiant Love your videos, including all the interruptions and comments about snakes and stuff. Thanks for a great channel!
My initiative system: I roll for every creature and organize the initiative tracker DURING MY PREP TIME. That way, only my players have to roll during the session, and the rest has already been done for me.
I used to do that as well. I feel like it's the perfect middle ground between rolling and static. It's kinda static because it was locked in ahead of time, but still random.
@@BobWorldBuilder Exactly! It's still up to the dice (and sometimes gives you goofy stuff like a 20 and then nothing above an 8), but you do it ahead of time so it takes less time at the table
I do that in online games. In my in person games, I do round table: highest initiative goes first, then it passes to the left. When it gets to me, the monster act. If there are a lot of monster, they're split between where I'm sitting and the bottom of the round.
Great solution. Truly. But my chaos monkey players very frequently get in fights I didn't anticipate, and likely won't have rolled for. But I'm trying this just the same.
I use static initiative, but I use the creature's Dexterity Score instead of 10+Mod. It gives slightly more granularity, makes the score itself actually relevant, and rewards players who choose this option with a slightly better than average result than they would likely get by rolling.
Hey Bob! On 9:52... Maybe the term change from "Melee WEAPON attack" to "Melee Attack Roll" signals a fix for the discrepancies between "Melee WEAPON attack" and "Attack with a Melee Weapon"? The distinction comes up in Unarmed Strikes for instance, where, if I'm not mistaken, they were referred to as "melee weapon attacks" but are NOT considered melee weapons. The distinction is important to avoid discussions like "can I smite with my FIST!!!???" or "can I cast Holy Weapon on a Monk's FISTS?". Additionally, in 2014 5e a creature's claws, hooves, or horns, etc would be considered "natural weapons" and therefore, well, WEAPONS. But you would also see very wordy explanations to rationalize beast classes natural weapons vs unarmed strikes. Take for instance Minotaurs: in MPMoM the horns are presented as "you have horns that you CAN USE TO MAKE UNARMED STRIKES", whereas in Ravnica it shows up as "your horns are NATURAL MELEE WEAPON", meaning that a Ravnica minotaur can arguably smite with their horns while a MPMoM minotaur arguably cannot. Also, would be interested to see if this means "Melee Spell Attack" is being changed to say "Spell Attack Roll" where it applies, potentially clarifying questions about whether to use someone's Attack modifiers vs their casting modifier for the attack roll itself. I believe in some other reveal they had made a comment about distinguishing between an attack action and a spell action? If so, this might be part of a bigger rules edit.
Yeah they are making an effort to clean up and standardize the language used in the books. I'm sure they will still miss a couple things, but it should be a big improvement.
@@eatingtheleaf4659 An attack and an attack roll aren't the same thing. You make an attack roll as part of an attack. As for the attack it-self I'm assuming they just call them melee attacks and ranged attacks. There's not really any need to add "physical", they are by definition physical as non-physical attacks will not be melee or ranged but other types like magical attack or something like that. Not much point arguing over terminology yet, though. Since we don't have the text of the 2024 books. My understanding is they have cleaned up and streamlined it a lot, though.
@zooker7938 On the face of it, yes. Basically the rules are a combination of plain English text and specific terms which have fairly strict definitions within the ruleset. Unfortunately in the 2014 rules many of those terms are poorly named, poorly defined, or else the term it-self in many cases actually conflicts with various edge cases. There is sort of a logic to it RAW, but it's pretty poorly presented and may often go counter to your individual preferences as a DM. Choosing to do what makes sense to you in the moment is not only correct, but pretty much the DM's job. You just make it work.
10:28 "... I kinda wanna talk about the new design of the character sheet, but I have no idea if anyone else cares about that" I care! I wanna see that!
PP (passive perception) should be listed with AC, HP, Speed, just below or above initiative, pushing initiative down one. As a DM, while I rarely need to know the monster's PP, I almost always need to know at the start of an encounter, so put it as one of the first things, at the top of the stat block, instead of having it buried in text below.
This is very smart. Putting things where you will need them is a non-trivial principle of organization, especially for all of us ADHD people out here playing D&D. 🙂
I love how the responses to this comment make it seem like the solution to the fact that CR sucks seems to be to have it be difficult to find in the stat block, instead of the far more obvious solution of just... fixing CR. Like, the game literally builds its encounter design around the use of CR as a tool to ensure appropriately dangerous fight; if it's not actually useful for that purpose, the solution is to fix it or scrap it, not hide it.
I believe you can already download the character sheets for free from DnD Beyond. It's a zipped folder that includes traditional and alternative 5e character sheets to print. However, I don't think it's available to choose for your actual online-built characters yet.
They are as accurate as we can make them and, to achieve that, we had to deviate from the normal restrictions of normal/proficenct/expertise that WotC usually use. For example, each creature's AC is a combination of it's dexterity mod and/or integument. We've then provided integument names for their AC to explain those choices and to allow DMs to better describe combat, rather than just listing everything as having "Natural Armor". In any case, it's homebrew so you're welcome to adjust anything to suit your needs!
re: the Traits vs Passive thing, I like Traits because I like to put my spellcaster's general spell info (save DC, spell slots, etc.) in there and then put the specific spells under action/bonus/reaction. it feels less like a passive thing and more of a reference point for the spells in other parts of the block
So, I like that they tabulated the scores, mods, and saves in concept, but their execution leaves a lot to be desired. In terms of space on the page, it would have cost them one more line to instead arrange the abilities along the top axis, score/mod/save along the side axis and then have just a single table of numbers which would have been easier to read at a glance I think.
In terms of readability I actually disagree. It is generally easier to read left to right than it is top to bottom, and a single 3X6 table is more likely to be misread (you now have 18 numbers all clumped together) than three 2X3 tables. With the design in the new stat block it is practically impossible to misread something and the information being slightly spread out makes it easier to find the information you want at a glance.
Very poor execution. The grouping and visual hierarchy of it is just weird -- the shading makes the mod/save feel disconnected from the stat, my eye wants to read them as columns but that's meaningless The space is just badly used. You could fit 6 stats across with the 3 numbers arranged below, maybe emphasizing the mod with the other two numbers below/alongside with diminished importance.
I think static initiative is a great idea for monsters. It can be fun to randomize turn order at least slightly for the players, simply because it pushes them to play differently. But also if you use static initiative all the time, it'll be really fun to switch that up and make them roll when they are surprised or caught off guard by the combat. It's probably something I'll do when I inevitably am a dungeon master again
I like to allow my players to choose their initiative order (relative to one another, not the monsters) if they want. Only making the first player roll. This way they can set up special strategies or just more easily remember that their turn is next.
Sly Flourish also pointed out that using static initiative for the monsters and having the party roll tends to split up the turns since the monsters are just taking the approximate average roll. I generally just use a VTT so rolling up the initiatives really is no big chore, but I'm thinking about using this anyway for potentially most of the monsters. Of course it didn't have to be printed since just adding 10 to the modifier is some of the simplest math you can do, but it serves as an explicit reminder to the DM and I do appreciate that.
That table is going to be so useful for me - I consistently forget to look at the Saving Throw line on the old statblocks and just use their modifier, at least for the first few encounters of a session
I love tables! It's so nice. Having the actual stats rather than just the modifiers is still very legacy, but at least as a table it's not really in the way. I'm a little iffy on the saving throw's, since they largely seem to be extremely redundant. I've yet to see a new style block with different saves than the modifiers. But again, in the table it's unobtrusive, and you can tell at a glance if it matches.
oh sheeeeet. I need that dinosaur book!! I've been daydreaming about running a game in Chult (in 5e Tomb of Annihilation). Your sponsor just made the decision for me. 😅
A note on the change from “melee weapon attack”, a friend of mine was trying DMing for the first time and got confused by this phrasing thinking there were separate rules for if the monster was attacking with its claws or teeth than if it was holding a sword. So I think the change to “melee attack roll” is clearer.
Definitely deeper into the woods. I had a plane flying around in my video as well. I like the insights into the new 2024 rules. I currently use D&D Beyond so I haven't seen a character sheet in quite some time. But a comparison and insights would always be helpful!
I like that it's very quick to find Initiative and Saving throw. I never tried passive initiative for the mosters, but it seems like a good idea. I think I'm going to try it for very monster expect the boss monsters.
In the first BWB video I saw you only had a couple thousand subs and were just doing it on the side. It is so great to see you getting bigger and thriving, keep it coming bud!
I absolutely _love_ the tables for the core stats. Tables are such a good way of outlining numbers in easy to predict locations, making them easier to find at a glance! If anything, I think the stat block could possibly benefit from _more_ tables, as there's still a lot of stuff presented as paragraphs, making it harder to pick out the key info
Cool stuff. Glad to see static init formalized. Something that I've used on multi-monster type encounters for a few years. Once I was comfortable with static damage, I went a bit static crazy for speed.
Definitely interested in the video about the character sheet. my gut r reaction is I find the new character sheet more confusing in 1 specific aspect, and that is the splitting up of the skills. On the one hand, I get splitting the skills by the stat that goes with it, it makes a certain amount of sense when it comes to figuring out those numbers to begin with, but on the other hand, when trying to USE those skills you have to first remember which stat it is tied to (which for people playing for a long time might not be a problem, but for newer players, that is potentially difficult when the DM says "Make an Arcana check" and the new player has to spend a minute looking to figure out which section Arcana is in, the old alphabetical list was very quick to reference.
I care about the design of the character sheet! I also care (and love) the new excel minimalistic look of the stats on the stat block. Makes me want to create a character sheet that takes inspiration from the the monster stat blocks xD
Idk how I didn't mention it in this video, but I really should in one about the character sheets: I literally used excel to make a custom character sheet back in my first campaign haha --it's not good, but it's worth showing off in a video sometime
Dang Bob... I do NOT envy that opening shot. Setting up the camera level on that hill must've been quite the challenge! Respect for the filmmaking techniques though your videos are always great to watch!
The minimalist approach to displaying ability scores, ability modifiers, and saving throws in one information dense block is good. As a DM I appreciate this. I like the updated 2024 monster stat block format, seems like an overall improvement achieved through various compromises that synergize well with each other. An official initiative stat on the block is something I've wanted for a long time.
I would really like to watch a video about new Character Sheet! Somehow I don't get a lot of info about 2024 dnd, but I would love to know more. Thanks for this video!
You could talk about character sheets, or any other dnd topic you like. I'll be watching! I'd really love more playthrough videos!! The dragon of ice spire peak was amazing. More of that, too please🎉😂
I would love to hear your thoughts on the character sheet. I've been thinking more and more about going back to physical sheets instead of dnd beyond, but I don't like the old character sheets so have been looking at redesigns that make it easier on my brain. I haven't checked out the new ones at all but would love an in depth look.
I am really happy for “passive initiative”. It will be slower than my current method (roll once, all monsters use the number on the die), but I think it will be better overall.
I think it'll take more stat blocks before we can say 'typically' is gone, especially since Sphinx of Wonder is new. There are plenty of things without 'typically' in the 2014 rules.
I love this. Great video as always! Just a quick note that "the very idea of static initiative" is not really new. It just codified in the statblock the variant rule called Initiative Score (page 270 of the DMG).
You mention not being sure how they choose which mechanical terms to italicize/capitalize, etc. I think it's done with respect to whether or not the word(s) could be used in a non mechanical way. "Advantage" can be used in a non mechanical way (i.e. "They have an advantage in this competition") while something like "saving throw" is pretty specifically a DnD mechanics thing.
I know its not super relevant, but just wanted to say I am a big fan of the simplified stat block you showed off before! Tried it out running a one-shot over the weekend and combat was super streamlined and fun! Excited to see a bit of that coming to the new books.
I very much appreciate that your musical interlude samples the intro music from renowned naturalist Lenny Pepperbottom's Neature Walk series. THAT'S pretty neat!
I love the addition of static initiative as this is something I already do. I have some monsters and lower tier enemies just use a static number, and the higher ranked enemies roll for it. I have even experimented with a static number and a simple d4 or d6 roll added to it to speed it up as well. A zombie with base 5 and a d4 for a roll as a hypothetical example :D That plane, "We heard Bob was somewhere out here making a video!"
I'd like to see a few more blocks to see how it all shakes out, but I'm overall a fan. I especially like the little spreadsheet block, because I'm a nerd and that's just how my brain works. I can understand seeing a table like that being daunting though (although I'd also argue that the whole thing is daunting if you're wary of loads of concentrated numerical data). Interested to see how they've deliniated between technical terms too, because you're right in that capitalisation helps with skimming blocks for specific conditions and I personally find it really helpful.
I wanna see a video about the new character sheets because it's one of those "silent" topics that are actually discussed a lot, and redesigned a lot but noone makes a big fuzz about it (maybe cause it's one of those things everyone magically agrees is really subjective?)
I might be overlooking something, but I think stuff that are italicized seem to refer to how a particular portion of the statblock Functions. Creature Type and Alignment refers to the particular lore associated with those terms, thus indicating "this creature functions like so:" recommend you use it when playing the creature. Melee Attack Roll, Trigger, Response refer to how the particular Action works in play since I assume they have associated repetitive functions. Melee Attack Roll is always a D20 Test, while Trigger and Response pertain to essential parts to how a Reaction functions. Just my own conjecture.
You mentioned alternate initiative systems, and I wrote my own for 5e inspired by my daggerheart experience and love of that style of system, heres how i run mine: Every round, all creatures involved get a turn token and a reaction token, and take their turns in any order If 2 or more creatures want to take their turns simultaneously, initiative is rolled and the highest roll goes first All things which happen at the start or end of a turn instead occur at the start of the round or whenever that creature decides to take its turn At the top of each round, all creatures involved in the combat is given a new turn token and a reaction token (if they used their reaction) I've found that this speeds up combat a lot more and is incredibly easy for players to interact with one another more in combat (like combo moves) and it also makes use of initiative modifiers in a way which, in my play, generates tension easily as an enemy can try to jump in and mess up players plans
Please touch on the new character sheets! I have notes, but for the most part I think they’re pretty great. I particularly love the faded grid on them. It invites you to engage with it without forcing you to. One person can just throw down a list of feature names they want to remember and another can meticulously organize their actions on the grid.
My shorthand for monsters includes their attributes, buy only the modifiers, and I just use an asterisk for those attributes with a proficiency bonus for Saving Throws. I'm trying to get more information in less lines, a la DCC and OSR games, but I still want attributes for detail. You didn't ask, but here is my typical monster entry. Simple text for the win as ASCII never gets depreciated - unlike my Java code libraries. IRON TOOTH HILL GIANTS CR 5, AC 13 (natural) DT 5, Spd 40, HP 110, Pro +3 Str +5* Dex -1 Con +4* Int -3 Wis -1 Cha -2 Actions • Club 10' +8 (3d10+5/Bl + Con DC 15 Stun), or • Sweep 10' 180° arc Dex DC 15 (3d8/Bl + Str DC 16 Shove 15'), or • Rock 60/240' +8 (3d10+5/Bl + Dex DC 16 or knocked down) Treasure: ordinary I give a Damage Threshold (DT) for the big creatures because the Hill Giant don't care about that dagger much like an Elephant ignores a 9mm Parabellum. Bl for "Blunt" or "Bludgeoning" Asterisk on Str and Con for proficiency (Pro) to any Saving Throws.
My only problem with using the static is that it means all your monsters go in one big lump simultaneously. That is not necessarily bad but it can be. That being said I do like the option is there to speed things up.
Right, it depends on the version of static. According to these blocks, each type of monster still has a number from probably 10-20. In my games, I don't have a hard cut-off, but when it feels like a "big fight" I'll split the monsters into two turns like: PCs-group A, monsters-group A, PCs-group B, monsters-group B. Just so they're not going all at once.
@@BobWorldBuilder I think if I had a large group of monsters all with the same initiative modifier I might still keep most on the passive and break them up into a couple of groups and roll for those. It's a useful tool, but not every problem is a nail.
You were right dude! You were right about everything!!! You fully deserve to feel a little bit smug lol And I'd love to listen to an analysis of the new sheet. A bunch of bits I added to my own have been incorporated one way or another to the 2024 design, which makes me a bit self-satisfied too. You can probably Google something like "Super optimised vanilla character sheet Reddit" if you wanted to see it. That's my own personal "statblock redesign".
As a DM i like when infos are condensed in some unified reading of stats for anything. So...i like the new stat block very much! Can't wait for the full manuals to come officially out
“Typically” Modifiers and Saves are the same based on the ability that is favored, just as you see in this one, they could just write Mod/Sav and reduce clutter. When I Homebrew or write out stat blocks I only write down the modifier for the stat that the creature favors, because the other stats are just going to come down to how you roll the dice and I’m perfectly fine with that when I DM.
Yeah, for initiative, I just roll for groups of monsters and let the players roll for themselves. I will typically have 2-3 monster types per combat, so I only have to manage a few groups that way. Having a static initiative could be interesting, but I don't mind rolling for 1-2 groups. And for HP, I generally roll those ahead of time and have them noted. I wrote a python tool to help me do it for Basic Fantasy, and all I have to do is enter the number of Hit Dice (BFRPG just uses d8's for HD, so it easy that way) and it rolls the number of HD for me, adds them together, and generates an output of the number of HP as well as the correct number of hollow boxes in groups of 5 so I can copy/paste that whole thing into my notes. That way, when I am running the game, I can just tick off boxes in my notes with my pencil (and erase it if I want to use that adventure again) and track my HP that way. I find the HP variation fun and interesting and it keeps the players from really knowing too much about what they are fighting.
The inisitive has been creeping in to stat blocks for a while now, at least in D&DBeyond. Not the static number but the +3. I am always happy to see it. That dense bit of information is very nice.
Coming from narrative games, this is nuts. In these games coming up with an enemy is defining 3 numbers: HP (3-12), Damage: (4-10), Armor (0-2) And 2-3 phrases that describe their actions or reactions, for example: - Attack relentlessly - Cause a distraction - Cast a destructive spell - Outnumber in your favor
I love the Excel section, since it gives an extra bit of division in the stat block. Though regarding the apparent lack of the term "typically" for alignment: for humanoids I'd be very much fine with it. Like I don't want the appearance of a fixed alignment for stat blocks that could easily be used for NPCs, like an Orcish Wizard or an Elven Quartermaster or a Dwarven Refugee. But with extraplanar creatures and stuff like undead, having either a specific alignment listed AND/OR writing down "Any Lawful/Evil/Neutral Alignment" when appropriate is cool and fine.
As for the ability scores, I would have preferred them if they had been in 2 tables, grouping the physical traits (STR, DEC, CON) in one, and the mental traits (INT, WIS, CHA) in the other. It's a bit distracting having the mod and save values in a different color box, but I guess you could get used to it.
I do like static initiative. I usually roll enemy initiative while prepping, and we roll player initiative at the beginning of the session, so we can very easily just shunt all the numbers into order.
