minimal info

[elliott20]

my friend was just telling me the other day that he was having a problem with his adventure because one very simple little problem... he couldn't fit all the monster info he needs onto a single flash card. Granted, the guy could probably just write smaller, but it did get me thinking... how much information do you think you REALLY need to run a monster in a game?

For me, it all depends on what the creature/NPC is for. A one-use monster that is created to be killed gets AC, init, HP, FRW saves, damage, BAB, and maybe a couple quick notes talking about relevant feats or skill modifiers. For NPCs that serve non-combative encounter functions, they get a couple skill modifiers, an alignment, one visual quality and one mental quality that I assign them for flavor, and the rest I make up on the fly.

In some cases, some NPCs I don't even bother statting up and just wing the stats on the fly.

My friend, on the other hand, loves the prep work. Every creature he has on a flash card is basically the monster stat block copied over. This also means he needs to improv numbers less.

what do you do in that regard?

[Sstoopidtallkid]

I fit most, if not all, of the monster stat blocks onto notecards. Of course, I use notecards for everything, but for anything with an int of <2 or who doesn't have a name, I don't need any more. That's all that's necessary for combat. If it's going to be recurring or a social encounter, it gets 2 notecards. 1 for stats and the other for personality. The real difference is how long it takes me to come up with those 2 cards. I can stat out something with the Elite Array fairly quickly, but if I'm building it like a character, I spend a lot more time on the decisions.

[elliott20]

welll, obviously, this cannot include major recurring NPCs, as in those cases, some of those guys deserve an entire character sheet to itself. (Or in the case of important NPCs who are heads of organizations, several sheets attached to them with more info about the organization.)