💥 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!

Bob just gets deeper and deeper into the woods each video to avoid the possibility of trains interrupting him

You should totally talk about character sheets, Its oddly one of those things some people nerd out and redesign so its just right for them.

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.

The new stat block looks good, and I think it’s a good balance between simple design and comprehensive in what it covers

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

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.

You aren't the only one who cares about the new Character Sheet.

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

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.

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.

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.

CR still not in the top right corner🤦‍♂️

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

“Scientifically accurate stat blocks” 😁😁

Yes, please. Do a video on your opinions of the new character sheet!

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

Talk about the character sheet! I want that!

0:33 you can tell the stat block is neat by the way that it is!

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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

I would happily watch a video about the new character sheet.

That Dinosaur supplement looks perfect for my Eberron campaign!!

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 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

Bob: Finally, I'm away from those trains! Little people in the background: Ima end this man's whole shooting setup 😈

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!

That dinosaur book will be great for people running Eberron, especially Halfling players

I just realized watching this video that I really appreciate Bob going out into nature to film, its just...I really really like it!

I love how the stats are presented personally

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!

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 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!

I Love the static initiative adjustment. I didn't have a concrete idea of how I wanted to use static initiative. This is great.

0:38 genuinely made me think there was a long sword stuck in the rock, King Arthur style

Love Bob hiking through the woods for every video now. Really setting the mood.

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.

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 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.

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.

Yeah Dr. Dhrolin's! I was on the kickstarter of this one! It's great!

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.

Nice reference to neature in there!❤

NEATURE WALK! That's pretty neat!

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.

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🎉😂

Oh I hadn’t thought about type and alignment being capitalized. Love that. I’m a writer and mess with type a lot so I like things like that.

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.

New character sheets! Talk about em!

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’d love to see a character sheet 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'm here for the character sheet video. But then again, I LOVE ALL BOB WORLD BUILDER VIDEOS.

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).

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 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.

I like these changes that WOTC have done for D&D Stat Blocks but I definitely prefer how DC20 does there version of this personally.

I like the new block. Still wish they were Shadowdark levels of simple, but it’s certainly cleaner and clearer than the previous ones

been loving the outdoor vids!

I'd love to see you talk about the new character sheet dude!

The new block looks so much better. Love the attributes change

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.

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.

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.

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

Well done for the break down of the details in the stat block. I genuinely missed some things that were mentioned. Thank you.

The Neature Walk music lmao!

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.

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 think the way they organized ability saves and modifiers is great. I often don't use the monsters saves properly because I don't want to take the time to search the stat block to see if they get a modifier for the save

The sheet looks cleaner and a little easier for DMs. I don't mind it. The stat block chunk is a little ehh to me but it's an over all improvement.

“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.

The neature walk music got me

I'd love to see a video on the new sheets. I gave them a brief once over myself and I love them, but I think it'd be good to get a structured "review" of them

I think a lot of my club players would benefit from a video looking at the new character sheets.

Yes I agree with your minimalist attack modifier and damage amount at the end. That’s what I write on the monster cards on my dm screen.

0:53 - like new font - Like Capitalization - Don't like removal of typical 1:09 - Size looks good - like initiative added - Scores/Mods/Saves will take time getting use to, but probably is for the best - Resistances is a plus 1:45 - I think CR is too short. Yes it's good for me, but not new players. Also would like rule change of PB being +1 for CR under 1. - Traits header is good. - Melee weapon attack is a fix for unarmed attacks I think. - Like target being removed for the 1 target thing. - Like damage capitalization. 2:16 - IDK... The trigger might be more specific to the creature.

yes! the character sheet would be a great video

I'm certain you enjoyed using the word tabulated. I appreciated your use of the same. :)

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.

10:15 that's basically how I write out creature attack information on my creature note cards for my game. It saves space and is intuitive to me.

Is no one else going to mention the nature walk theme at the beginning? lmaooo "neat!"

I Love ALL Bob World Builder videos! And yes I would love to see Bob's character sheet . . . err Bob's thoughts on the new character sheet.

I mean, _condition resistances_ are a thing, also. I could see them going two ways with this; creatures that have condition resistances could have a separate line labeled "Condition resistances"; Or, they could throw the conditions just on the same line as the damage types. Giving monsters static initiative isn't something I'd thought of. Typically, if I have a huge number of monsters I'm rolling, I'll group initiative up and have each monster that's the same go on the same initiative (All the goblins go on 14; then all the orcs go on 10; then all the ogres go on 8; and the warchief got a 16 and the shaman also got a 14. That sort of thing.) But, I do like that new line for a different reason; now, that makes it so the monster could have an initiative roll that's _different_ from their dex mod. It was a shock to see, but I think I actually like the table. Having the Modifiers and the Saves right next to each other is helpful because those are sometimes different.

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.

Okay I think I need Dhrolin's Dictionary. Thanks, Bob, for having perhaps the first sponsorship I've ever actually been interested in 😂

The table is insane. Shove it to the bottom of the block if you're keeping it. CR should be near the top because when you're flipping through looking for a monster... Hmm, I'm looking for a 2-3 CR goblinoid... I can see a DM thinking that. Passives is a good rename but put the "actives" above the passives.

I’d watch your video on the new character sheet for sure 👍

I love how compact it is. Traits aren't necessarily only passive abilities.

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.

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".

The Ability Score table is amazing and I hope it actually on the player character sheet in a similar fashion.

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