New Monster Stat Blocks

Hey y'all,

This is a fairly niche poll regarding the future of our stat block formatting, so skip this read if you don't care about that sort of thing!

We've been following the new PHB 2024 content updates and noticed some of the changes to monster stat blocks. Here's a great video by Eventyr Games that summarizes the new stat block formatting: https://youtu.be/Z0ObzIGL4sQ?si=g-mEJZ5rpf-4ET25     

I'd like to keep up to date with the changes WotC is making so that our content continues to be compatible with 5e (both 2014 and 2024), while benefitting from some of the quality of life updates after a decade of playtesting the system. However, we won't be blindly adopting changes without considering their impact on play.

After analyzing the formatting updates, I've whipped up a rough draft for what our stat blocks could look like moving forward. (Keep in mind we don't have all of the info on the new PHB just yet, so there will be changes down the road).

Here's a breakdown of the changes:

1. Minor formatting changes: Some phrases are abbreviated now (ie. Armor Class is now AC, Hit Points is now HP, Challenge is now CR) and key words are capitalized (ie. monster type, alignment, damage types, advantage/disadvantage were the examples we could surmise from the available stat block).
2. Initiative bonus and passive initiative (bonus + 10) are now listed on the block.
3. This may be the biggest change to formatting that we're considering. Saving throw bonuses have been removed from lower on the block and added to the ability score row. Looking at the new Sphynx of Wonder stat block, I'm not a big fan of the way they arranged the ability scores. I find it harder to read when the scores are in a table, rather than a single row, and the MOD and SAVE text is very small and redundant. However, I do appreciate moving the saving throws next to the ability modifiers, rather than lower on the block. Fitting the new info into the same space was a bit of a challenge, and I'm not totally sure if our new approach is as readable as before. I cut the labels for modifiers and saving throws, so you'll have to know that the saving throw number is the one on the right. This is probably a work in progress.
4. Proficiency bonus is now abbreviated to PB and moved to the CR line.
5. Monster traits are now labeled as such, which is useful for referring to them outside of the stat block. This is something I've desired for some time.
6. The number of targets for basic attacks have been cut (ic. "one target"). I assume they're relying on common sense and will add a distinction for the rare cases where one is needed.

What do you guys think? Let us know in the poll and in the comments!

Thanks for reading and sharing your feedback,
-August