Currently DDB's monster creation is simply a way to format a stat block. That's ok for some purposes but what makes monster creation difficult is the balancing. Going back and forth with the physical pages is slow and it would be a lot faster to have a digital interface.
Balancing has a different meaning when it comes to different game sessions. We allow for any/all creations to be included, as various people enjoy different styles of gameplay.
As for thumbing through books, D&D Beyond definitely has an answer for that - the handbook material will be available on this very website, much as all the Basic Rule data is now. During the beta, only the Basic Rule/SRD data is provided. Once launch arrives, the opportunity to have a more comprehensive data set will be yours to cut the need for page-thumbing.
I do agree that a walk-through process like in the character generator would make for a better monster builder though. And if some of the math were done for you (average HP, balancing CR), that'd be even better. It'd be a much more comprehensive generator for those trying to balance-on-the-fly. We'll see what the future holds!
Yes, to be clear I am not suggesting that it be constrained by the DMG. I am just suggesting that the guidelines be present during monster creation so you can be sure you have built something in the recommended ranges for your CR.
Such a tool could be written in js in a few hours (if someone hasn't done it already), but it would be great if it were built into ddb.
Currently DDB's monster creation is simply a way to format a stat block. That's ok for some purposes but what makes monster creation difficult is the balancing. Going back and forth with the physical pages is slow and it would be a lot faster to have a digital interface.
Balancing has a different meaning when it comes to different game sessions. We allow for any/all creations to be included, as various people enjoy different styles of gameplay.
As for thumbing through books, D&D Beyond definitely has an answer for that - the handbook material will be available on this very website, much as all the Basic Rule data is now. During the beta, only the Basic Rule/SRD data is provided. Once launch arrives, the opportunity to have a more comprehensive data set will be yours to cut the need for page-thumbing.
I do agree that a walk-through process like in the character generator would make for a better monster builder though. And if some of the math were done for you (average HP, balancing CR), that'd be even better. It'd be a much more comprehensive generator for those trying to balance-on-the-fly. We'll see what the future holds!
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Yes, to be clear I am not suggesting that it be constrained by the DMG. I am just suggesting that the guidelines be present during monster creation so you can be sure you have built something in the recommended ranges for your CR.
Such a tool could be written in js in a few hours (if someone hasn't done it already), but it would be great if it were built into ddb.
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