The tool that I would like more than any other would be one that would allow me to create a character on the Character Builder, and then turn it into a creature using Create A Homebrew Monster.
At present I do this for my NPCs by laboriously typing in all of the details, but I think that they should transfer easily enough.
What I'd like to transfer across into the Monster template, specifically:
Name, creature race/type, size
Ability Scores
Speed
Hit Points
Only show skills with proficiencies or additional bonuses
Show weapon attack options from all equipped weapons
Special traits/class features
Spellcasting
Pact magic (convert into spellcasting)
Special actions (e.g. Dragonborn breath weapon racial, Weapon Bond Eldritch Knight)
I second this motion. Especially spell casting. But I also wish monster stat blocks on here allowed for damage, healing and spell slot tracking and they don't so some of my enemies will continue being treated as PCs.
I third this motion. I would very much like to be able to convert a PC I created into an NPC/monster stat block. This would especially help with the encounter creator, so when I have a summoner NPC who plans to summon a demon or two, I can use the encounter creator to properly (and easily) check the difficulty of the encounter including the 9th level wizard summoning NPC.
I do not recommend making NPCs using the same tools as PCs. While the PC tools are easier to use right now, it is also really restrictive with little to no creative freedom.
Instead of working on a PC to NPC conversion tool, I think it is better if they just made the NPC creation tool as intuitive to use as the character builder. That way, there is no need to make NPCs in a round about way with the character builder and porting it over to a monster stat block. I do not think it makes sense to waste time and money to create an additional layer of programming and complexity when improving existing homebrew tools would do the trick.
Making a playable NPC is exceedingly difficult with this current format. The monster generator is not an effective tool and neither is the PC generator. What ever the solution it needs to easily integrate with My Campaigns, My Homebrew, and My Encounters.
I want this so much. I currently make my NPCs as my characters and it really slows things down having to hunt through their character sheet to find what I'm looking for. Having a tool to convert it to a stat block that just has the info you want on it would be immensely helpful. Especially if it integrates with My Encounters as Maddogjls74 mentioned.
It'd also be nice to have a separate NPC section of My Characters to make finding them easier.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"She looks down lovingly at the tiny, little gnome before her. Congratulations; you have successfully seduced the ogress."
I would also like this. I have had characters leave the game and come back as nemeses for the party. I would really like a convenient way to bring them over to the monster side 😈
This thread has been around for several years. Is there any movement in this direction? I have been playing D&D since the White Box (Pre-1st Ed) and in my campaigns interactions with NPC's (friendly or hostile) are typically more common than interactions with monsters, so it would be nice to either have an NPC creator that is integrated with the encounter builder or be able to transfer a character to the monster block.
There hasn't been any change on this front because there are no official rules for converting Player Characters into monster stat blocks. You may ask "why would it need official rules, just copy the relevant information over". The problem is that PCs and monsters are made in different ways:
PC hit die is determined by class or classes, monsters by size category
The number of PC hit dice are determined by class level or levels, whereas for monsters it's arbitrary based on whatever CR you're aiming for
For PCs, proficiency bonus is determined by character level. For monsters, it's based on CR
PCs have level, monsters have CR, and you can't convert the former into the latter. CR has to be determined through a fairly convoluted process
So long story short, there is no official mechanism to convert between the two, and D&D Beyond can't just make up rules for doing it. However, if Wizards of the Coast does come up with rules for converting player characters into stat blocks, D&D Beyond will endeavour to support those rules as best they can.
The problem is that PCs and monsters are made in different ways... So long story short, there is no official mechanism to convert between the two, and D&D Beyond can't just make up rules for doing it.
First, thank you so much for a response! Feels good to know it's at least not being ignored.
So I totally get where you're coming from, but I guess I have a counter point that I'd like to get your opinion on, specifically the parts I quoted. While there isn't a system created for converting the two, there *is* a system for creating your own monster and then figuring out it's CR, right? In the DMG, it gives a step by step process to determine a monsters CR by averaging the offensive CR with the defensive CR (which has it's own breakdown), so theoretically, couldn't D&D Beyond creator a convertor tool that 1) uses the official process for determining CR that's in the DMG and 2) populates a stat block template with the relevant inputs from a character sheet?
So for example, if the character I create has chainmail on, then when determining the CR of that character, it will use an AC of 16 for one of it's data points? And if that same character has a STR of 12, the monster stat block will likewise populate with a STR of 12?
Agreed...while there isn't an official mechanism for converting from player level/stats to CR there is a way to roughly the determine the CR for a monster based on offensive and defensive capabilities. And frankly, it doesn't have to be a perfect conversion, or really even super close. I'd just like a way to take a former character and use their info to fill out the basic stuff in the homebrew monster stat block and let me go in and tweak it as desired. I don't need a full up conversion, I'd just like something that reduces the time spent retyping and shuffling through different pages to collect data.
These tools would be nice. I like taking PC's after a campaign and converting them to a stat block so I can have them show back up as NPC's un future campaigns and participate in future stories relevant to their characters.
There hasn't been any change on this front because there are no official rules for converting Player Characters into monster stat blocks. You may ask "why would it need official rules, just copy the relevant information over". The problem is that PCs and monsters are made in different ways:
PC hit die is determined by class or classes, monsters by size category
The number of PC hit dice are determined by class level or levels, whereas for monsters it's arbitrary based on whatever CR you're aiming for
For PCs, proficiency bonus is determined by character level. For monsters, it's based on CR
PCs have level, monsters have CR, and you can't convert the former into the latter. CR has to be determined through a fairly convoluted process
So long story short, there is no official mechanism to convert between the two, and D&D Beyond can't just make up rules for doing it. However, if Wizards of the Coast does come up with rules for converting player characters into stat blocks, D&D Beyond will endeavour to support those rules as best they can.
I don't think this really matters. What I asked for doesn't require any made up rules.
Nobody cares what the CR would be - for one thing CR doesn't work for NPCs anyway, and yet we have to run them in our games, award XP for them, mostly by guess work. An Owblear should be a CR2 monster by its stats, but is CR3. Monsters after CR4 have so few hit points they can't provide a challenging fight. How do you take into account Charm effects in CR? But I'm not even asking for that to be changed!
What I'm talking about is just a tool that translates the core parts of a character sheet - the bullet points I listed - into a monster-like NPC stat-block. I don't want every character ability on it, just the core abilities so that I can quickly make NPC stat blocks. This really isn't a difficult thing to ask - the stat block doesn't need to have a CR on it. Call it a "quality of life" change for DMs on D&D Beyond, if you like.
Call it "NPC Maker" instead of "Monster designer" or whatever you call it. I'd be just as happy with an NPC builder tool that let you input level and sub-class and it generated the stat block (essentially this would just be like having 260 pre-loaded stat blocks, for level 1-20 of each class). But this would be a super useful tool.
There hasn't been any change on this front because there are no official rules for converting Player Characters into monster stat blocks. You may ask "why would it need official rules, just copy the relevant information over". The problem is that PCs and monsters are made in different ways:
PC hit die is determined by class or classes, monsters by size category
The number of PC hit dice are determined by class level or levels, whereas for monsters it's arbitrary based on whatever CR you're aiming for
For PCs, proficiency bonus is determined by character level. For monsters, it's based on CR
PCs have level, monsters have CR, and you can't convert the former into the latter. CR has to be determined through a fairly convoluted process
So long story short, there is no official mechanism to convert between the two, and D&D Beyond can't just make up rules for doing it. However, if Wizards of the Coast does come up with rules for converting player characters into stat blocks, D&D Beyond will endeavour to support those rules as best they can.
I don't think this really matters. What I asked for doesn't require any made up rules.
Nobody cares what the CR would be - for one thing CR doesn't work for NPCs anyway, and yet we have to run them in our games, award XP for them, mostly by guess work. An Owblear should be a CR2 monster by its stats, but is CR3. Monsters after CR4 have so few hit points they can't provide a challenging fight. How do you take into account Charm effects in CR? But I'm not even asking for that to be changed!
What I'm talking about is just a tool that translates the core parts of a character sheet - the bullet points I listed - into a monster-like NPC stat-block. I don't want every character ability on it, just the core abilities so that I can quickly make NPC stat blocks. This really isn't a difficult thing to ask - the stat block doesn't need to have a CR on it. Call it a "quality of life" change for DMs on D&D Beyond, if you like.
Call it "NPC Maker" instead of "Monster designer" or whatever you call it. I'd be just as happy with an NPC builder tool that let you input level and sub-class and it generated the stat block (essentially this would just be like having 260 pre-loaded stat blocks, for level 1-20 of each class). But this would be a super useful tool.
There hasn't been any change on this front because there are no official rules for converting Player Characters into monster stat blocks. You may ask "why would it need official rules, just copy the relevant information over". The problem is that PCs and monsters are made in different ways:
PC hit die is determined by class or classes, monsters by size category
The number of PC hit dice are determined by class level or levels, whereas for monsters it's arbitrary based on whatever CR you're aiming for
For PCs, proficiency bonus is determined by character level. For monsters, it's based on CR
PCs have level, monsters have CR, and you can't convert the former into the latter. CR has to be determined through a fairly convoluted process
So long story short, there is no official mechanism to convert between the two, and D&D Beyond can't just make up rules for doing it. However, if Wizards of the Coast does come up with rules for converting player characters into stat blocks, D&D Beyond will endeavour to support those rules as best they can.
I don't think this really matters. What I asked for doesn't require any made up rules.
Nobody cares what the CR would be - for one thing CR doesn't work for NPCs anyway, and yet we have to run them in our games, award XP for them, mostly by guess work. An Owblear should be a CR2 monster by its stats, but is CR3. Monsters after CR4 have so few hit points they can't provide a challenging fight. How do you take into account Charm effects in CR? But I'm not even asking for that to be changed!
What I'm talking about is just a tool that translates the core parts of a character sheet - the bullet points I listed - into a monster-like NPC stat-block. I don't want every character ability on it, just the core abilities so that I can quickly make NPC stat blocks. This really isn't a difficult thing to ask - the stat block doesn't need to have a CR on it. Call it a "quality of life" change for DMs on D&D Beyond, if you like.
Call it "NPC Maker" instead of "Monster designer" or whatever you call it. I'd be just as happy with an NPC builder tool that let you input level and sub-class and it generated the stat block (essentially this would just be like having 260 pre-loaded stat blocks, for level 1-20 of each class). But this would be a super useful tool.
That's exactly what I was saying, as well. I don't see any reason why this wouldn't be something code-able that would significantly improve the quality of life for DMs.
Yes please! I don't really care what form it takes, I just want to be able to put customisable NPC characters into my encounters, (that don't require an hour of coding in the homebrew "Monster Maker")
The tool that I would like more than any other would be one that would allow me to create a character on the Character Builder, and then turn it into a creature using Create A Homebrew Monster.
At present I do this for my NPCs by laboriously typing in all of the details, but I think that they should transfer easily enough.
What I'd like to transfer across into the Monster template, specifically:
I second this motion. Especially spell casting. But I also wish monster stat blocks on here allowed for damage, healing and spell slot tracking and they don't so some of my enemies will continue being treated as PCs.
I third this motion. I would very much like to be able to convert a PC I created into an NPC/monster stat block. This would especially help with the encounter creator, so when I have a summoner NPC who plans to summon a demon or two, I can use the encounter creator to properly (and easily) check the difficulty of the encounter including the 9th level wizard summoning NPC.
I do not recommend making NPCs using the same tools as PCs. While the PC tools are easier to use right now, it is also really restrictive with little to no creative freedom.
Instead of working on a PC to NPC conversion tool, I think it is better if they just made the NPC creation tool as intuitive to use as the character builder. That way, there is no need to make NPCs in a round about way with the character builder and porting it over to a monster stat block. I do not think it makes sense to waste time and money to create an additional layer of programming and complexity when improving existing homebrew tools would do the trick.
Check Licenses and Resync Entitlements: < https://www.dndbeyond.com/account/licenses >
Running the Game by Matt Colville; Introduction: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-YZvLUXcR8 >
D&D with High School Students by Bill Allen; Season 1 Episode 1: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52NJTUDokyk&t >
Making a playable NPC is exceedingly difficult with this current format. The monster generator is not an effective tool and neither is the PC generator. What ever the solution it needs to easily integrate with My Campaigns, My Homebrew, and My Encounters.
I want this so much. I currently make my NPCs as my characters and it really slows things down having to hunt through their character sheet to find what I'm looking for. Having a tool to convert it to a stat block that just has the info you want on it would be immensely helpful. Especially if it integrates with My Encounters as Maddogjls74 mentioned.
It'd also be nice to have a separate NPC section of My Characters to make finding them easier.
"She looks down lovingly at the tiny, little gnome before her. Congratulations; you have successfully seduced the ogress."
I would also like this. I have had characters leave the game and come back as nemeses for the party. I would really like a convenient way to bring them over to the monster side 😈
This thread has been around for several years. Is there any movement in this direction? I have been playing D&D since the White Box (Pre-1st Ed) and in my campaigns interactions with NPC's (friendly or hostile) are typically more common than interactions with monsters, so it would be nice to either have an NPC creator that is integrated with the encounter builder or be able to transfer a character to the monster block.
There hasn't been any change on this front because there are no official rules for converting Player Characters into monster stat blocks. You may ask "why would it need official rules, just copy the relevant information over". The problem is that PCs and monsters are made in different ways:
So long story short, there is no official mechanism to convert between the two, and D&D Beyond can't just make up rules for doing it. However, if Wizards of the Coast does come up with rules for converting player characters into stat blocks, D&D Beyond will endeavour to support those rules as best they can.
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
Thanks for the explanation.
First, thank you so much for a response! Feels good to know it's at least not being ignored.
So I totally get where you're coming from, but I guess I have a counter point that I'd like to get your opinion on, specifically the parts I quoted. While there isn't a system created for converting the two, there *is* a system for creating your own monster and then figuring out it's CR, right? In the DMG, it gives a step by step process to determine a monsters CR by averaging the offensive CR with the defensive CR (which has it's own breakdown), so theoretically, couldn't D&D Beyond creator a convertor tool that 1) uses the official process for determining CR that's in the DMG and 2) populates a stat block template with the relevant inputs from a character sheet?
So for example, if the character I create has chainmail on, then when determining the CR of that character, it will use an AC of 16 for one of it's data points? And if that same character has a STR of 12, the monster stat block will likewise populate with a STR of 12?
Agreed...while there isn't an official mechanism for converting from player level/stats to CR there is a way to roughly the determine the CR for a monster based on offensive and defensive capabilities. And frankly, it doesn't have to be a perfect conversion, or really even super close. I'd just like a way to take a former character and use their info to fill out the basic stuff in the homebrew monster stat block and let me go in and tweak it as desired. I don't need a full up conversion, I'd just like something that reduces the time spent retyping and shuffling through different pages to collect data.
You have to realize CR is compete garbage and nobody uses it for anything, not even XP.
Hot take, why was an abominable snowman designed to have the same CR as a Glabrezu...
These tools would be nice. I like taking PC's after a campaign and converting them to a stat block so I can have them show back up as NPC's un future campaigns and participate in future stories relevant to their characters.
I have been wanting this for so long!
I don't think this really matters. What I asked for doesn't require any made up rules.
Nobody cares what the CR would be - for one thing CR doesn't work for NPCs anyway, and yet we have to run them in our games, award XP for them, mostly by guess work. An Owblear should be a CR2 monster by its stats, but is CR3. Monsters after CR4 have so few hit points they can't provide a challenging fight. How do you take into account Charm effects in CR? But I'm not even asking for that to be changed!
What I'm talking about is just a tool that translates the core parts of a character sheet - the bullet points I listed - into a monster-like NPC stat-block. I don't want every character ability on it, just the core abilities so that I can quickly make NPC stat blocks. This really isn't a difficult thing to ask - the stat block doesn't need to have a CR on it. Call it a "quality of life" change for DMs on D&D Beyond, if you like.
Call it "NPC Maker" instead of "Monster designer" or whatever you call it. I'd be just as happy with an NPC builder tool that let you input level and sub-class and it generated the stat block (essentially this would just be like having 260 pre-loaded stat blocks, for level 1-20 of each class). But this would be a super useful tool.
Amen. This, please and thank you.
That's exactly what I was saying, as well. I don't see any reason why this wouldn't be something code-able that would significantly improve the quality of life for DMs.
This is still needed.