Stat Groups

Over the last couple of months I built the final major part of the Monster Editor: the ability to create and manage what I call "Stat Groups": Species, Classes, Templates, Backgrounds, and Items.

Stat Groups are simply reusable collections of stats that can be applied to monsters and NPCs. They let you build creatures in blocks instead of filling out every single stat by hand, and they can also be used to enhance existing monsters and NPCs to make them more unique and interesting.

This feature is particularly dear to me because it's the foundation of the NPC Generator. While working on it, I finally had the chance to add a few things I've wanted ever since I built version 1 of the editor:

• Random actions: after I release v2, I want to build a library of actions organized by type and monster role, so you'll always be able to find fitting abilities for your creations. At the same time, I'll use the same library to generate more varied and interesting NPC classes.
• Random gear: the same idea, but for equipment. I plan to import all the SRD gear and wondrous items into the database, while also allowing you to create and publish your own items for everyone to use. This will also let me create NPC Classes and Backgrounds that can grant magical gear at higher challenge ratings.
• New NPC names: I added new categories of NPC names and surnames for Species to the database, and fixed some of the existing ones that just didn't feel right.

The other random features from v1 are still there as well: skills, languages, spells, and dynamic values within actions.

I feel like I should say a lot more about Stat Groups, but most of it would probably be about small details and quirks that I hope will either feel intuitive once you start using the editor, or end up hidden behind a simpler interface so you won't have to think about them at all.

One thing I'm sure of is that, since Stat Groups required a major rewrite of most parts of the editor, there are probably still plenty of bugs waiting to be found, and definitely more polishing to do. That's something we'll discover together once we start building actual content with the editor.

What now?

Three major things are left before v2 is ready to be published:

• Documentation: a proper guide for the editor and all its features.
• Backstory Editor: a text editor for writing the descriptions of the monsters users will publish. This will become the backbone of several major features I want to add to the website in the future.
• Community Creations: the page where you'll be able to browse user-created monsters and Stat Groups, together with the entire publication workflow behind it.

After that, it will finally be time to start filling the database with content.

-Ismael