Monster Statistics in BECMI Dungeons and Dragons

This a short video on how monsters were presented in the BECMI edition of Dungeons and Dragons, written by Frank Mentzer in five boxed sets (1983 - 1986), and amalgamated by Aaron Allston into the Rules Cyclopedia (1991).

Monsters are the stalwart of D&D. The game has been built on exploration, combat, and the vanquishing of foes, so without monsters we have no game. However, the mechanical representation of a monster, that is its stats, has changed over numerous editions to account for edition specific rules.

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[JohnPalb]

A quick note, where coins are indicated in the lair treasure of the treasure table, the table refers to that number in thousands of coins, not individual coins.

[Bluecho]

While I like a lot of modern D&D design, I always found the compactness of old school stat blocks pleasingly efficient.

[Yanix]

Regarding treasure types, the number of coins for treasures in lair are to be multiplied by 1000 as indicated above the chart. So 10% (1d8) sp would represent 10% chance of finding 1000 to 8000 silver pieces. This is why finding treasures was the fastest way to gain experience in BECMI as 1 gp would get you 1 experience point.

[Rashman]

Thanks BB! Another great video. In trying to streamline the game to attract new players, much of the flavour and nuance was lost. Can't wait for the next video.

[zelbarnap]

I love your videos. they are so helpful!

[AuthoritativeNewsNetwork]

I miss the "% in Lair" and think the exploration aspect of the game has been done a grave disservice by its exclusion.

[stevenkennedy]

Oi! BECMI or Hyperborea for me. Thanks for the share!!

[danmorgan]

Regarding Challenge Rating it doesn't really matter how long a system has been around if it doesn't actually work. I've seen plenty of examples where someone runs a monster through the challenge rating calculations and you come up with a number different from the official challenge ratings.

[RoninCatholic]

Someone who is in a berserk state is going to have less _effective_ intelligence than someone remaining calm in the heat of battle. It's a tactic mostly used to break the morale of opponents, and frequently fails against well trained or well equipped opponents. Slightly below average fits, particularly if standard soldiers and bandits are listed with 10. You can be an above-average berserker who has intelligence which is simply not helpful for berserking and not in use while berserk, but on the whole a berserker can get away with a lower average intelligence than other types of fighting-man.

[davidtauriainen]

5e stats don't include sufficient descriptions of monsters, especially average size in real units. "Medium" size is anything from dwarf to half ogre. But we only know those relative sizes from previous editions.