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Gamemastering / Basics from the Core Rulebook / Building an Adventure

Stat Blocks

Source PRPG Core Rulebook pg. 397
One of the most complex parts of the game is the stat block. Every NPC, every monster, and every timid little forest creature in the campaign world has its own stat block. This isn’t to say, of course, that you need to generate a stat block for every creature that appears in your adventure, but you should certainly generate stat blocks for all of the important NPCs and monsters with whom you expect the PCs to interact. The Pathfinder RPG Bestiary provides more than 300 pre-made monster stat blocks for use in adventures, and that’s just the beginning—you can use stat blocks from other monster bestiaries or adventures just as easily in your game. One good trick is to copy a stat block onto a 3×5 card or into a small document you can easily bring up on your computer during the game—you can keep these cards and documents forever to reuse them as needed.

Think of stat blocks as shorthand versions of character sheets. For a sample stat block, see the Monster Index— definitions for the various abbreviations in the stat block can be found here. For a more detailed description of how to read a stat block or additional examples of what a stat block looks like, consult the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary.

Archives of Nethys

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Stat Blocks