Welcome to DND Rules!

Hi! Welcome to D&D Rules (DNDRULES.COM), a blog about the journey of a group of design-minded players through the landscape of D&D 4E. I’ll tell you more about myself, my gaming group and my motivations for creating the blog in future posts. But right now I want to show you how to add the wicked HTML stat blocks from Asmor’s Monster Maker to your WordPress blog!

If you don’t use Monster Maker, then I recommend checking it out (and all of Asmor’s other scripts and programs). It helps you create custom monsters by doing all of the heavy lifting, like the math and formatting, for you — leaving you to focus on the more creative parts of your campaign!

Example Monster Stat Block (exported from Monster Maker):

Stat Block Smasher Level 6 Brute Medium Natural Humanoid (human) XP 250
Initiative +6 Senses Perception +6
HP 86; Bloodied 43
AC 18; Fortitude 18, Reflex 18, Will 18
Resist 5 fire; Vulnerable 5 cold
Saving Throws +1 vs. charm
Speed 5
M Slash (Standard) ♦ Weapon
+10 vs. AC; 2d6+5 damage.
m Overhand Slash (Standard; recharge 456) ♦ Weapon
+10 vs. AC; 4d6+5 damage, and the target is dazed (save ends).
Alignment Evil Languages Goblin, Common
Skills Athletics +10
Str 16 (+6) Dex 16 (+6) Wis 16 (+6) Con 16 (+6) Int 16 (+6) Cha 16 (+6)
Equipment chain mail, great sword

Here’s how I added it to WordPress (I use a WordPress.com hosted blog, so just about everything involves a song and dance). But don’t worry, I’m not a web programmer – so just about anyone can do this!

1. Purchase the ability to edit the site’s CSS ($15.00 per year).
2. Now you need to edit your blog’s CSS file. From your Dashboard, click Appearance, and then the Edit CSS link.
3. Open the 4e.css file that came with Asmor.com’s Monster Maker. Copy the file’s contents and paste it into the CSS Stylesheet Editor and save the stylesheet.
4. Now WordPress will look for (and properly format) Monster Maker’s stat blocks.
5. When you make a monster, export the stat block to HTML (Monster Make does all the hard work for you here).
6. Then open the HMTL file for the monster and copy the text between the “Begin stat block” and “End stat block” comments.
7. Create a WordPress post and click the HTML tab (to let the program know that you are about to add some code) and paste in the text you have copied to your clipboard.
8. If your WordPress site is narrow like mine (only 450 px), then you’ll need to make a minor edit to the CSS Stylesheet so that none of the stat block is cut off (or you can just choose a wider blog template). Go back to the CSS Stylesheet you created and look for the code that defines the width of the stat block (it should be near the top and it says “width:500px;” — just change the 500 to 400 (or the width of your blog, if you prefer). Then save the stylesheet and you are done.

Thanks for reading and comments are welcome!

Now I’m working on adding the CSS code for powers and magic items! This is a bit trickier, so thanks to Ian Toltz for all the help!

Example Encounter Power

Wizard’s Wall Wizard Encounter 1
With the wave of your hand, wall of sparks erupts from the ground.
Encounter ♦ Arcane, Conjuration, Implement
Standard Action Area wall 8 within 10 squares
Effect: You conjure a wall that consists of contiguous squares filled with sparks and smoke. It can be up to 5 squares long and up to 2 squares high. The wall lasts until the end of your next turn.
Sustain Minor: The wall persists.

Example Magic Item

Spirit of Ioun Heroic Level
A unique and powerful Ioun stone, this artifact appears to be a large and faintly glowing white pearl, forever traveling in a patient orbit. The stone acts as a +2 holy symbol.
Item Slot: Holy Symbol
Enhancement: Attack and damage rolls.
Critical: +2d6 radiant damage
Property: You can speak and understand Supernal and read the Supernal script.
Power (Encounter): Standard Action. You can turn undead (cleric class feature).
Power (Encounter): Standard Action. You can use radiant smite (paladin 1).
Power (Daily): Minor Action. The stone gains fly 6 and phasing. You can see and hear using the stone as if you were using the Wizard’s Sight ritual. The stone occupies its own space, but cannot be the target of any attack.