How to create a Monster

Creating a monster is one of the easier things you can do in HLC because it does not require a great deal of technical knowledge. You will not likely need to do any scripting for example. Monsters are generally designed to be static information so you just need to learn how to configure them in the Hero Lab Editor.

No two monsters are the same. For that reason it's not possible to provide a single tutorial that covers everything. With that in mind here are a few examples of real monsters.

Example Videos

• How to add a monster 1
• How to add a monster 2

Step by Step Example

Let's step through creating a monster to see how it's done. For this example I will use the Goblin from the 5e SRD.

1. Start Hero Lab Classic and open the Hero Lab Editor (Hero Lab > Tools > Show Editor)
2. Create a new data file to work on (File > New Data File). 2.a Of course you can open an existing Data File and add to that also. But you should not modify D&D 5e Community Pack for personal changes. If you do your changes will be over-ridden the next time the Community Pack is updated.
3. Create the Race thing for the Golbin (Race > Race > New (Blank).

4. Change the name to match the monster.
5. Create a Unique ID for the monster. Every thing in HLC has a unique name. Take note of the naming conventions used and try to use them for any content you make. All races start with 'r' for example followed by a code that identifies who made the thing. The 5e Community Pack use '5C'. For your personal stuff use something custom like your initials. Then follows a description of the thing you are creating. The name I would use in this example is 'r5CGoblin'. Limit your names to 17 characters.
6. Type the description for the monster.

7. Now I generally proceed to move top to bottom of each column from left to right. With that process in mind:

8. The Goblin's hit points are listed as: 7 (2d6) so we need to set this up. Hit Dice: 2 Override Hit Dice Type: 6 (Not this will default based on the size of the monster so you don't have to put something here) Default Starting HP: 7

9. Set the ability modifiers. The trick here is to start with 10 and add or subtract from 10 to get the required number. Using our Goblin example: STR 8 (10 - 8 = -2) So enter -2 in Strength Modifier. DEX 14 (10 + 4 = 14) So enter 4 in Dexterity Modifier.
   CON 10 (10 is the default option so you can leave this blank) INT 10 (10 is the default option so you can leave this blank) WIS 8 (10 - 8 = -2) So enter -2 in Wisdom Modifier) CHA 8 10 - 8 = -2) So enter -2 in Charisma Modifier)

10. Now we need to set the speed. The Goblin's speed is 30. The default movement speed is 30. We therefore don't need to enter anything. If the speed was 20 we would enter 20. Note: If you enter 30 and click Test Now you will notice this goes back to being blank, don't panic, that's how it works.

11. If the creature had other types of movement such as Burrowing, Climbing, Flight or Swimming you can set it using the Other Movement Type? button. Just tick what you need and then set the Speed? field to the distance.

11. The goblin wear's armour so we don't need to set a Natural Armor Bonus. We will add armor in Hero Lab later just like you do a normal character.
12. We need to define this as a Monster. So we change the Race Category to NPC Race.

• Normal (Player) Race - As it sounds. Use this for races the players can pick.
• NPC Race - These are monster races that cannot be picked by the players.
• Custom Monster - I've never had to use to option.

13. Click the NPC Race Type button and select Humanoid.
14. Click the NPC Race Type Tags button and select Goblonoid.
15. In the challenge rating enter .144.
16. Set the size to Small.
17. Click the Automatic Languages button and click to Add Another Bootstrap. Tick Common and Goblin and click OK.
18. Click the Skill Proficiencies button and tick Stealth and click OK. You can select from single or double proficiency. To get to +6 you need double proficiency. I usually just try normal proficiency and if it's not enough I change it to double. You can do this by clicking the Test Now! button and trying to create the monster in Hero Lab.
19. Next we need to add the Darkvision ability. Click the Racial Special Abilities button and search for Darkvision. Tick it and click ok. Change the Value? field to match the range of the darkvision which in this case is 60.
20. The Goblin uses the following: Leather Armor, Shield, Scimitar and Shortbow. Look those things up in the PHB. Leather armor is a Light Armor. Scimitar and Shortbow are both Simple Weapons. Therefore we have a choice. We can make the Goblin proficient in these specific armor/weapons or we can make it proficient in these armor/weapon categories. The categories is a better choice as this empowers the DM to modify the armor and weapons within the same category and create more interesting monsters. Click the Weapon / Armor Group button and tick Simple Weapons, Shields and Light Armor. Click OK
21. I'm going to skip the Nimble Escape ability and come back to that.
22. Click the Default Alignment button. A goblin is Neutral Evil so tick the first Neutral option and the Evil option. Click OK.

At this stage you have finished everything that needs to be configured on the Goblins Race object. We call the object itself a 'thing'. Click the Test Now! button to save your changes and send them to Hero Lab. You can create a new monster in Hero Lab and select your new Goblin as the race option to see what you have done.

We still need to add the Nimble Escape ability. This is a different 'thing' so lets do that now. Note: Nimble Escape already exists. You could just select it in the Racial Special Abilities button and link (aka bootstrap) the existing Nimble Escape to your character. This is a tutorial though so let's do it properly.

1. Within the Editor select the Race tab and then the Racial Special tab.
2. Click New (Blank) for the new ability you are making.
3. In the Name you type the name.
4. In the description you type the description.
5. You give it a unique ID. Again take note of the naming convention. Anything created for the Community Pack needs to have 5C in the name. Note: hero lab currently allows names up to 20 characters long but we have got wind that this will be changed back to 17. Therefore please limit your unique ids to 17 characters.
6. Set the Feature Type per the stat block. This is a Special Ability in the stat block so I tick 'Special'.
7. Click Test Now.

8. You new Special Ability will now be an option available to the Goblin race thing you made above. Let's go back and link them up.
9. Click Race > Race > Select your Goblin.
10. Click the Racial Special Abilities button and Click to add another bootstrap.
11. Find Nimble Escape in the list, tick it and click ok.
12. Click OK and then Test Now!

That's it for the Editor! We have done everything we need to do for our Goblin and can now use him in Hero Lab. He's still missing armor and weapons though so we will add those next.

Back in Hero Lab create the Goblin just like you would a normal character just create it as a Non-Player Character. Add the Leather Armor, Shield, Scimitar and Shortbow to the monster. If you are making this for your own personal use you may like to add a picture at this stage. You can do that through the Personal tab within Hero Lab.

The last step is to make our monster available from the Encounter Builder. This is quite easy. Click Save Portfolio As to save the file you just created. Make sure it contains only the monsters you want to be available in the Encounter Builder.
Name the file what ever you like but make sure you save it as a *.stock file. You do this by setting the File Name: field to <yourname.stock> and then save the file in your Hero Lab 5e Data folder. The default location for this is noted below.

C:\ProgramData\Hero Lab\data\5e

That's it. You have now completed your first complete monster in Hero Lab. Congratulations.