Building Monsters in the editor
 

Whenever I have to get a new computer monsters I built in the editor or gone with the new install.

Is there a way to save the monsters so I don't have to rebuild them every time.

I'm aware of how to build custom monsters as characters if I choose "Bestiary Monster Creation", but some of the abilities I need have to be custom created

When you create the creature with 'Bestiary Monster Creation', then save the portfolio. That way you can come back to the same creatures without having to re-create them.

If you create them in the Editor, you'll need to save your user file. Make it something unique - don't add it to existing user files. (They get over-written if there's updates) It's also good to give it a source (eg MyMonsters, or something) so that you can activate that in HL with Cnt-K to be able to load them.

Thanks. I didn't know they were being overridden. What is "Cnt-k"?

User files do not get overwritten in updates. (Unless you're doing something really strange like adding them to files added by the community pack or some other downloaded user content.)

Character...Configure Hero will bring up the settings list for a character. ctrl-k is the keyboard shortcut for this command.

Make sure that if you are creating new files in the editor, they must be saved in the default directory - nowhere else, and not within sub-folders of that directory. Tools...Explore Folders...Game System Data Folder will take you to the correct folder. This is the usual reason for the symptoms you're describing - the "Test Now!" operation works regardless of where the file is saved, but when you next start the program, if the files aren't where they're supposed to be, Hero Lab won't include them.

Yes, that wasn't as clear as it could have been. Your OWN user files will not be over-written, but community pack files will be if they are updated.