Monster/NPC defaults

When I drop a monster from the compendium then its general options are set to "never whisper rolls" and to "show" NPC name in rolls.  This means that when I am rolling for the monsters hit points (I don't go with the average) then the PCs can see it in the chat and also see the name of the monster.  I certainly don't want them knowing the name when they haven't met something before and I don't want them knowing how strong it is or even getting a hint that something is coming.  I know I can edit to "always query rolls" and "hide".  But is there a way to set that as a default option or do I need to edit every time I drop a new monster?

This depends on exactly what you want. Do you want all monster rolls to be GM whisper by default, or you just want the HP rolls to be GM only? Which sheet are you using? If it's 5e you can change the settings before you launch the game via the website. If it's only certain rolls you're worries about you can make macros individually, for example rolling HP for a 5E npc: /w gm @{selected|token_name} has [[@{selected|npc_hpformula}+0]] HP!

Ah, didn't occur to me that the sheet settings would impact monsters, perfect.

Here's how to set that default behavior game-wide: Always Whisper Go to the Campaign Settings Page Choose "Always Whisper Rolls" under "WHISPER ROLLS TO GM" in the Default Sheet Settings Save Load your game Go to the settings tab on the right and scroll to the bottom where you will find a button that says Apply Default Settings. Press it. Choose to update the Whisper settings. Wait a minute or two for it to resolve. There is a thin easy-to-miss progress bar. Have fun! You can follow the same general procedure for "show name in template", although changing the whisper would probably make that unnecessary.