Making a level 6 bard with each NPC Generator

This is an idiosyncratic review of the various NPC generators I have come across, based on how close they can come to making a level 6 Bard for 3.5 that I can use as a monster right then and there.

NPC Generator at Myth-Weavers: This seemed like the state of the art the first time I Googled for NPC Generators about a year ago. A lot of better stuff has come to my attention since then.

[sblock=Here's the bardTabitha, female human Brd6: CR 6; Size M (5 ft., 1 in.
tall); HD 6d6+12; hp 30; Init +0; Spd 30 ft.; AC 10; Attack
+3 melee, or +4 ranged; SV Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +4; AL NG;
Str 9, Dex 11, Con 15, Int 14, Wis 9, Cha 14.

Languages Spoken: Common, Dwarven, Gnome.


Skills and feats: Concentration +8, Craft (Sculpting) +10,
Craft (Stonemasonry) +4, Hide +0, Knowledge (Local) +11,
Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty) +11, Listen -1, Move
Silently +0, Perform (Comedy) +11, Perform (Dance) +10,
Perform (Percussion Instruments) +10, Perform (Sing) +11,
Perform (Wind Instruments) +11, Spot +1; Blind-Fight, Combat
Casting, Diligent, Scribe Scroll.

Possessions: 5,600 gp in gear.

Bard Spells Known (3/4/3): 0th -- Detect Magic, Know
Direction, Light, Mage Hand, Prestidigitation, Read Magic.
1st -- Animate Rope, Cause Fear, Magic Aura, Sleep. 2nd --
Blur, Cat's Grace, Hold Person.[/sblock]

Good:

• Feats and especially spells picked out for you.
• Name generated.

Bad:

• Feats not applied to statblock (Diligent, but no ranks in Appraise)
• 10 ranks in Craft (Sculpting)?
• AC 10. That is, no gear. Just says "5600 gp in gear."

Not good enough. I quit using this generator.

Dingle's Games: Here's one of the new crop. Much more technologically advanced.

[sblock=Here's the bard
Name:
(Medium Humanoid)
level 6 (skill points 72)
Hit die: 0d8+6d6(21hp)
Init: 2
Speed: 30
AC: 16 +0 Chain Shirt +0 Shield, none
AC flat footed :14
AC Touch: 12
Base Attack/Grapple: 4/5
Attack: +6 (+1/+1) Mace, light 1d6+2
Full attack: +6 (+1/+1) Mace, light 1d6+2
Space/Reach: 5/5
Special Attacks:
Fascinate Can fascinate 1 creature + 1 every 3 levels
Suggestion Can make suggestion to a fascinated creature
Special Qualities:
Bardic Knowledge Level + Int bonus
Bardic Music Can use songs once a day per level
Countersong May use bards perform for save vrs sound
Inspire Competence +2 competence on skill
Inspire Courage morale bonus on charm, fear,attack, damage 1
Saves: Fort +2, Ref +7, Will +4
Abilities: Str 12, Dex 14, Con 11, Int 13, Wis 9, Chr 16
Skills: Appraise 3, Balance 7, Bluff 12, Concentration 9, Decipher Script 8, Diplomacy 14, Disguise 7, Escape Artist 0, Gather Information 12, Know arcana 1, Know arch & eng 1, Know dungeon 1, Know geography 1, Know history 1, Know local 1, Know nature 1, Know religion 1, Know the planes 1, Listen 8, Perform 12,
Feats: Ability Focus, Armour prof light, Blind-fight, Shield Proficiency, Simple Weapon Proficiency,
CR: 7
Spells Known:

Spells
Level 0 (3) DC 13
Dancing Lights(Evocation)[Light ] X 6
V,S rng: Medium 100ft + 10ft / level Dur: 1 minute (D)
SV None Area: Up to four lights, all within a 10-ft.-radius area
Level 1 (4) DC 14
Alarm(Abjuration)[ ] X 4
V,S, F/DF rng: Close 25ft + 5ft/2 levels Dur: 2 hours/level (D)
SV None Area: 20-ft.-radius emanation centered on a point in space
Level 2 (3) DC 15
Alter Self(Transmutation)[ ] X 3
V,S rng: Personal Dur: 10 min./level (D)
SV N/A Area: You




MAGIC ITEMS (max value 7200)

Weapon Magic (+1) +1 to Hit +1 Dam (2000gp)

Total Value = 2000
[/sblock]

The good:

• Maxed out appropriate skills
• Lets you easily pick feats with a dropdown box and put them in the stat block
• Actually gives you a little summary of each of the spells you picked so you can run the guy without looking up spells! Very, very nice.
• You can just manually edit the stats if you want them higher.
• Includes all the bard's class abilities with a short description.
• Tells you how much gp you have and how much the gear you get costs -- major time savings from looking up the NPC gear value and item costs in the book.

The bad:

• Human bard listed as CR 7, not CR 6
• When you buy a magic weapon it adjusts the to hit for your weapon, which is good. But when you adjust your weapon to have a magic bonus, it doesn't charge you for a magic item.
• You gotta pick all your magic items yourself, so this is more of a "complete character generator" and less of a "quick NPC generator."
• Not sure where the Misc bonuses to diplomacy and disguise are coming from -- edit: skill synergy, duh

This is a pretty sweet generator. But what I, personally, need, is something that will pick generic gear, feats, and spells so I can run the NPC with no work at all. Including the summaries of the bard abilities and spells is a great step toward that. And if you have to pick gear, at least showing all the magic item costs makes it quick and easy to do.

This site is still under development. Hopefully it will stick around and keep improving. It's a quantum leap over Myth-Weavers.

I'm gonna post this now so my computer doesn't crash and eat it. Next up: DM Genie.

DM Genie: This is a standalone program that comes with an intiative tracker. After you generate the characters, you can put them in the tracker and apply prone condition and buffs and it will do the math. But I never paid for it so I just use it to generate NPCs.

If you have a computer, this'll let you check what your abilities do by clicking on them, and you'll be able to use the initiative tracker. But you have to build the NPC level by level, clicking a button to add each hit die. The magic item shopping is easy but it doesn't tell you how much gold the NPC has to buy things. This used to be my goto program but the new web programs are easier.

Monster Advancer (Quickened):

[sblock=Here's the bard
Human, Bard 6 CR 6
Usually Non-Evil Medium Humanoid Fort (Human)
Init +1
AC 11 FF 10 Touch 11
(+1 Dex)
HD: 6
HP: 27 (0d8+0, 6d6+6)
Fort +3 Ref +6 Will +4
Speed 30ft
Base Atk +4 Grp +4
Attack: Longsword +4 1d8+0 (19-20/x2)
Attack: Short bow +5 1d4+0
Full Attack: Longsword +4 1d8+0 (19-20/x2)
Full Attack: Short bow +5 1d4+0
Space 5 ft. (1 squares) Reach 5 ft. (1 squares)
Abilities Str 11(+0) Dex 12(+1) Con 13(+1) Int 10(+0) Wis 9(-1) Cha 8(-1)
Stat Points Gained From Advancement: 1
Total Feats: 3
Skill Points: 36
Skills: Appraise+1.0, Balance+2.0, Bluff+0.0, Climb+1.0, Concentration+2.0, Craft (Alchemy) +1.0, Decipher Script+1.0, Diplomacy+0.0, Escape Artist+2.0, Gather Information+0.0, Hide+2.0, Jump+1.0, Knowledge (Geography) +1.0, Knowledge (Nature) +1.0, Knowledge (The Planes) +1.0, Listen+0.0, Move Silently+2.0, Perform (Keyboard instruments) +0.0, Perform (Percussion instruments) +0.0, Perform (Wind instruments) +0.0, Profession+0.0, Sense Motive+0.0, Sleight of Hand+2.0, Spellcraft+1.0, Swim+1.0, Tumble+2.0, Use Magic Device+0.0
Skill Point Bonus(Ex): +1/hd
Bonus Feat(Ex): One extra feat
Bardic Knowledge(Ex): A bard may make a special bardic knowledge check with a bonus equal to his bard level + his Intelligence modifier to see whether he knows some relevant information about local notable people, legendary items, or noteworthy places. (If the bard has 5 or more ranks in Knowledge (history), he gains a +2 bonus on this check.) A successful bardic knowledge check will not reveal the powers of a magic item but may give a hint as to its general function. A bard may not take 10 or take 20 on this check; this sort of knowledge is essentially random.
DC Type of Knowledge
10 Common, known by at least a substantial minority drinking; common legends of the local population.
20 Uncommon but available, known by only a few people legends.
25 Obscure, known by few, hard to come by.
30 Extremely obscure, known by very few, possibly forgotten by most who once knew it, possibly known only by those who don't understand the significance of the knowledge.

Bardic Music(Su): Once per day per bard level, a bard can use his song or poetics to produce magical effects on those around him (usually including himself, if desired). While these abilities fall under the category of bardic music and the descriptions discuss singing or playing instruments, they can all be activated by reciting poetry, chanting, singing lyrical songs, singing melodies, whistling, playing an instrument, or playing an instrument in combination with some spoken performance. Each ability requires both a minimum bard level and a minimum number of ranks in the Perform skill to qualify; if a bard does not have the required number of ranks in at least one Perform skill, he does not gain the bardic music ability until he acquires the needed ranks. Starting a bardic music effect is a standard action. Some bardic music abilities require concentration, which means the bard must take a standard action each round to maintain the ability. Even while using bardic music that doesn't require concentration, a bard cannot cast spells, activate magic items by spell completion (such as scrolls), or activate magic items by magic word (such as wands). Just as for casting a spell with a verbal component, a deaf bard has a 20% chance to fail when attempting to use bardic music. If he fails, the attempt still counts against his daily limit.
Countersong(Su): A bard with 3 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his music or poetics to counter magical effects that depend on sound (but not spells that simply have verbal components). Each round of the countersong, he makes a Perform check. Any creature within 30 feet of the bard (including the bard himself) that is affected by a sonic or language-dependent magical attack may use the bard's Perform check result in place of its saving throw if, after the saving throw is rolled, the Perform check result proves to be higher. If a creature within range of the countersong is already under the effect of a noninstantaneous sonic or language-dependent magical attack, it gains another saving throw against the effect each round it hears the countersong, but it must use the bard's Perform check result for the save. Countersong has no effect against effects that don't allow saves. The bard may keep up the countersong for 10 rounds.
Fascinate(Sp): A bard with 3 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his music or poetics to cause one or more creatures to become fascinated with him. Each creature to be fascinated must be within 90 feet, able to see and hear the bard, and able to pay attention to him. The bard must also be able to see the creature. The distraction of a nearby combat or other dangers prevents the ability from working. For every three levels a bard attains beyond 1st, he can target one additional creature with a single use of this ability. To use the ability, a bard makes a Perform check. His check result is the DC for each affected creature's Will save against the effect. If a creature's saving throw succeeds, the bard cannot attempt to fascinate that creature again for 24 hours. If its saving throw fails, the creature sits quietly and listens to the song, taking no other actions, for as long as the bard continues to play and concentrate (up to a maximum of 1 round per bard level). While fascinated, a target takes a -4 penalty on skill checks made as reactions, such as Listen and Spot checks. Any potential threat requires the bard to make another Perform check and allows the creature a new saving throw against a DC equal to the new Perform check result. Any obvious threat, such as someone drawing a weapon, casting a spell, or aiming a ranged weapon at the target, automatically breaks the effect. Fascinate is an enchantment (compulsion), mind-affecting ability.
Inspire Courage(Su): A bard with 3 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use song or poetics to inspire courage in his allies (including himselfs), bolstering them against fear and improving their combat abilities. To be affected, an ally must be able to hear the bard sing. The effect lasts for as long as the ally hears the bard sing and for 5 rounds thereafter. An affected ally receives a +1 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and fear effects and a +1 morale bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls. At 8th level, and every six bard levels thereafter, this bonus increases by 1 (+2 at 8th, +3 at 14th, and +4 at 20th). Inspire courage is a mind-affecting ability.
Inspire Competence(Su): A bard of 3rd level or higher with 6 or more ranks in a Perform skill can use his music or poetics to help an ally succeed at a task. The ally must be within 30 feet and able to see and hear the bard. The bard must also be able to see the ally.
Suggestion(Sp): A bard of 6th level or higher with 9 or more ranks in a Perform skill can make a suggestion (as the spell) to a creature that he has already fascinated (see above). Using this ability does not break the bard's concentration on the fascinate effect, nor does it allow a second saving throw against the fascinate effect.Making a suggestion doesn't count against a bard's daily limit on bardic music performances. A Will saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 bard's level + bard's Cha modifier) negates the effect. This ability affects only a single creature (but see mass suggestion, below). Suggestion is an enchantment (compulsion), mind-affecting, language dependent ability.
[/sblock]

The good: Picks weapons for you.

The bad:

• Skill points don't appear to have been assigned to skills. Also, the decimal points are ugly.
• No feats or spells selected.

It's quick, but it's not ready to play. This generator seems to be much better at advancing monsters and creating random encounters.

I want to emphasize this is just a review based on what I personally want in an NPC generator. Someone else would want totally different things. For example, I only use the three core books so that's all I need the generator to handle.

Next up: NPC Designer (I have to shut down my browser and install it first). I can't review HeroForge because the spreadsheet doesn't work for me.

NPC Designer: This is a program you have to download and install. It's free.

[sblock=Here's the bard

Aswyn CR6
Male Human Bard 6
NG Medium Humanoid
Init +5 (+1 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative); Senses Listen +8, Spot +6
Languages Common, Ettin, Gnoll, Celestial, Elven, Orc, Abyssal, Gnome, Halfling, Goblin, Sylvan, Draconic, Infernal

AC 16, touch 11, flat-footed 15
hp 18 (6HD)
Fort +1 Ref +8 Will +7

Speed 30 ft. (6 squares)
Melee +1 longsword +4 (1d8/19-20)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Base Atk +4; Grp +3
Bard Spells learned (CL 6, +3 melee touch, +5 ranged touch)
2nd (3/day)--blindness/deafness (DC 16/F), blur (DC 16/W), shatter (DC 16)
1st (4/day)--cure light wounds (DC 15), erase (DC 15), obscure object (DC 15/W), unseen servant
0 (3/day)--dancing lights, ghost sound (DC 14/W), light, lullaby (DC 14/W), open/close (DC 14/W), read magic

Abilities Str 8, Dex 12, Con 9, Int 18, Wis 15, Cha 19
SQ bardic knowledge, bardic music 6/day (countersong +0, fascinate +2, inspire competence +0, inspire courage +1) and suggestion
Feats Alertness, Craft Wand, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes
Skills Balance +8 (+7 ranks, +1 dex), Concentration +6 (+7 ranks, -1 con), Escape Artist +7 (+6 ranks, +1 dex), Forgery +8 (+4 ranks, +4 int), Jump +6 (+7 ranks, -1 str), Knowledge (Local) +8 (+4 ranks, +4 int), Listen +8 (+4 ranks, +2 wis, +2 alertness), Perform (Act) +12 (+8 ranks, +4 cha), Search +7 (+3 ranks, +4 int), Sleight of Hand +5 (+4 ranks, +1 dex), Spellcraft +12 (+8 ranks, +4 int), Spot +6 (+2 ranks, +2 wis, +2 alertness), Swim +5 (+6 ranks, -1 str), Use Magic Device +12 (+8 ranks, +4 cha).
Possessions +1 leather, +1 buckler, +1 longsword, 11 gp, 14 sp, 9 cp.

Personal Info: Background: Pirate, Ht: 5' 7", Wt: 192lbs, Hair: Red, Eyes: Brown, Age: 57.
Bardic Knowledge: Aswyn may make a special bardic knowledge check with +10 bonus to see whether he knows some relevant information about local notable people, legendary items, or noteworthy places. Aswyn may not take 10 or take 20 on this check; this sort of knowledge is essentially random.
Bardic Music (6/day): Aswyn can use his song or poetics to produce magical effects on those around him (usually Including himself, if desired).Starting a bardic music effect is a standard action. Some bardic music abilities require concentration, which means he must take a standard action each round to maintain the ability. Even while using bardic music that doesn't require concentration, Aswyn cannot cast spells, activate magic items by spell completion (such as scrolls), or activate magic items by magic word (such as wands). Just as for casting a spell with a verbal component, a deaf bard has a 20% chance to fail when attempting to use bardic music. If he fails, the attempt still counts against his daily limit.
Suggestion (Sp): Aswyn can make a suggestion (as the spell) to a creature that he has already fascinated (see above). Using this ability does not break Aswyn's concentration on the fascinate effect, nor does it allow a second saving throw against the fascinate effect. Making a suggestion doesn't count against his daily limit on bardic music performances. A Will saving throw (DC 17) negates the effect. This ability affects only a single creature. Suggestion is an enchantment (compulsion), mind-affecting, language dependent ability.
[/sblock]

Wow! First time I've used this and very, very easy. Right in the center at the top of the page is the "Generate NPC" button. Pick Bard 6 and zing! I get a guy with gear, with spells known (and what kind of save they need), and with feats. I do believe I could run this guy just the way he is.

The good:

• Includes tons of little helpful things, like at the front of the spell list it tells you the ranged touch modifier and caster level. In the description of the suggestion ability it calculates the Will save modifier instead of just saying "10 + 1/2 level + Cha modifier."
• Randomly generates a background ("Pirate"), age, and appearance.

The bad:

• obscure object is kind of a weird spell choice. I'd have to look up what it does. I do like the flavor of a bard who knows unseen servant, though.
• Not sure why I have +6 in so many skills instead of maxing them out.
• +1 buckler, +1 longsword, +1 leather, 11 gp is less treasure than the other generators were giving me.
• If you generate the same NPC but tell it to give him a +3 punching dagger, it also gives him an extra 2000-6000 gp in other wealth. Weird.

This is actually the best generator I've seen. What I want is something where I can click the button and go, I don't care about other features, and this does it. It's also got an encounter generator, though it designs only classed NPCs and not monsters.

Player's Handbook 2: This isn't a program, but it still almost has the others beat. Starting on page 207, it lets you do this to generate a 6th-level bard:

• Copy prearranged ability scores: 10/14/13/12/8/15.
• Gives you a list of the first ten skills you should max out, in order (Perform, Concentration, UMD, Bluff...) If you get 6 skill points a level, pick the first 6 and you're done with skills.
• Pick from a pregenerated list of feats. You wanna be a "Controller" bard? First feat is Negotiator (if a human, Skill Focus Perform), second feat is Wanderer's Diplomacy, third feat is Combat Panache. Any generator that doesn't select feats ought to be using a table like this, and some of the ones that select feats randomly ought to do this instead.
• Suggested equipment. +1 weapon, +1 mithral shirt, +1 secondary weapon, elixir of hiding, 250 gp. So much easier than shopping.
• Spells. Just like feats, it gives a list of the top six spells in order, and if you get to memorize three, take the first three. For second level, it's Cure Moderate Wounds, Suggestion, Invisibility. No obscure object here.
• Random personality traits list.

Honestly, you could beat a lot of the generators I've reviewed so far just by coding this section of the PHB II and doing the math for me.

RandNPC.xls: This is the spreadsheet Peter Adkison uses to design NPCs in his games.

[sblock=Here's the bard
6L human bard (LE female)
Ability Scores: Str 10, Dex 13, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 8, Cha 16
AC, Move, Saves AC 15 (mstrwrk studded leather), HP 29, Spd 30', Fort: +3, Ref: +6, Will: +4
Melee Attacks: mstrwrk longsword 1/r, +6 to hit, Dmg: 1d8, Crit: 19-20/x2

Missile Attacks: Mstrwrk light crossbow (10 normal bolts) 1/r, +6 to hit, Dmg: 1d8+0, Crit: 19-20/x2
Skills: Alch n/a, Ani Emp n/a, Appr +0, Bala n/a, Bluf +12, Clim +0, Conc +0, D Dev n/a, Disg +0, Dipl +12, Hide +0, Inti +0, Jump +0, Know n/a
List +0, Move +0, O Lock n/a, Perf +12, Ride +0, Scry +0, Sear +0, Sens +8, Spel +11, Spot +0, Swim +0, Tumb +10, U M Dev n/a, Wild +0
Feats: dodge, wpn focus (longsword), improved initiative
Class Features: bardic music, bardic knowledge
Racial Abilities: Extra feat, extra skill (lvl+3 ranks)
Potions: 2 charisma, 3 cure moderate wounds, tongues, glibness, fly
Scrolls:
Other Magic: wand summon monster I, amulet nat armor +1
Other Gear:
DC of Spells Cast: 13 + level of spell
Spells per day: 0L: 3, 1L: 4, 2L: 3
Spells known: 0L: 6, 1L: 4, 2L: 3
0L: dancing lights, daze, detect magic, ghost sound, light, mage hand
1L: cause fear, charm pers, expeditious retreat, sleep
2L: blindness/deafness, invisibility, see invisibility
3L:
4L:
5L:
6L:
7L:
8L:
9L:
Animal Gear:
Animal Companions:
[/sblock]

The good: Picks your spells and feats, fun potion selection

The bad: Spell selection is the same every time, doesn't explain anything about the bardic music ability, only advances humanoids and not monsters.

Well, I think I'm done here. I had been using the Monster Advancer for monsters, DM Genie for classed monsters, and RandNPC.xls for classed humans. Now I think I'm going to be using NPCDesigner for everything. It's so very easy to use and change the feats, it's got lots of reminder text and it did fine when I tried giving an aranea three extra sorcerer levels.

I might still go to Dingle's generator to generate spells with summaries, to the Monster Advancer for random encounters with monsters, or to the PHB 2 for smarter feat and spell progressions. But the NPC Designer is the overall winner.

NPC Designer:
* obscure object is kind of a weird spell choice. I'd have to look up what it does. I do like the flavor of a bard who knows unseen servant, though.

You can remove this spell from the available list in the bard script (Like in my personal copy I have removed and modified quite a few spell lists).

* Not sure why I have +6 in so many skills instead of maxing them out.

When we were developing the engines and logic behind the generation the users did not want min/max, they wanted a generation system that made sense.

* +1 buckler, +1 longsword, +1 leather, 11 gp is less treasure than the other generators were giving me.

Goes by the rules as per the amount of wealth a NPC can have, which follows a different chart. You can change the values in the scripts though.

* If you generate the same NPC but tell it to give him a +3 punching dagger, it also gives him an extra 2000-6000 gp in other wealth. Weird.

Probably because the system awarded it for free rather then attempting to charge the system.


As far as Encounter Designer, that was merely a pet project I wanted to see what it could do. You can write scripts for it to handle non class monsters. I can't stress this enough, NPC Designer was designed for users to be able to go in and change for their worlds, not be forced to create NPC's based on my world. The scripts are completely open and you can change however you desire.

Whatever depth there might be in NPC Designer, you managed not to kludge the thing up for the new user who just wants a 6th-level bard. Keep it Simple is a really important and really hard thing to do.

Goes by the rules as per the amount of wealth a NPC can have, which follows a different chart.

Click to expand...

That's only 4011 gold -- you're supposed to get 5400. PCs get 13,000, nobody was giving me that.

Probably because the system awarded it for free rather then attempting to charge the system.

Click to expand...

No, it gave him additional treasure beyond what a plain Bard 6 gets -- some pp, amulets of natural armor, and up to "5789 gp in other assets." I thought it might have been trying to ensure he didn't have a single item worth more than half his gp, but the +3 weapon was still 2/3 of his wealth.

the users did not want min/max, they wanted a generation system that made sense.

Click to expand...

To me max ranks makes sense. +6 might make sense if you're min/maxing skill synergies, otherwise it looks random.

I will double check the treasure engine, I was in there doing some changes for Pathfinder people and maybe screwed it up.

At the base, everything is random however in the scripts you can change the factors involved when it figures out what skill to select and how far to go with it. You can also use the skill interface for an individual NPC to create a min/max result. I also use the option scripts for this as well for in some situations I want a skill maxed. When I was coding I made sure that I could use the same program to handle the bartender in a tavern to a dragon or lich, the idea was to replace the same steps I would go through by hand except speed it up and automate it.

Have you ever tried Jamis Buck's NPC generator? No treasure, but outputs to PCGen. The online version doesn't seem to exist any more, but the stand-alone one is here partway down the page.

Thanks for the reviews, I'll have to try some of these other ones out!

Vascant said:

I can't stress this enough, NPC Designer was designed for users to be able to go in and change for their worlds, not be forced to create NPC's based on my world. The scripts are completely open and you can change however you desire.

Click to expand...

Wow, cool. I used to use NPC Designer, because I thought it was the best one out there (I used BleedingEdge's Spell Generator for my spells), but I dropped it after I started revising 3.5 - I didn't think it would be any more use. Now that I know I can go in and tweak things, I'm all over it.

Jamis Buck's NPC Generator: It's not online and I didn't feel like downloading it, but he has PDFs on the page with about fifty examples of the bards it generates. That's handy.

The good:

• It's pretty -- the character sheet output looks great.
• The spells are selected and the summaries are more complete than any of the other generators.
• I don't believe any of the other generators include your weight allowance.

The bad:

• AC 10 again. No gear. Is there a class of DMs that wants to do all the shopping for each NPC they make? I sure don't. There is a list of weapon proficiencies at least to help you know what you can buy.
• No treasure, either, necessitating a trip to the DMG to find out how much gear he can buy.
• Not sure where the +2 to Craft(Weaponsmithing) comes from.

Having a batch of NPCs pregenerated is interesting. My NPC generating needs would almost be solved by a simple list of 20 static statblocks for each class and level. One good, well-thought-out NPC to serve as a base would actually be better than infinite random NPCs with no gear.

I've tried NPC wikis for this, but the NPCs are always too quirky and they don't cover every class and level.

The spell summaries are very nice. Makes me wanna generate the rest of the NPC with NPC Generator and go to this for the spell page. But no gear is a dealbreaker for me.