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Community
General Tabletop Discussion
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NPCs/Monsters being able to use PC classes.
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<blockquote data-quote="Mistwell" data-source="post: 6214710" data-attributes="member: 2525"><p>Have you tried it? I found it succeeded just fine from a simulationist perspective. The reason is that a great amount of the rules governing PCs are irrelevant to monsters most, or all, of the time. And so the monsters continued to simulate quite well, even while missing a whole slew of data behind the scenes. Because it was behind the scenes and not generally relevant. </p><p></p><p>In addition, the missing data (but with general guidance from ability scores and other details that are provided) freed up the DM to have the monster act and react to specific situations a lot better, and a lot more in tune with simulating what that creature represents to the world rather than the rigid rules of all those detailed things.</p><p></p><p>It doesn't mean you cannot use the same things PCs have - just that you insert them when appropriate. So if it makes sense that the monster use a ritual the PCs use, then you insert that for the monster when appropriate.</p><p></p><p>In other words, using a different, more abbreviated set of flexible rules for monsters allowed for a lot more simulation without the drag fitting into sometimes irrelevant sets of constraints which, when applied to PCs, are not necessarily constraints due to the different roles of monsters and PCs.</p><p></p><p>This was something accomplished in OD&D, Basic/Expert D&D, AD&D 1e, AD&D 2e, and D&D 4e. The only version of the game which used the same rules for both monsters and PCs was 3e, and it's the source of some of the biggest complaints about 3e. Such complaints include that it takes too long to make higher level creatures, and those creatures often have a ton of useless data involved with them, and that it took away from the "mystery" of the game because the players fully understood the "engine" beneath the hood of those monsters. All of those problems are solved by separating the monster system from the PC system, while simultaneously allowing for simulation.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Mistwell, post: 6214710, member: 2525"] Have you tried it? I found it succeeded just fine from a simulationist perspective. The reason is that a great amount of the rules governing PCs are irrelevant to monsters most, or all, of the time. And so the monsters continued to simulate quite well, even while missing a whole slew of data behind the scenes. Because it was behind the scenes and not generally relevant. In addition, the missing data (but with general guidance from ability scores and other details that are provided) freed up the DM to have the monster act and react to specific situations a lot better, and a lot more in tune with simulating what that creature represents to the world rather than the rigid rules of all those detailed things. It doesn't mean you cannot use the same things PCs have - just that you insert them when appropriate. So if it makes sense that the monster use a ritual the PCs use, then you insert that for the monster when appropriate. In other words, using a different, more abbreviated set of flexible rules for monsters allowed for a lot more simulation without the drag fitting into sometimes irrelevant sets of constraints which, when applied to PCs, are not necessarily constraints due to the different roles of monsters and PCs. This was something accomplished in OD&D, Basic/Expert D&D, AD&D 1e, AD&D 2e, and D&D 4e. The only version of the game which used the same rules for both monsters and PCs was 3e, and it's the source of some of the biggest complaints about 3e. Such complaints include that it takes too long to make higher level creatures, and those creatures often have a ton of useless data involved with them, and that it took away from the "mystery" of the game because the players fully understood the "engine" beneath the hood of those monsters. All of those problems are solved by separating the monster system from the PC system, while simultaneously allowing for simulation. [/QUOTE]
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