D&D 5E Do NPCs in your game have PHB classes?

[Gardens & Goblins]

If the NPC is going to get a fair bit of face time and if there is the possibility of them becoming part of the adventuring party and they are not 'a monster', then they are created the same way as a PC, using the PHB.

Else I personally use the templates in the DMG, refluffling and tweaking as needs be.

So essentially, 'Major' NPCs get made as per any other character, while 'Minor' NPCs use stats blocks from the MM. However, its is important to note that both type of NPC can have (and have had) critical roles within the campaign. Major/Minor, in this context, refers to the complexity of play that such an NPC might expect to be part of/involved with, rather than dramatic importance.

 

[JonnyP71]

I am enjoying this adventure as a player currently. We are in Averoigne , about to do battle with the dreaded beast to win the ring of Eibon.

My group are in the East Wing, having found 2 keys. The last session ended with the death of the (possessed) Cleric PC at the end of the Magic Jar encounter - he was too far from the Throne when the party's Bard dropped a Thunderwave on it to smash it and break the possession.

It was a blessed relief for the poor soul, as he had already been afflicted with Lycanthropy (though he didn't know it yet), and gone slightly mad (egomaniac) during the adventure.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

It's difficult to run four or five PC-built NPCs, because the PC rules are overly complex in this edition. Running two dozen such characters at once would require more effort than I'm willing to invest, since they would all have limited-use abilities that needed to be tracked.

(1) Monsters already have limited-use abilities that need to be tracked. Champion Fighters are less complicated than Magma Mephits.
(2) If you're running two dozen monsters, you already need a good solution for tracking state, HP at a minimum. If you have two dozen orc NPCs and they are all 5th level Champions with Second Wind and Action Surge, then in the same place where you write down their HP, mark down when each one has used its Second Wind/Action Surge.

It's fine for you to eschew complicated monsters for your game, but your "two dozen orcs" scenario hasn't proven your point.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

No, it's the exact opposite for me - combat is not that important, major NPCs rarely enter combat vs PCs and if they do so it's usually only once... So taking the time to stat them out as 5e PCs would be ridiculously excessive overhead. Whereas getting inside their minds is important because they're thinking all the time.

I share your views on the relative unimportance of combat. But I don't see how using MM stats improves any out-of-combat interactions. If I'm running King Rudolph, I can run him as a 0th level nothing or I can say, "Oh, he's been trained for war; he's a 5th level Battlemaster," and either way pretty much ignore his stats from then on. How is that more complicated than creating a King MM stat block and using it every time?

For wizard-types, knowing their capabilities out of combat tends to be pretty important, just like it is for Rakshasas.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Ditto, I'm running the BECMI classic Castle Amber at the moment for my 5E group, and I was left somewhat disappointed by the conversion available online which turned all the Amber family into standard Veterans, Priests, Mages etc.

In my version they all have classes, levels, and various spells - largely based around the spells they had in the original adventure.

It was a lot of work, but has been worth it. The encounter in the Throne Room with Catherine Amber (13th level Necromantic Wizard) magic jarring into a PC was particularly memorable. I gave the player the list of spells and told him to play as Catherine. When he emerged from the initial trance he hit the main Fighter with Finger of Death, Dimension Doored into a side room and summoned an Elemental to fight the party with - it was great!

Oh. Oh! I'd heard of Castle Amber before but until I read your post I always assumed it was linked to Roger Zelazny's Amber and/or the Amber Diceless Roleplaying Game. Corwin, Benedict, Oberon, Eric, et al.

Obviously now I need to adapt Zelazny's Amber to D&D. Perhaps make the PCs members of the Amber royal family and/or the Courts of Chaos; work out rules for shadowwalking (which might be as simple as "you tell the DM what you're interested in and start walking until something changes"); allow them to roll 4d6k4 (in order) for stats; and add a game structure for factional conflicts (because the default D&D game structure of 'kill everything in the dungeon' doesn't work so well for Amber).

 

[Jester David]

I share your views on the relative unimportance of combat. But I don't see how using MM stats improves any out-of-combat interactions. If I'm running King Rudolph, I can run him as a 0th level nothing or I can say, "Oh, he's been trained for war; he's a 5th level Battlemaster," and either way pretty much ignore his stats from then on. How is that more complicated than creating a King MM stat block and using it every time?

For wizard-types, knowing their capabilities out of combat tends to be pretty important, just like it is for Rakshasas.

It was likely more important in 3e/4e with the various social skills, since NPCs had to keep even with Sense Motive/Insight or Bluff. Anyone mechanics are needed for, especially since classes have more skill bonuses and perks options.

In 5e, with the reliance on ability checks and flatter math, the difference is less apparent.

 

[Ahglock]

I picked the 3rd option. Important npc get PC stats. I'll either add in some of the benefits on top of a npc template like bandit or give class levels if it's important for the encounter. Like I might make a guard of the king a rogue or bard with expertise in insight and some social skills. or if I want to create a hit and run combat encounter I might just slap on a rogues cunning action onto a npc template.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Generally, no - most NPC's use the NPC stat blocks from the MM.

The reason is pretty much a gameplay reason: less complexity, less work, more flexibility.

If I had an NPC whose class was really important to the fiction, I might whip 'em up, but it would be pretty exceptional.

 

[CapnZapp]

I try to keep that to a minimum since it's extra work.

Of course if WotC released a tool that let me enter "7th Level Totem Barbarian" and it'd print out a official-looking MM stat block*, I'd do it!

*) Think PC stat block, but "NPCified" with minor abilities cleaned away and only the 3-4 major ones remaining

 

[DeanP]

I look at player character classes in 5E as the "rare few" the exceptional individuals of the setting. Most NPCs will be variations of what's in the back of the Monster Manual. The primary antagonists of the PCs, I'll add class levels to set them apart from other NPCs.