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Message: <blockquote data-quote="grimslade" data-source="post: 4027951" data-attributes="member: 6061">Sure, you make a random NPC fast. You can also use straight monsters from the MM or crib NPCs from published adventures. Or use the DMG NPC classes. No customizing necessary. The DMG1 had charts with premade NPCs of all classes with magic items, even quicker.To create specific campaign adversaries takes time. A lot of it has to do with the play style of your group. If you have a group of rules savvy, power gamers, you are going to have to log more time building your NPCs. Both to account for a greater challenge and to meet their level of detail. Nothing bogs combat down more than adding up synergies, enhancements and spell effects to an NPC and getting called out by a player. Obviously, the more options allowed the  more complex the NPC beast becomes. PrC pre-reqs, feat optimization, spell choice all increase exponentially with more splat. Take a mid level druid. Its a nightmare. Make him a summoner with an animal companion and his stat block will take several pages. And this is a straight shot druid, no multiclass, no PrC. Cleric is almost as bad but no alternate forms or animal companion. Even staying stringent CORE takes more time than the NPC will exist in the game. The NPC might get two or three chances to do anything for even 15 minutes of work. It is bad RoI.</blockquote>