Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="mearls" data-source="post: 4104111" data-attributes="member: 697">That wasn't the case. As a guy who has the job of looking to feedback to shape what we do, the response was not &quot;No custom monsters.&quot; The response was &quot;No custom monsters that we could just do ourselves.&quot;In MMIV, the classes monsters were just that, critters with levels.In MMV, the monsters had classes, or were advanced versions of base monsters, and had feats and special abilities unique to that entry.People did not like the MMIV approach. OTOH, people liked the MMV approach.In any event, 4e offers the same level as customization as 3e, so it's a pointless argument. If you liked making goblin rogues and troll fighters, you can still do that.However, it is worth pointing out that having a complete array of humanoids in different roles dramatically reduces the time needed to create an adventure. I've also noted that, as a DM, I find myself more and more often forgoing class-based NPCs for exceptions based ones.For instance, in my ToEE game, I wanted a half-orc assassin. My first impulse was to stat him up as a rogue, but I ended up making him a servant of the water temple, gave him all sorts of water-based attacks (he turns into a water form to sneak into places; he kills by grabbing his quarry and generating water in the victim's throat and lungs to drown them; etc.) and building him as a monster rather than a levelled NPC.I'll be curious to see which method DMs are using a year after the game's release.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="mearls, post: 4104111, member: 697"] That wasn't the case. As a guy who has the job of looking to feedback to shape what we do, the response was not "No custom monsters." The response was "No custom monsters that we could just do ourselves." In MMIV, the classes monsters were just that, critters with levels. In MMV, the monsters had classes, or were advanced versions of base monsters, and had feats and special abilities unique to that entry. People did not like the MMIV approach. OTOH, people liked the MMV approach. In any event, 4e offers the same level as customization as 3e, so it's a pointless argument. If you liked making goblin rogues and troll fighters, you can still do that. However, it is worth pointing out that having a complete array of humanoids in different roles dramatically reduces the time needed to create an adventure. I've also noted that, as a DM, I find myself more and more often forgoing class-based NPCs for exceptions based ones. For instance, in my ToEE game, I wanted a half-orc assassin. My first impulse was to stat him up as a rogue, but I ended up making him a servant of the water temple, gave him all sorts of water-based attacks (he turns into a water form to sneak into places; he kills by grabbing his quarry and generating water in the victim's throat and lungs to drown them; etc.) and building him as a monster rather than a levelled NPC. I'll be curious to see which method DMs are using a year after the game's release. [/QUOTE]

Verification