D&D: Enough with the Sample NPCs

[Darrin Drader]

Yes. It's just a lame excuse to repeat some or all of the class abilities that are listed on the preceeding page... oh, and an even lamer excuse to pad page count.

Stat blocks are the most tedious time wasters in the entire process of writing an RPG book. I would personally love to not have to do them at all and insert other text into the book to fill the space. The reason they are included is because there is a large demand for ready-made stat-blocks. Heroes of Battle has a large number simply because of the fact that on a battlefield you will run up against a large variety of opponents, so it saves the DM loads of time having them already prepared. Plus its the main reason why Heroes of Battle has a spot with me at the gaming table these days.

Seriously, its not about the padding. There are far easier, less obvious ways of padding.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Heroes of Battle has a large number simply because of the fact that on a battlefield you will run up against a large variety of opponents, so it saves the DM loads of time having them already prepared. Plus its the main reason why Heroes of Battle has a spot with me at the gaming table these days.

You just made a sale for Heroes of Battle here.

Anyway, I agree with whoever said above that WotC should make NPC statblocks available as downloads. I don't think this should be done in place of having them in the books, though, since the majority of gamers are not online.

 

[Darrin Drader]

You just made a sale for Heroes of Battle here.

Oh I forgot that you are a collector of stat blocks. Let me give you a rundown of what's in the 10 full pages of NPC stat blocks in Heroes of Battle:

Human regular (warrior 1)
Human archer (warrior 1)
Human sniper (Ftr 2)
Human soldier (Ftr 2)
Human cleric corporal (Clr 3)
Human soldier sergeant (Ftr 3)
Human cleric lieutenant (Clr 3)
Human Elite Soldier (Ftr 4)
Human elite archers (Ftr 4)
Human elite cavalry (Ftr 5)
Human knight captain (Pal 5)
Human sniper major (Ftr 7)
Human soldier colonel (Ftr 9)
Human sniper general (Ftr 11)
Druid of Obad-hi (Druid 11)
Drow sergeant (Ftr 3)
Drow spellguard lieutenant (Wiz 3)
Drow spellguard captain (Wiz 5)
Driw priestess colonel (Clr 9)
Dwarf berzerker (Barbarian 5)
Dwarf werebear (War 1)
Elf commando (rgr 2)
Elf sniper captain (rgr 5)
Ogre Brute (barbarian 2)
Hill giant brute (barbarian 2)
Fire giant soldier (Ftr 2)
Gnome scout sergeant (Rog 3)
Gnome captain (brd 5)
Gnome major (brd 8)
Goblin worg-rider (war 2)
Goblin sneak corporal (rog 2)
Hobgoblin soldier lieutenant (Ftr 4)
Hobgoblin Soldier Captain (Ftr 5)
Bugbear footpad colonel (Rog 6)
Bugbear footpad general (Rog 8)
Lizardfolk druid sergeant (druid 2)
Lizardfolk barbarian lieutenant (barbaian 3)
Lizardfolk barbarian captain (brbarian 6)
Human cleric of Nerull (Clr 5)
Human cleric od Nerull colonel (Clr 9)
Human fallen paladin (pal 7/black guard 4)
Lich cleric (Clr 13)
Orc engineer (exp 1)
Orc corporal (barbarian 2)
Orc lieutenant (barbarian 4)
Orc captain (barbarian 5)
Orc major (barbarian 7)
Orc colonel (barbarian 9)
Orc general (barbarian 11)

And I have to say that I don't envy the person who had to stat all those out.

Of course you also have stat blocks attached to the prestige classes in the book as well.

 

[Mercule]

Count me amongst the "don't like the sample NPCs" crowd. A few, in a web enhancement, would be well received. But they are wasted in the books.

 

[CRGreathouse]

I haven't ever used a sample NPC. I wish WotC would stop using them.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Oh I forgot that you are a collector of stat blocks. Let me give you a rundown of what's in the 10 full pages of NPC stat blocks in Heroes of Battle:

Human regular (warrior 1)
Human archer (warrior 1)
Human sniper (Ftr 2)
Human soldier (Ftr 2)
Human cleric corporal (Clr 3)
Human soldier sergeant (Ftr 3)
Human cleric lieutenant (Clr 3)
Human Elite Soldier (Ftr 4)
Human elite archers (Ftr 4)
Human elite cavalry (Ftr 5)
Human knight captain (Pal 5)
Human sniper major (Ftr 7)
Human soldier colonel (Ftr 9)
Human sniper general (Ftr 11)
Druid of Obad-hi (Druid 11)
Drow sergeant (Ftr 3)
Drow spellguard lieutenant (Wiz 3)
Drow spellguard captain (Wiz 5)
Driw priestess colonel (Clr 9)
Dwarf berzerker (Barbarian 5)
Dwarf werebear (War 1)
Elf commando (rgr 2)
Elf sniper captain (rgr 5)
Ogre Brute (barbarian 2)
Hill giant brute (barbarian 2)
Fire giant soldier (Ftr 2)
Gnome scout sergeant (Rog 3)
Gnome captain (brd 5)
Gnome major (brd 8)
Goblin worg-rider (war 2)
Goblin sneak corporal (rog 2)
Hobgoblin soldier lieutenant (Ftr 4)
Hobgoblin Soldier Captain (Ftr 5)
Bugbear footpad colonel (Rog 6)
Bugbear footpad general (Rog 8)
Lizardfolk druid sergeant (druid 2)
Lizardfolk barbarian lieutenant (barbaian 3)
Lizardfolk barbarian captain (brbarian 6)
Human cleric of Nerull (Clr 5)
Human cleric od Nerull colonel (Clr 9)
Human fallen paladin (pal 7/black guard 4)
Lich cleric (Clr 13)
Orc engineer (exp 1)
Orc corporal (barbarian 2)
Orc lieutenant (barbarian 4)
Orc captain (barbarian 5)
Orc major (barbarian 7)
Orc colonel (barbarian 9)
Orc general (barbarian 11)

And I have to say that I don't envy the person who had to stat all those out.

Of course you also have stat blocks attached to the prestige classes in the book as well.

:drool:

My God...it's like Christmas in book form...

If only WotC would post these online...