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<blockquote data-quote="TwoSix" data-source="post: 8827629" data-attributes="member: 205">I generally do the same, but with the large caveat that a PC can be pretty much anything if the player approaches me and asks.&nbsp; Therefore, I give that same flexibility to my NPCs.The most important principle for my worldbuilding is that every character, PC or NPC, is unique.&nbsp; Players use classes because they're convenient metagame tools, not something that exists within the fictional world.&nbsp; Characters belonging to a certain order or magical tradition might have similar abilities because of their training, but no one has 100% the same abilities.&nbsp; As an example, one of the main NPCs in my last campaign was a elf spatial magic expert.&nbsp; He could cast magic missile at will, armor of space (force variant of armor of agathys) once per short rest, and open up magic portals at-will.&nbsp; Besides being able to craft cheap teleportation circles via ritual, those were his only abilities.&nbsp; He was PC-like in the fact he allied with the party, and I would have been happy to allow any of the players to use him as a PC if desired.&nbsp; Could the PCs have gained those abilities?&nbsp; In the fiction, the NPC had spent decades honing his skills, and was considered something of a savant when it came to spatial magic.&nbsp; Like the PCs, he was unique.&nbsp; Reading a spellbook and just gaining those abilities was a nonstarter.&nbsp; But he had nothing that I wouldn't have allowed a PC to have with enough levels and backstory.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="TwoSix, post: 8827629, member: 205"] I generally do the same, but with the large caveat that a PC can be pretty much anything if the player approaches me and asks. Therefore, I give that same flexibility to my NPCs. The most important principle for my worldbuilding is that every character, PC or NPC, is unique. Players use classes because they're convenient metagame tools, not something that exists within the fictional world. Characters belonging to a certain order or magical tradition might have similar abilities because of their training, but no one has 100% the same abilities. As an example, one of the main NPCs in my last campaign was a elf spatial magic expert. He could cast magic missile at will, armor of space (force variant of armor of agathys) once per short rest, and open up magic portals at-will. Besides being able to craft cheap teleportation circles via ritual, those were his only abilities. He was PC-like in the fact he allied with the party, and I would have been happy to allow any of the players to use him as a PC if desired. Could the PCs have gained those abilities? In the fiction, the NPC had spent decades honing his skills, and was considered something of a savant when it came to spatial magic. Like the PCs, he was unique. Reading a spellbook and just gaining those abilities was a nonstarter. But he had nothing that I wouldn't have allowed a PC to have with enough levels and backstory. [/QUOTE]

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