Do all NPCs in your game need to be statted out?

[Steel_Wind]

I'm between yes and sometimes; however, as there was no "most of the time" answer I was inclined to answer "YES" as the one which seemed closest to the truth.

...but that gloss to YES - the "NPC's are for killing not talking" part lead me to not answer that way even though "YES" was closer to the truth than sometimes.

I stat out my big good guys too. I want to know what they can do and what they can't. It's important to the overall campaign for me to know that . Even though they are there mainly for talking and not for killing.

I don't just world build for the Players or for use during a session. I do it for me. It's fun.

 

[Uder]

Links go Everyone Else to save interested folks some searching.

Well, I didn't want to seem too enthusiastic about it.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Do you find it necessary to stat out every NPC in your campaign? I've always operated under the assumption that not every NPC has to be statted out because some are there for interaction only, not to be killed by the party just so they can take his or her stuff. What say you?

I say that I don't say what my NPC's are there to do.

Interaction? Murder? That's up to what the PC's do.

So my answer is more "yes and no." I need basic stats that I can use if the PC's decide that this particular innkeeper (or whatever) is someone they want to kill and take the stuff of, or recruit into their party, or whatever.

I don't personally want to stat up these guys, though. I want the system to give me a net so that when the PC's push the story off of its precarious perch, my game is caught gently, and helped to its feet again.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Your poll options are missing a lot of choices. For me the option would be

[] Often, but not always. Any character that would be likely to interact beyond mere conversation, whether the contest is physical or mental.

In other words, if the fellow running the local saloon is a spy for the sheriff and is likely to question the PCs, or feed them information that the sheriff wants them to have, then I stat him out. They are not likely to get in combat with him, but how good a liar is he, and how well does he pick up on the PCs' tells?

The Auld Grump

 

[Barastrondo]

Half-no, half-sometimes, depending on the game system. For D&D 4e, for instance, I'm perfectly happy dropping in a general stat block like "L5 humanoid brute with a two-handed weapon" and calling that "stats". Mostly what the NPC can and can't do is recorded in in-character terms, what people actually in the world would perceive, and then stats pop up if necessary.

But I'm the sort of person who likes the Schrodinger's Stats approach to games, where stats are more abstractions to model interactions as they come up, rather than modeling physical truisms. I like the idea that a 4e monster can be a L1 solo, a L4 elite, a L7 ordinary critter or an L10 minion depending on what's the most elegant way to model the PCs or other NPCs interacting with it at any given moment. Certainly not to everyone's taste, but it works well for my group.

 

[Mouseferatu]

But I'm the sort of person who likes the Schrodinger's Stats approach to games, where stats are more abstractions to model interactions as they come up, rather than modeling physical truisms. I like the idea that a 4e monster can be a L1 solo, a L4 elite, a L7 ordinary critter or an L10 minion depending on what's the most elegant way to model the PCs or other NPCs interacting with it at any given moment. Certainly not to everyone's taste, but it works well for my group.

You have any room in your group? All I need is a spot at the table and, uh, a whole bunch of frequent flier miles...

 

[Scribble]

I want in as well!

 

[sev]

I stat up NPCs as part of the process of thinking about who they are, what they're like, and so on. I may not actually *use* those stats -- I might not even bring them to the table. But working up a block of stats helps me start (just start) the process of wondering, how is this NPC different from every other NPC I've generated?

 

[Ahnehnois]

I wish I could stat them all, but the ones they don't fight I often do without stats.

 

[karlindel]

I think it would help if you defined what you mean by statted out. I also think the choices could benefit from having more than just a yes or no answer.

Personally, I rarely fully stat out NPCs. I will sometimes put in notes for their background, and possibly their relative power level/skills, but little more than that.

The only NPCs I ever fully stat out are those that I am certain the party will fight with or against. Even then, I will sometimes cut corners (I don't bother with skills on typical bandit mooks, for example).