A friend and I got into a conversation about the point of a monster/npc and how we build it. He build npcs like he would a pc...as tough as possible. Notably max out the AC so they are impossible to hit, use Dex over Con, for instance. Better to not be hit than to have extra hit points.
I don't agree on this. To me the purpose of an npc is to die (while being fun for the players). That doesn't mean it is easy to kill, a challenge can be a lot of fun, but frustration isn't.
Frustration mounts when players have their turn wasted. High AC, DR, and SR are the top problems I've seen. Now these have to be in place, especially for key battles against milestone type npcs, but against lowly minions I go a different route. Max out hit points so they can take the punishment.
The battles that we all joke about being boring and frustrating are always those that feature high AC creatures. When everyone is missing turn after turn, players get bored.
Which do you do? Why?
I don't agree on this. To me the purpose of an npc is to die (while being fun for the players). That doesn't mean it is easy to kill, a challenge can be a lot of fun, but frustration isn't.
Frustration mounts when players have their turn wasted. High AC, DR, and SR are the top problems I've seen. Now these have to be in place, especially for key battles against milestone type npcs, but against lowly minions I go a different route. Max out hit points so they can take the punishment.
The battles that we all joke about being boring and frustrating are always those that feature high AC creatures. When everyone is missing turn after turn, players get bored.
Which do you do? Why?