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Message: <blockquote data-quote="CapnZapp" data-source="post: 6856827" data-attributes="member: 12731">True, but the NPC selection in the MM only takes you so far. I don't want to reuse these stats TOO many times, and so I'm thinking we're ready for a MMII. I especially would want beefier rank'n'file humanoids with cool special abilities. The Orc War Chief is a perfect example - it's a sturdier humanoid that isn't simply a reskinned NPC Guard. Let me right away add I'm okay with certain humanoids only being available at low CR (below CR 1). Orcs for instance. If the orc hordes all suddenly have War Chief stats just because the heroes are level 10 that would be strange.But I think ALL humanoids are presented at the lowest level, and that means a lack of variety. Why not switch it up, so, I don't know, perhaps Grimlocks or Troglodytes are introduced at CR 4 or so? We have Quaggoths at CR 2 but that's not enough. If you never saw any CR 1/2 Troglodytes, you wouldn't find it strange that they're all 50 hp critters, for instance. What I need in Monster Manual II is CR 3 thru CR 9 versions of at least SOME humanoids. Let me give you an example where opportunity was squandered. In my mind, Out of the Abyss kind of blew it. It introduces no less than six new Duergar. However, NONE of them are more than CR 2. The result is that it becomes incredibly hard to make them look and act different, since by mid-level, they're all trash mobs that go down easy. Their stats simply doesn't change all that much: their damage is uniformly low, none of them get any special ability that makes a high level hero take notice.  All the Duergar that needs to be a "high" CR use the standard NPC stats (like Veteran). If a Xarrorn, say, or a Kavalarachi were both CR 5, then that would give enough leeway to truly make them look and feel different, since now they could access most abilities available to single-digit heroes.I guess the posterchild of this new misdirected approach is the Drow. I really would have liked the weakest Drow (the "Drow" stat block) to be perhaps CR 2, bringing continuity with previous editions which reinforce that a Drow is much more than a darkskinned Elf - it's a superior Elf that simply isn't appropriate for a level 1 party.</blockquote>

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