D&D 3E/3.5 Help me break my 3e addiction: NPCs with levels

[BigCat]

One of the things I really liked about 3e was using NPCs with levels as opponents. I had a very clear sense of what capabilities came along with what levels, so it made encounter building a snap: "ok, I want this guy to be able to be invisible, so he'll need three levels of wizard" or "spring attack will be cool, so..." Of course this took a lot of time, but I had an immediate sense of how to go about doing it.

But that's not really an option for 4e. I luuuv the new encounter building system, but I keep finding myself wanting to go back to NPCs with levels to accomplish specific things in the encounter. I know that 4e monster design says "just make up a power!" but I don't have any sense of how to calibrate them (eg, what kind of bonus should a 4th level leader monster be able to give? what level should somebody get invisibility?). Any advice on how to break my addiction to levels?

 

[Palladion]

The DMG has NPC rules using stripped down character classes as well as class templates to create elite monsters. You may want to look at those if creating "classed" opponents is in your blood.

Otherwise, think of the monster role, then compare to a similar monster. Steal powers and rename them, your PCs will never know (unless they are reading the MM for some reason).

 

[theNater]

Take my advice with a grain of salt, because I'm just working off the top of my head.

I'd say there are two ways to tell what level a power is appropriate for.

1)Find a monster with a similar power. That can give you a feel for what abilities are appropriate for monsters of that level. Note that monsters are more likely to have things like spring attack than they did in 3rd edition.

2)If the PC's have access to an effect at a level, it's probably reasonable for monsters to have access to the same effect. Wizards get Invisibility at level 6, so it may be appropriate for a level 6 monster. Do limit this to effects, though, as PC damage and monster damage scale differently.

 

[Lizard]

Yeah, that's my favorite part of 3x, too.

Simplest solution is to use the NPC rules, and pick the powers which best fit the goal. So if you want someone who can turn invisible, just apply the Wizard template, either via the functional template rules or the NPC rules, and pick invisibility-themed powers. This can provide a good base. Another way would be to note what level you'd need to make a wizard NPC to have him gain invisibility, use that as a guideline for what level monster should have it, and simply swap out one power the monster already has for 'invisibility'.

For example, invisibility is a 6th level power. So pick an appropriate sixth level monster, such as the Halfling Prowler, and swap, say, Catfall for invisibility, recharge .

 

[BigCat]

2)If the PC's have access to an effect at a level, it's probably reasonable for monsters to have access to the same effect. Wizards get Invisibility at level 6, so it may be appropriate for a level 6 monster.

Another way would be to note what level you'd need to make a wizard NPC to have him gain invisibility, use that as a guideline for what level monster should have it, and simply swap out one power the monster already has for 'invisibility'.

Ooooh, does anyone know if it's an official guideline that its reasonable for a monster of level X to have a class power of level X? If so, that solves my problem perfectly.

 

[Vempyre]

Ooooh, does anyone know if it's an official guideline that its reasonable for a monster of level X to have a class power of level X? If so, that solves my problem perfectly.

I remember reading something about that in the DMG. That you could swap player powers to the monsters' normal powers to customize them without appliance of the "official" class templates which make the monsters elites. The DMG doesn't specify the lvl thing, but it's is a neat guideline to know ether or not a power would be too powerful for certain lvl of monsters.

 

[JDillard]

Ooooh, does anyone know if it's an official guideline that its reasonable for a monster of level X to have a class power of level X? If so, that solves my problem perfectly.

Just be wary of too much synergy. Giving an invisibility power to a brute-type monster or arcane wizard type is useful. Giving it to something like a rogue that gets large bonuses when it has combat advantage is much more than just useful.

 

[MrMyth]

NPCs with levels is still perfectly doable - as mentioned, you can take a normal monster and give it a class template, making it elite - but now it has all the power of a monster and of a class, which is pretty awesome.

However, you can also make levelled monsters from scratch using the NPC creation rules and the NPC Monster Races in the back of the MM. I just finished putting together a short Epic adventure (mainly to test out the high-level play in 4E), and decided to make it about Yeenoghu, the Demon Prince of Gnolls.

Which meant I got to put together a bunch of high-level Gnolls - and found the system extremely quick and easy, while still turning out some really cool foes. (Gnolls Gninjas, what could be better?)

And, of course, if neither of these works (you aren't using the humanoid races who you can easily level, and you don't want to make a monster Elite)... then you go with the power-swap method the DMG recommends, or build a monster of your own to fit the role. But I suspect that will be a last resort, and that usually there will be plenty of other options available to do the job.

 

[hong]

Here's a question: how would I create a human level 20 fighter NPC?

 

[shadowguidex]

Here's a question: how would I create a human level 20 fighter NPC?

DMG page 184 has all the tools you need to make the npc.

Core Statistics:

1) Type: Fighter would be a soldier.
2) Assign Stats: I'll use normal numbers: Str 18, Con 14, Dex 13, Int 12, Wis 11, Cha 10
2) Hit Points (Soldier) = 8+Con+(level*8) = 182 hit points.
3) AC: level+16 = 36
4) Defenses: level+12+Stat Mod; Fort=36, Reflex=33, Will=32
5) Base attack hit (level+7 vs AC): +27 vs. AC
6) Base attack damage (chart on 185, low damage expression): 2d6+7

Powers:

1) Select 1-4 powers from Fighter's list (level 20 powers or under). I'll choose the following:
-a) Warrior's Challenge (Encounter) - PHB page 83
-b) Brute Strike (Daily) - PHB page 78
-c) Tide of Iron (At-Will) - PHB page 77

2) Adjust to-hit of powers. All these are vs. Armor Class so they go off the same to-hit as the standard attack (+27 vs. AC). IF they attacked another defense, lower the attack value by two (aka +25 vs. Fort/Reflex/Will)
-a) Warrior's Challenge (Encounter) +27 vs. AC
-b) Brute Strike (Daily) +27 vs. AC
-c) Tide of Iron (At-Will) +27 vs. AC

3) Adjust damage of powers. The NPC doesn't follow the damage values of the powers as a PC would, they agains utilize the charts on DMG 185, this time using medium or high damage expression.
-a) Warrior's Challenge (Encounter) Medium damage expression*: 3d6+8
-b) Brute Strike (Daily) - High damage expression*: 3d8+7
-c) Tide of Iron (At-Will) - Low Damage Expression: 2d6+7

*Arbitrarily chosen based upon what makes sense.

All done. Takes about 5 minutes to create a nice NPC.