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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lucius Drake" data-source="post: 6715629" data-attributes="member: 56277">Also, someone who has actually just joined a cult is still a commoner as far as I'm concerned. The cultist statblock is for those who are indoctrinated and hardened by the experiences they've had while in the cult. If the PCs in my game kicked in the door to a newly formed cult of the Dragon Below they could expect to find a small number of 'Cultists" and a larger number of "commoners-who-have-joined-a-cult".As for how I handle commoners in my games, I tend to hand-wave them mostly. They have their 4hp unless there's reason for me to stat them up as a unique NPC or they need to be hardier for some reason.I do treat them like minions though. Even if the approaching goblin doesn't manage to do 4 damage to the farmer, the farmer still screams in pain and collapses to the ground, possibly in actual medical shock, likely in terror and agony regardless. Again, unless there is some narrative reason for the commoner to actually struggle on - perhaps the farmer wants to reach his wife and children, perhaps the shopkeeper wants to protect her life savings, perhaps the devoted fanboy needs to impress the party by carrying out his mission to pull that lever and drop the bridge for them to cross...</blockquote>