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Message: <blockquote data-quote="L R Ballard" data-source="post: 7469548" data-attributes="member: 40307">Agreed. My goal has been to learn the 5e way by doing the conversion. The 5e NPCs are simpler builds than the 3e NPC builds. The simplicity of 5e makes it easier for people to start designing and playing, which has probably contributed to the success of the fifth edition.That’s a reasonable approach. The avatars serve as combatants for the adventurers. Their stats appear in the 3e Faiths and Pantheons, so I can look for abilities there.I use an Excel calculator to see the challenge rating for various encounters. An archmage is a “hard” encounter for a party of five 8th-level adventurers, deadly for a party of four. My sense is that, with a few rounds for the archmage to prepare, the challenge rating is accurate. In practice, though, a well-prepared and coordinated party that gets initiative can drop an archmage in a round.Yes, and, after picking up Volo’s, I started to use the specialist wizard templates as the bases for NPC wizard builds in FRE2. The illusionist and the evoker have been used so far, though I’m taking care that the spells Greenwood lists for a wizard NPC indeed recommend using a specialist template of a given kind.It may be too early in the conversion for me to build the end bosses, then. The Excel CR calculator I wrote is almost done, but it has not been tested for exactness. All the CRs of 240-plus NPCs need calculating or recalculating. I also need a better idea of how much XP an average group will have when facing a given end boss. That will tell me how to write a unique stat block so that the NPC presents a well-balanced challenge. It appears that giving the end boss unique powers will add mystery and authenticity to the final combat. It’s a question of where to set the CR. But to do that well, I first need to test the Excel CR calculator. . . .Before returning to high-level NPC end-boss drafts, I’ll have a look at Strahd and Ras Nsi.Thanks for the insights.</blockquote>

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