Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Ancalagon" data-source="post: 7412870" data-attributes="member: 23">HelloI can't answer your questions specifically, but I have some advice that may help anyway.As a GM, your most valuable resources are *time* and imagination.&nbsp;&nbsp; I used to do just like you - create NPC opponents following the rules.&nbsp; It took a lot of *time*.&nbsp; But you know what... you don't have to.&nbsp; If you want your bad guy to have AC 19... then he has AC 19.&nbsp; He does 1d10+5 damage?&nbsp; You don't need to &quot;justify&quot; the stats you feel your bad guy needs.&nbsp; Why bother creating a &quot;legal&quot; build?&nbsp; The NPC will probably die soon anyway!&nbsp; The time you save on designing the exact &quot;rules&quot; for your NPC, you can spend instead on more *important* things about your NPC:What is the NPC's goals?&nbsp; What does he or she want (what if the players want to negotiate instead of fight?).&nbsp; What are their tactics?&nbsp; If they are losing the fight, what will they do?&nbsp; etc etc etc.I can't help you with the challenge rating but again, calculating XP value is... a lot of time, for not a lot of gain.&nbsp; Here is how I do it:1:&nbsp; decide how fast I want the game to go (ie, how many sessions to go up a level)2:&nbsp; Divide the amount of XP by the number of session.&nbsp; Let's say this results in 5003:&nbsp; Give a bit *less* XP at the end of a session than this number (so say, 450).&nbsp; Give even less XP for one where not much happened (say, 400 or even 350).&nbsp; In a session with a big fight, give more, and give even more where a major objective has been accomplished.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Ancalagon, post: 7412870, member: 23"] Hello I can't answer your questions specifically, but I have some advice that may help anyway. As a GM, your most valuable resources are *time* and imagination. I used to do just like you - create NPC opponents following the rules. It took a lot of *time*. But you know what... you don't have to. If you want your bad guy to have AC 19... then he has AC 19. He does 1d10+5 damage? You don't need to "justify" the stats you feel your bad guy needs. Why bother creating a "legal" build? The NPC will probably die soon anyway! The time you save on designing the exact "rules" for your NPC, you can spend instead on more *important* things about your NPC: What is the NPC's goals? What does he or she want (what if the players want to negotiate instead of fight?). What are their tactics? If they are losing the fight, what will they do? etc etc etc. I can't help you with the challenge rating but again, calculating XP value is... a lot of time, for not a lot of gain. Here is how I do it: 1: decide how fast I want the game to go (ie, how many sessions to go up a level) 2: Divide the amount of XP by the number of session. Let's say this results in 500 3: Give a bit *less* XP at the end of a session than this number (so say, 450). Give even less XP for one where not much happened (say, 400 or even 350). In a session with a big fight, give more, and give even more where a major objective has been accomplished. [/QUOTE]

Verification