I Am Liberated (and my NPCs are too)

[Snoweel]

Does anyone else feel they've been freed to create the NPCs they want now that they don't have to assign class levels to them?

Excellent.

 

[smootrk]

heh, I essentially did this anyway, regardless of system.

 

[doppelganger]

I'm a little torn over this. Part of me likes the ease of creating NPCs that are as capable (or not!) as I want them to be and part of me misses the exact skill control that the level/skill system of 3.X gave me.

 

[Ravellion]

Does anyone else feel they've been freed to create the NPCs they want now that they don't have to assign class levels to them?

Excellent.

Mostly, yes. I did feel kind of embarrased when the players asked me what kind of armour the NPC was wearing, and I couldn't give an answer immediatly

 

[Remathilis]

Actually, I've always used PC creation rules for NPCs (since 2e) so the idea of NPCs being unfettered to the PC class system took some adjustment. However, I'm digging it now!

 

[ki11erDM]

Does anyone else feel they've been freed to create the NPCs they want now that they don't have to assign class levels to them?

Excellent.

Yes! I just want slightly more information about creating NPCs and monsters... but looks like Dragon might be doing that for me : )

 

[Kzach]

Yes, definitely.

In 3.x there was an expectation from players that NPC's had to conform to the rules. If I deviated there were always people who cried foul. In fact, it was a big reason I stopped playing. It's not that I couldn't ignore the rules, it's that the players would be peeved if I did, and this went for several groups I was in over several years. It was a very common sentiment.

Now that it's a part of the rules system that the players should expect the unexpected, it's very liberating. I've already made up a nasty encounter for a 1st-level party that involves a voluntary demonic possession. A 3rd-level solo monster that is the BBEG of an adventure scenario

 

[Wolfspider]

Yes, definitely.

In 3.x there was an expectation from players that NPC's had to conform to the rules. If I deviated there were always people who cried foul. In fact, it was a big reason I stopped playing. It's not that I couldn't ignore the rules, it's that the players would be peeved if I did, and this went for several groups I was in over several years. It was a very common sentiment.

Reading about experiences like this always makes me really appreciate my gaming group. I have been coming up with whatever I darn well please for years with the people I play D&D v3.5 with, and they've just sat back and enjoyed it. I guess they trust that I am not trying to cheat them and that my true purpose is to make sure they enjoy themselves.

I guess some players are just too adversarial.

 

[the Jester]

Hurray for loosey-goosey monster and npc creation!

 

[Simm]

No, I've always been that free. There has never been a NPC I wanted that I couldn't create within the rule framework of 3e.