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Message: <blockquote data-quote="CapnZapp" data-source="post: 4626716" data-attributes="member: 12731">I would only do this for very important npcs. Such as allies brought along on adventures, and arch enemies that are meant to last at least two separate combat encounters.I do want to highlight the excellent <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/4e-fan-creations-house-rules/247602-book-npcs.html" target="_blank">Book of NPCs</a>, if you haven't seen it already. But as I said, I would use it sparingly.I believe Paul Strack, the creator of the Book of NPCs, would have a few pointers on that. If I'm correct, the consensus is NPCs are one notch above standard monsters of their level. Again, the easiest (and probably best) solution is to re-skin existing MM leader monsters as humans.One highlight of 4E is that different monsters have different powers. That these powers might break the rules in various ways. And that most of these are completely unavailable to the characters.Populating your world with "pure" NPCs only (that is NPC Fighters, NPC Warlords and so on) deprives your players of much of that sense of variety, sense of wonder.Fighting against monsters has always been a large part of D&D, and it has seldom been as much fun as with 4E!Just because you don't have Orcs should not have to mean you must stay out of opponents using Warrior's Surge (making an attack and getting hp back at the same time), Wounded Retaliation (making an attack when becoming bloodied) or Chaos Hammer (a magic area attack).Sure, most (if not all) of these can/will probably be reproduced (in some way) by the player classes in the PHB series.But, and this is my main point, that's much more complex. Unlike in 3E, monsters do not have and should not be restrained by the rules governing player characters. So what if they get some ability that a player could easily abuse?4E makes your life as a DM easier, and one of the most important tools you have at your disposal is the sheer variety of critters in the MM! Using that is to your benefit!Regards,Zapp</blockquote>

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