New Chris Perkins podcast up on Gaming Steve

[A'koss]

http://www.gamingsteve.com/

The interview with Chris starts at 48:33 and finishes over an hour later. Most of it is regarding the online content, but there are a couple of 4e tidbits in there - multiple types of Beholders in the MM, at will/per encounter/per day abilities for all classes & NPCs now will be designed more like monsters. Nothing too exciting but if you haven't been keeping up with what's been going on, it would be worth a listen.

 

[mhensley]

I just wish they would do a transcript when they do these things. It's too darn boring to sit and listen to podcasts.

 

[Masquerade]

NPCs now will be designed more like monsters.

Mixed feelings about this approach. Creating characters is my favorite part of the game, so I don't mind spending an hour or two building the stats for a mid- to high-importance NPC. How NPCs are made in 4e has been high on my want-to-know list for a number of weeks now.

 

[Voss]

I just wish they would do a transcript when they do these things. It's too darn boring to sit and listen to podcasts.

Hear, hear. Podcasts are a pointless and limited format.

Just write up the info so I don't have to listen to people with limited speaking skills blather on about nothing before getting to the point.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

Multiple types of beholders, that's good I didn't like having to get another book like Monsters of Faerun just to have those beholders, it's good to see that some variation on the Deathkiss, Lensmen, Hive Mothers and the others will exist in the MM.

 

[nerfherder]

Mixed feelings about this approach. Creating characters is my favorite part of the game, so I don't mind spending an hour or two building the stats for a mid- to high-importance NPC. How NPCs are made in 4e has been high on my want-to-know list for a number of weeks now.

Presumably there will be nothing to stop you creating an NPC in exactly the same way as a PC is created.

 

[Cadfan]

Mixed feelings about this approach. Creating characters is my favorite part of the game, so I don't mind spending an hour or two building the stats for a mid- to high-importance NPC. How NPCs are made in 4e has been high on my want-to-know list for a number of weeks now.

I'm sure you can create a full stat block for an NPC if you want to. I can't imagine how you could be stopped, honestly.

My NPCs tend to come in two varieties. "Full stat block," and "numbers made up on the spot." I don't expect that to change. What this will probably most affect is how NPCs are described in official publications.

 

[A'koss]

Mixed feelings about this approach. Creating characters is my favorite part of the game, so I don't mind spending an hour or two building the stats for a mid- to high-importance NPC. How NPCs are made in 4e has been high on my want-to-know list for a number of weeks now.

Chris says only a couple of things on the topic, touching on how typical NPCs are only around for an encounter or two and so they wanted to simplify them greatly so they can be easy to create and drop in. He goes on a bit about how they don't need 70-odd spells and then kinda drifts off at the end, but he seems to say you can find (some?) NPCs in the MM now.

That's it.

I get the impression they will probably be similar to Iron Heroes' Villian Classes.

 

[Majoru Oakheart]

Chris says only a couple of things on the topic, touching on how typical NPCs are only around for an encounter or two and so they wanted to simplify them greatly so they can be easy to create and drop in. He goes on a bit about how they don't need 70-odd spells and then kinda drifts off at the end, but he seems to say you can find (some?) NPCs in the MM now.

I kind of got this impression from some of the previous posts as well, and I've posted about this before.

I think you'll see NPCs closer to:

Goblin Cleric
Level 6 Leader
(a bunch of stats but no spells at all)
...
Powers:
Heal Ally: Standard, Range 10, Heal 15
Improved Accuracy: Standard, Short AOE Centered on Caster, +5 to all attacks
Divine Strike: Standard, Range 10, 3d6+15 damage

Simple, small, and easy to remember when there are 6 more enemies in the same encounter with their own abilities.

 

[Traycor]

I think you'll see NPCs closer to:

Goblin Cleric
Level 6 Leader
(a bunch of stats but no spells at all)
...
Powers:
Heal Ally: Standard, Range 10, Heal 15
Improved Accuracy: Standard, Short AOE Centered on Caster, +5 to all attacks
Divine Strike: Standard, Range 10, 3d6+15 damage

This is how it should be. No more studying the monsters ahead of time to learn what they can do, and no need to flip through the core books to look up their powers. Just use them as is.