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<blockquote data-quote="AbdulAlhazred" data-source="post: 5794915" data-attributes="member: 82106">I don't think the notion that commoners are all minions is really consistent with the 4e concept of NPCs. A given NPC/monster isn't any specific thing. It is whatever it needs to be in order to fit properly into the plot. Want commoners that hold off a bunch of kobolds? Then make them level 1 standard stat blocks. Want a bunch of commoners that get mown down by some foe (or the PCs for that matter) then you could make them minions. You probably won't go back and forth between the two concepts too abruptly (like from one encounter to another in the same adventure), but you certainly can use different models when appropriate.So, yes, a 4e kobold is probably going to be at least very dangerous to commoners, but the game system is really pretty ambiguous about some kind of ranked hierarchy of power. The good thing about higher hit point baseline level 1 is that it allows for some extra granularity in damage. The problem with pre-4e vintage starting hit points was the 'cat scratch problem', it was perfectly feasible for a PC to be weaker than a housepet (or at least in danger from one). That only happened because the floor for toughness was 1 hit point, which was well within the range of level 1 PCs. By moving the baseline up to 20-something hit points you can now represent minor threats in a sensible way, the housecat can do 1d4 damage or whatever.That being said it will be OK if the baseline is say 12-15 hit points instead of 24-28. Personally I don't care much about the scale of numbers, but that still leaves 'trivial damage' at 1-2 hit points.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="AbdulAlhazred, post: 5794915, member: 82106"] I don't think the notion that commoners are all minions is really consistent with the 4e concept of NPCs. A given NPC/monster isn't any specific thing. It is whatever it needs to be in order to fit properly into the plot. Want commoners that hold off a bunch of kobolds? Then make them level 1 standard stat blocks. Want a bunch of commoners that get mown down by some foe (or the PCs for that matter) then you could make them minions. You probably won't go back and forth between the two concepts too abruptly (like from one encounter to another in the same adventure), but you certainly can use different models when appropriate. So, yes, a 4e kobold is probably going to be at least very dangerous to commoners, but the game system is really pretty ambiguous about some kind of ranked hierarchy of power. The good thing about higher hit point baseline level 1 is that it allows for some extra granularity in damage. The problem with pre-4e vintage starting hit points was the 'cat scratch problem', it was perfectly feasible for a PC to be weaker than a housepet (or at least in danger from one). That only happened because the floor for toughness was 1 hit point, which was well within the range of level 1 PCs. By moving the baseline up to 20-something hit points you can now represent minor threats in a sensible way, the housecat can do 1d4 damage or whatever. That being said it will be OK if the baseline is say 12-15 hit points instead of 24-28. Personally I don't care much about the scale of numbers, but that still leaves 'trivial damage' at 1-2 hit points. [/QUOTE]

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