D&D 5E NPC classes/levels

[justind]

I'm a DnD noob, I played a little AD&D in High School, then a long hiatus and played a little 3rd, then skipped 4th and decided recently to pick up a little 5th for reading material in my off time so please forgive my confusion. I'm seeing now that NPC's have types (Scout, Spy, Assassin, etc.) in the MM, but I seem to remember in 3rd that NPC's either had actual class levels or the limited NPC levels (Aristocrat, Commoner, etc.), and that there was a clear leveling system for them - so someone might be an Aristocrat 6, or Commoner 3. In the MM there doesn't seem to be a leveling system to level up that Scout to level 2 unless I totally missed it.

I'm reading through Out of the Abyss and one NPC's that can join the party is a dwarf using the Scout statistics. Now, if she's with the party long enough, do you just level her up in a normal player class like Fighter, does she never level, or does she gain Hit Dice but nothing else?

Again, apologies if this is a total Noob question and yes I did try a forum search first.

 

[bedir than]

There is now a Fighter:Scout archetype from Unearthed Arcana. You could decide to convert that NPC to one.

http://media.wizards.com/2015/downloads/dnd/04_UA_Classics_Revisited.pdf

A quick visit to the MM makes it seem like the Scout there is 3rd level (though a bit underpowered).

 

[abirdcall]

By the book, no.

I also wouldn't recommend it. The spotlight should be on the PCs. Levelling up NPCs gives them more of the spotlight.

The NPCs in OotA do a wonderful job of both filling in the social pillar and keeping the PCs alive throughout the early levels (since the same random encounter table is used whether they are level 2 or 6).

I could see making an exception if the PCs took a special fondness to her and included her in all of their conversations and such. Basically, if the PCs shine the spotlight on her, then yeah, you could increase her power along with them. I wouldn't do it by default though.

 

[justind]

OK, that makes sense, thank you.

Along the same lines though, what do most DM's do if they need a higher or lower lvl Assassin for example? Do they just bump the stats up or down as they see fit, or use that as a jump off point to roll a more defined Assassin using PC classes?

 

[BoldItalic]

OK, that makes sense, thank you.

Along the same lines though, what do most DM's do if they need a higher or lower lvl Assassin for example? Do they just bump the stats up or down as they see fit, or use that as a jump off point to roll a more defined Assassin using PC classes?

You can, fairly obviously, create NPCs as if they were PCs using the classes in the PHB. Then they can level up, no problem. But it's more work to create them and it's more work for the DM to run them in play so you would only do it if you wanted a fairly permanent addition to the party (for example, if there aren't enough players around the table and you want to boost the number of characters, rather than adjusting the encounters).

For NPCs-as-monsters, what matters is not so much their "level" (in terms of hit dice, spell slots and so on) as the danger they represent. To take your example of the MM Assassin, a lot of its deadliness comes from its use of poison which won't really change if you move its hit points up or down. If you want a weaker version of the assassin for a lower-level party, you might consider scaling down the poison damage and the DC for saving against it, rather than reworking all of its other stats.

 

[NotActuallyTim]

You can also create leveled NPCs as villains. More complicated, but gives the DM a larger toolset for capabilities.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

After playing sims 3 and sims medieval I love the idea of D&D "civilians" PCs to be use with modules about crafting, monster taming... Soon we will see more videogames where heroes not only killing monsters, but also build stronghold, tame monsters, hunt and fish..

 

[Bayonet]

I personally wouldn't. As others have said, the PC's are in the spotlight, the NPC's are supporting cast.

I like using the stats in the Monster Manual for quick and easy NPC's, though, so if you wanted to "level" one up, you could simply pick a tougher stat block to use. After a few sessions, your "Bandit" moves up to "Thug", etc.