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<blockquote data-quote="Dausuul" data-source="post: 6234094" data-attributes="member: 58197">I think 3E's NPC classes are a great example of trying too hard to shoehorn everything into the PC mold.Player characters are professional adventurers. Even the bookish wizard sometimes has to dodge a battle-axe to the face, or loose a few crossbow quarrels when the enemy proves immune to ray of frost or shocking grasp. Hence, more experience as an adventurer comes with a bunch of automatic benefits that all classes get--more hit points, improved attack bonuses and saves, et cetera. The same is not true of a stay-at-home scholar or a pampered aristocrat. There is no reason for these characters to automatically get more hit points or attack bonuses for being good at what they do. I think these NPCs should be represented not with &quot;NPC classes&quot; but with standardized stat blocks, with a few guidelines for customization.Now, I do think there is a place for NPC classes in 5E--specifically, to enable DMs to quickly generate NPC combatants who don't require a lot of bookkeeping. Such NPCs should be on par, power-wise, with PCs of the same level, but they should be very stripped-down, so you can create one on the fly in a matter of seconds if you need to.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Dausuul, post: 6234094, member: 58197"] I think 3E's NPC classes are a great example of trying too hard to shoehorn everything into the PC mold. Player characters are professional adventurers. Even the bookish wizard sometimes has to dodge a battle-axe to the face, or loose a few crossbow quarrels when the enemy proves immune to [I]ray of frost[/I] or [I]shocking grasp.[/I] Hence, more experience as an adventurer comes with a bunch of automatic benefits that all classes get--more hit points, improved attack bonuses and saves, et cetera. The same is not true of a stay-at-home scholar or a pampered aristocrat. There is no reason for these characters to automatically get more hit points or attack bonuses for being good at what they do. I think these NPCs should be represented not with "NPC classes" but with standardized stat blocks, with a few guidelines for customization. Now, I do think there is a place for NPC classes in 5E--specifically, to enable DMs to quickly generate NPC combatants who don't require a lot of bookkeeping. Such NPCs should be on par, power-wise, with PCs of the same level, but they should be very stripped-down, so you can create one on the fly in a matter of seconds if you need to. [/QUOTE]

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