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<blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 6234143" data-attributes="member: 4937">Because it is meant as a wholly generic class.&nbsp; In some cases, it does make sense for an expert to get more hit points and better attack bonuses for leveling up.&nbsp;&nbsp; The expert appeals to DM who doesn't want every expert cat burgler to be a high level rogue with all that entails, doesn't want to make the burly blacksmith or lumberjack a full fighter with all that entails, doesn't want every guide, sailor, and otherwise skilled NPC to be a full adventuring class but who does want a certain measure of well rounded competence - including some measure of self-defense ability.&nbsp;&nbsp; And to the DM that wants all these things, but hates pulling stats completely out of the air without some justification, consistency and forethought.&nbsp; No, of course it does.&nbsp;&nbsp; It makes sense in the context of everyone whose experience translates to increased ability to defend oneself whether they are 'professional adventurers' or not.&nbsp; BTW, in my game world 'adventurer' is a term that means the same thing as 'tourist' in our world.&nbsp; PC's that expect to be paid for killing things are mercenaries, hunters or assassins, and not adventurers.&nbsp; Does it make sense for adventurers (that is tourists) to have hit points, attack bonuses, and saves increase by level?&nbsp; Well, depends on the sorts of adventures they are having. In the context of fantasy, fairy tales, and comic book logic it makes even more sense for anyone who is somebody to be also somebody that can kick butt when needed.&nbsp; In the world of comic books, fairy tales and fantasy anyone worth giving a name can have a shining moment of awesome and NPC's level up simply by appearing regularly on the pages of the story.I'm saying you are not merely giving&nbsp; an opinion, but flat out wrong.&nbsp; There are contexts in which it makes sense for NPCs to be narrowly competent in a particular field without having general competency in the face of hazards, but their are equally many contexts where that is not true.&nbsp; The concept of an NPC class allows for both, simply by playing around only a small amount with things like STR, DEX, CON and feat selection.&nbsp;&nbsp; To the extent that you find that too complicated, fine, I understand that - but the alternatives end up being equally complicated however much simpler they may seem at first.&nbsp;&nbsp; The alternatives involve whole monster manuals of NPC stat blocks, and just as much need for customization.&nbsp;&nbsp; We can produce such things using the concept of NPC classes if we like, but what we can't from the concept of monster stats blocks do is describe a stat block generator.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Celebrim, post: 6234143, member: 4937"] Because it is meant as a wholly generic class. In some cases, it does make sense for an expert to get more hit points and better attack bonuses for leveling up. The expert appeals to DM who doesn't want every expert cat burgler to be a high level rogue with all that entails, doesn't want to make the burly blacksmith or lumberjack a full fighter with all that entails, doesn't want every guide, sailor, and otherwise skilled NPC to be a full adventuring class but who does want a certain measure of well rounded competence - including some measure of self-defense ability. And to the DM that wants all these things, but hates pulling stats completely out of the air without some justification, consistency and forethought. No, of course it does. It makes sense in the context of everyone whose experience translates to increased ability to defend oneself whether they are 'professional adventurers' or not. BTW, in my game world 'adventurer' is a term that means the same thing as 'tourist' in our world. PC's that expect to be paid for killing things are mercenaries, hunters or assassins, and not adventurers. Does it make sense for adventurers (that is tourists) to have hit points, attack bonuses, and saves increase by level? Well, depends on the sorts of adventures they are having. In the context of fantasy, fairy tales, and comic book logic it makes even more sense for anyone who is somebody to be also somebody that can kick butt when needed. In the world of comic books, fairy tales and fantasy anyone worth giving a name can have a shining moment of awesome and NPC's level up simply by appearing regularly on the pages of the story. I'm saying you are not merely giving an opinion, but flat out wrong. There are contexts in which it makes sense for NPCs to be narrowly competent in a particular field without having general competency in the face of hazards, but their are equally many contexts where that is not true. The concept of an NPC class allows for both, simply by playing around only a small amount with things like STR, DEX, CON and feat selection. To the extent that you find that too complicated, fine, I understand that - but the alternatives end up being equally complicated however much simpler they may seem at first. The alternatives involve whole monster manuals of NPC stat blocks, and just as much need for customization. We can produce such things using the concept of NPC classes if we like, but what we can't from the concept of monster stats blocks do is describe a stat block generator. [/QUOTE]

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