D&D 5E (2024) NPCs, and the poverty of the core books

[Chaltab]

There is no narrative distinction! The whole point is that there's no such thing as an NPC or PC in-universe. Why do some NPCs have things PC rules don't replicate? Because it's convenient for gameplay. The DM can justify it through the narrative however they want, or change the NPC stats if they prefer.

If a player leaves my game then I make an NPC version of their sheet--it's not that they've suddenly changed in the fiction, I'm just abstracting their abilities slightly differently to make it easier to control them in a scenario where I have ten other monsters to run.

 

[Lanefan]

There is no narrative distinction! The whole point is that there's no such thing as an NPC or PC in-universe.

Exactly. My whole outlook is predicated on this very point.

Why do some NPCs have things PC rules don't replicate? Because it's convenient for gameplay.

And this contradicts your sentence above. If there's no such thing as PC or NPC then NPCs shouldn't have things PCs don't/can't have and vice versa, when the access to those things is solely based on their status as PC or NPC.

If a player leaves my game then I make an NPC version of their sheet--it's not that they've suddenly changed in the fiction, I'm just abstracting their abilities slightly differently to make it easier to control them in a scenario where I have ten other monsters to run.

Usually if a player leaves my game while still having a character in the field, the other players run it until the first convenient reasonable opportunity for the character to retire, at which point it does so.

Departed players' characters still, however, belong to those players for life; they're not NPCs, and I prefer not to use those characters without permission.

 

[Minigiant]

Enough for what? And if both their offence and defence are lacking for your purposes, then just make them higher level!

PC defences don't keep up with offence.

If you meet Offence CR, they are too squishy
If you meet Deence CR, they are too wimpy

 

[Remathilis]

PC defences don't keep up with offence.

If you meet Offence CR, they are too squishy
If you meet Deence CR, they are too wimpy

Most PCs are built as glass canons. High nova potential, but not enough defense. Great if the goal is to take as many people out with you when you drop, but really terrible if attrition is remotely a concept.