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

[Micah Sweet]

By looking at and comparing the actual numbers in the statblock, along with the various extra abilities.

If I'm running an NPC as a foe for the party I want and need to know what it can do, what it can't do, and what its numbers are; and the more detail I have on such things, the better.

What's it's class and level? Just knowing those tells me a lot about what it has going for it.

What languages does it speak? Is it likely to understand the party's shouted communications with each other during the fight? Never mind it's hard to monologue effectively if nobody in the party can understand me.

What spells does it have prepared? Also, what other spells does it have in its book? Inquiring minds are going to want to know.

And so on.

Yup. I was able to figure this stuff out in TSR's day just fine.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

A satisfying encounter. PCs are built with three conceits in mind:
* They can do tremendous nova damage if they use all their power at once.
" They don't have as many hp as monsters and have to rely on healing and AC to even the odds
* They are built for multiple encounters with rests in between and noncombat encounters and abilities.

As such, they tend to either be glass cannons (enough power to destroy a group via Nova, but equally susceptible to being nova'd) or slap-tanks (investing in high defense to live, but at the cost of low damage that never threatens the PCs). The former is rocket tag, the latter is The Slog. Monsters and NPCs are built for a single encounter, so they have more HP it resist nova (though with lower AC, with creates the hp sponge issue) but enough damage to threatens PCs without high nova potential. A middle ground that make fights longer but not too long.

As always, this is averages and ymnv.

Oh, so either PCS ahve too low defence and too high offence, or the exact opposite! This seems like obvious bollocks to me. If they can be those things, they can be things between them as well.

Too squishy or wimpy for fun use.

I already explained it.

PCs on the monster side punch way WAY higher than their defense. They aren't fun to use because they are not even glass cannons, they are paper cannons.

PCs deal a bunch of damage then instantly die

NPCs modeled after PCs are more like one shot traps like bear traps and falling rocks than monsters you fight. Because they either kill you then die or just die

But actual PCs do not instantly die! They are in fact pretty much impossible to kill, so what you say certainly cannot be true.

 

[Minigiant]

Perhaps the NPCs should play smarter. Like show up in, say, a party.

You think more PCs would solve the the problem of

Yup. I was able to figure this stuff out in TSR's day just fine.

TSR PCs were a lot weaker offensively compared to their defense at lower levels. Then their offense to defense cranks up hard mid to high levels.

But since humaniods at or past mid were rare, you could throw low level PCs at enemies and not worry about TPK.

But actual PCs do not instantly die! They are in fact pretty much impossible to kill, so what you say certainly cannot be true.

PCs don't instantly die to.. NPCs.

But if you design the NPCs like PCs, they are PCs now.


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Seriously I could only imagine how unfun actually fighting a Gloomstalker/Assassin or Hexladin would be.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

PCs don't instantly die to.. NPCs.

But if you design the NPCs like PCs, they are PCs now.


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Seriously I could only imagine how unfun actually fighting a Gloomstalker/Assassin or Hexladin would be.

Perhaps it would be actually challenging and interesting compared to punching boring HP sacks that cannot actually harm you.