Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Henry" data-source="post: 2776726" data-attributes="member: 158">actually, if the average stats by the MM are 13,12,11,10,9,8, then the guy in some ways is too STRONG for his stats, not too weak, especially saves. Plus, iron will or lightning reflexes as a feat would push his saves back up to merely 'normal' levels, anyway, so it balances out.Of course, as a player you'd have no idea if you were facing this Joe Average, or a guy considerably tougher, until you saw him in action. And even then, unless the DM were feeding you the stats, it's not a certainty - you'd just know "pass/fail."As for fighters possessing no spot or listen, it means a fighter/guard type would be PERFECT to have a feat or two invested in SPOT or listen, or even alertness. That's why said NPC block has no feats listed - he has his feats open for when the DM decides, "Yeah, he needs some Spot or Listen if he's a guard - i'll mark off alertness and give him a +2 each." From then on, if he's a recurring NPC, he has alertness. If you mow him down, it doesn't matter WHAT he had, and as DM I haven't wasted 20 minutes of my prep time statting a guard who'll never see the light of day again...Modern and Grim Tales make that even easier - the classes are built with NOTHING BUT feats and talents. Give them what they need, write it down as it's introduced in play, and as a DM you're set.Having skimpier stat blocks are not as bad as it seems from a player's standpoint, because the player will not know, and will not NEED to know if the NPCs he faces are fully fleshed in mechanics, or just "barely there." Any player who can stat all his NPC's ahead of time, use them appropriately in-game, and STILL give me an entertaining session, more power to him/her, I'll let them DM and I can play, and they can be secure in the knowledge that they're playing with fully-statted NPC's. If they don't burn out, even better! But when I DM, I'll cut the occasional corner, as long as it's not too unbalancing, in order to keep my game running smoothly and give my players what they want (treasure, adventure, role play, cool fight scenes, etc.)</blockquote>

Verification