Pre-made NPCs

[Mal Malenkirk]

Have you access to the D&D compendium from the insider? They collect everything and there are already plenty of monsters from other sources than the MM.

For example, I just looked for Soldier monsters of level 1 and got 9 hit, only one being from the MM!

Bloody Scalp Swashbuckler 1 Elite, Soldier,Leader Shades of the Zhentarim
Human Guard (Level 1) 1 Standard, Soldier Flames of Initiation
Hammer of Gond 1 Standard, Soldier Sense of Wonder
Bloody Scalp Pirate 1 Standard, Soldier Shades of the Zhentarim
Zhent Soldier (Level 1) 1 Standard, Soldier Shades of the Zhentarim
Initiate of the Dark Eclipse 1 Standard, Soldier The Black Knight of Arabel

+3 non humanoid or undead.

This will keep expanding.

 

[CapnZapp]

What it seems like you would actually need (using the terms for 4e) are more MM style entries for humanoids and humans, of varying weapons and tactics and levels that you can use as guards, wizards, clerics and so on.

Thanks muchly!

Does anyone have more MM-style entries for heroic-tier humanoids and humans of varying weapons and tactics, that can easily be reskinned as guards, town wizards, local clerics and so on?

 

[timbannock]

Have you access to the D&D compendium from the insider? They collect everything and there are already plenty of monsters from other sources than the MM.
<snip>

This will keep expanding.

Having been skeptical of the whole DDI thing from the get-go, and only moreso in recent months, I was lucky enough to get an early Christmas present: a 1-year subscription to DDI.

So, planning a 4e Castle Zagyg: Upper Works adventure for my group over the holidays, I decided I'd use the Compendium to help me with converting the encounters. I expected it to be not very helpful, and I expected to still have to do a lot of conversion on my own (Gygax put a lot of unique monsters in CZ, and the low-levels means that there might not be a lot of selection in 4e yet to satisfy me).

Man, was I impressed!! I've used the Compendium ever since, barely even cracking open the 4e books. I've found TONS of monsters to use, even in the limited level ranges that I'm working with (about 1-7ish). There's all sorts of great stuff in DDI!

I'll admit: I've still done some reskinning, and occasionally I turned a creature into a solo or elite version to change things up, but honestly, that's only because I had the free time to do so. I didn't have to.


So, this is all the long way of saying: DDI is worth it, and the Compendium has EVERYTHING you are looking for. All the monsters, NPCs, treasures, powers, and anything else released for 4e thus far (minus 3rd party sources). Considering how much stuff is in the published modules and the Dragon/Dungeon mags, that's a LOT OF STUFF!

 

[CapnZapp]

Neuronphaser, glad you've found a solution you like!

Just to be clear - how do DDI help me? You said you didn't use it for reskinning? What then? Original monster creation? How doesn't that take much time?

As I see it, the optimal tool allows you to pick any basic set of stats, then apply (and remove) powers swiped from other monsters with the stat block being recalculated on the fly, with neat output options:

Does DDI allow you to print out stat blocks? Copy them into Word - and if so, do you get screenshots or do you get to export the full text (for further tweaking)?

(FYI: For me, off-line access is non-negotiable. I don't bring computers to the gaming table.)

Thanks,
Zapp

 

[James McMurray]

You'd have to cut and paste them into Word or print them one at a time.

 

[Paul Strack]

I will post what you want soon

Does anyone have more MM-style entries for heroic-tier humanoids and humans of varying weapons and tactics, that can easily be reskinned as guards, town wizards, local clerics and so on?

OK, that's bizarre. My holiday project is writing a program that does exactly what you want: produce MM-style NPC stat blocks for all the PH classes and PH/MM races. I am very close to getting the heroic-tier characters done. I am missing only rangers, which are a pain, because their powers allow so many different weapon combinations. I hope to be done with levels 1-10 by this weekend. I will post a link to the final product when it is done.

I've attached a zip file of the human NPCs to whet your appetite.

 

[Paul Strack]

OK, I finished up the rangers and posted my Book of NPCs to the Enworld download section:

Downloads - D&D 4th Edition - Book of NPCs - EN World D&D / RPG News

That's 4000 or so NPCs, 17 builds for 24 races and levels 1 to 10. That ought to keep you busy for a while.

I will post a longer description in the 4E House Rules forum tomorrow.

 

[knasser]

OK, I finished up the rangers and posted my Book of NPCs to the Enworld download section:

Downloads - D&D 4th Edition - Book of NPCs - EN World D&D / RPG News

That's 4000 or so NPCs, 17 builds for 24 races and levels 1 to 10. That ought to keep you busy for a while.

I will post a longer description in the 4E House Rules forum tomorrow.

Wow! I'm not the OP, but THANK YOU for this. It will be really useful and save me a chunk of time.

 

[timbannock]

Neuronphaser, glad you've found a solution you like!

Just to be clear - how do DDI help me? You said you didn't use it for reskinning? What then? Original monster creation? How doesn't that take much time?

As I see it, the optimal tool allows you to pick any basic set of stats, then apply (and remove) powers swiped from other monsters with the stat block being recalculated on the fly, with neat output options:

Does DDI allow you to print out stat blocks? Copy them into Word - and if so, do you get screenshots or do you get to export the full text (for further tweaking)?

(FYI: For me, off-line access is non-negotiable. I don't bring computers to the gaming table.)

Thanks,
Zapp

Yeah, I just use the Compendium to find a certain Role and/or Level of "monster" (which includes all the NPCs from Wizards products as well) and then just do a copy/paste into a Text document, then another copy/paste into Word (it's easier for me to format that way, but wholly unnecessary if you just want to go straight to Word...I'm weird).

Have you also checked out Asmor's monster builder? Granted, there's a little work involved, but he's got a program that does all the math for you.

 

[timbannock]

OK, I finished up the rangers and posted my Book of NPCs to the Enworld download section:

Downloads - D&D 4th Edition - Book of NPCs - EN World D&D / RPG News

That's 4000 or so NPCs, 17 builds for 24 races and levels 1 to 10. That ought to keep you busy for a while.

I will post a longer description in the 4E House Rules forum tomorrow.

Well played, sir!