Prepping NPCs...

[EricNoah]

When I'm prepping NPCs for a game, it is pointless for me to...

... give anyone the Dodge feat. I'll never remember to use it.

... give anyone a weapon with a threat range greater than 20. I'll never remember to use it.

...give anyone the Leadership feat. NPC villains just have lackeys, no questions asked.

...give NPCs skills like Intimidate or Diplomacy. They don't work on PCs, so I put those points into things that do work -- Hide, Spot, etc.

At least nowadays I do find myself remembering other hard-to-recall qualities (Spell Resistance, various Energy resistance features) -- it took many, many sessions of me going "Darn it, I forgot those creatures are completely immune to acid!" to get in the habit of checking.

 

[Pielorinho]

When I'm prepping NPCs for a game, it is pointless for me to...

... give anyone the Dodge feat. I'll never remember to use it.

... give anyone a weapon with a threat range greater than 20. I'll never remember to use it.

I get my NPC blocks from Jamis' generators, and I put notes in them like this:

Elvish Sorcerer 6: CR 6; HD 6d4; HP 15; AC 16 (+2 dex, +4 mage armor, REMEMBER TO USE DODGE!); Attack +6 keen dagger (d1-4+3, REMEMBER IT'S KEEN!)....

It helps a lot. For anything i might forget in battle, I put it in all-caps, with exclamation points, in my notes.

Of course, I still forget all sorts of stuff. But this helps a little.

Daniel

 

[Quickbeam]

I know what you mean. I had an NPC the party rescued who was loaded up on feats which enabled her to fight well on horseback (Mounted Combat, Trample, Mounted Archery, etc.). She ended up joining the party for a short while, but never really got to use most of her feats -- it felt like such a waste. Ultimately I suppose that's mainly my fault, but it seemed pretty contrived to force combat situations where she'd shine given the particulars of our campaign.

 

[Quickbeam]

That's good advice Pielorinho...consider it taken !!

 

[hong]

When I'm prepping NPCs for a game, it is pointless for me to...

... give anyone the Dodge feat. I'll never remember to use it.

I made up an "Improved Dodge" feat to get around this very problem.

 

[DustTC]

All my NPCs above 5th level actually get a *remember* section in addition to their stat block, skills & feats, magic & possessions. Often I'll also add some info on the spells and SA/SQ I'll have them use.

For example a recent Clr1/Rog8 halfling got...

Remember: prepares with wand of invisibility & potion of cat's grace (+2 melee(finesse)/ranged) & casts shield of faith (+2 AC), first 2 bolts fired are poisoned (if prepared), first dagger strike poisoned (if prepared), saves are +2 vs fear, mobility AC vs opportunity is +4, sneak attack is 4d6, evasion!!, bluff to feint!!, tumble to move!!, invisibility wand (15% spell failure, UMD check), alchemy items.

I know I should probably roll the cat's grace, but I just alternate between giving +1/+2 bonusses (figuring in skill bonusses from stats only bogs things down).

It's a bit long, but whenever it's the halfling's turn I just quickly scan that and pick out the next move or some nice tactic I've written down.

Only fair to get some help IMO, after all I'm not as familiar with my NPCs as the players are with their characters.

 

[Deadguy]

I'm glad I'm not alone in discovering after the fact that the NPCs perhaps wouldn't have died as they did!

When I am aout to use an important NPC I try and take a few moments to review my notes. Whenever possible I generate stat blocks for them in advance in a standard format, so I know where to look for information. I'll generally make a pencil note alongside if I've any particular strategies I will be using. It's fair to say though that the NPCs working with the PCs get more thoroughly checked than those working against them. It's a good deal for the PCs!

Whilst it sometimes introduces delays in play, my players are content for there to be a short break if I feel it necessary to get up to speed on the NPCs/monsters. We all agree that it's better to spend 5 mins now rather than spoil the game by making avoidable mistakes. I appreciate that pacing is important, but I feel that avoiding mistakes by taking a little time compensates for that by preserving verisimilitude.

 

[Sir Edgar]

Yep, I tend to forget the same things, too. But I personally think that an NPC's Diplomacy and Intimidation skills should work against PCs. However, most players resist this type of "compulsion" on their characters. I think it's wrong to think that way.

 

[willpax]

I use high diplomacy and intimidate skills (with successful checks) as a license to intentionally create misperceptions for my players. A diplomacy check will produce lots of "He looks pretty sincere" side comments and such, while I will intentionally exagerrate the combat prowess of people who get good intimidation rolls. When NPCs don't have these social skills, I'm usually good about giving my players credit for enough world knowledge to size people up fairly well, so they trust my descriptions--probably more than I should.

The shouting-out-loud caps is a good idea, as is pre-planned strategies. I will do more with that following these excellent suggestions.

With as many NPCS as I can justify (which is to say, with any NPC I think might have a chance of making a second appearance) I also try to note some "characterizing" feature--a lisp, poor personal hygiene, really clean teeth, odd jewelry, or a favorite catch-phrase--that will help make the character stand out in the players' minds.

 

[jdavis]

I hate it when a NPC gets beat into the dirt and I look back and notice that it was actually my fault. Why didn't he ever use power attack, or why was he carrying three healing potions on him if he was never going to use them, man that ring of invisibility would of come in handy, shame he never used it, or the worst one "I didn't know he could cast Power Word blind." I now make myself note list, and if I know how combat will start ahead of time, I will script out the NPC's first round or two.