My Yawning Portal game is coming up on White Plume Mountain, and one way I want to put my own spin on the dungeon is by having three other groups of adventures who have also gotten wind of Keraptis’ challenge, turning the adventure from a simple dungeon delve into a race to the treasure. I’m also planning to have those same groups of adventures return for Dead in Thay, to make the adventure work a bit more like the inter-party event it was originally conceived as, and to tie it in with the overarching story I’m weaving through the campaign.
So now that I’m ready to start prep for White Plume Mountain, I find myself facing the dilemma posed in the title. Do I build three parties of NPCs all built with PC Race, Class and Background features, or do I build them as monsters with a unique feature or two to capture the feel of a PC class without giving them full PC stats? Or, another option might be to snag myself a copy of the Essentials Box and build these characters as Sidekicks?
Anyone have experience building rival adventuring parties? How did you stat them up, and how did you like the results? Would you do it again the same way, or would you do something differently?