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<blockquote data-quote="TwoSix" data-source="post: 9147564" data-attributes="member: 205">Despite my firm advocacy for NPC design freedom, I do actually relate to this.&nbsp; I don't love a lot of the 5e NPC design because it's so wildly out of bounds of what a PC can do.&nbsp; I would never have a halberdier level 8 town guard with 5 halberd attacks per round, for example.I have some loose constraints I use for humanoid-type PCs, the kind that would generally be expected to have some kind of level and &quot;class&quot;.1)&nbsp; 1 Hit Die per level, generally a d8, but warrior-types might have more and caster types less.&nbsp; They also always have at least 2 proficient saves and 4 proficient skills (if I bother to assign them for combat mooks).2)&nbsp; Level 1-4 gets 1 base attack, 5-10 gets 2 base attacks, 11-16 gets 3, and 17+ gets 4.&nbsp; This is the baseline for their normal &quot;swing a weapon&quot; action, but a focused warrior type could have maybe 1-2 more, depending on their abilities.&nbsp; 3)&nbsp; The max spell level will generally not exceed the normal full caster progression for a combat-capable NPC.&nbsp; No 5th level spells unless they're level 9.&nbsp; NPCs who violate this rule are either non-combat NPCs (a level 3 healer with greater and lesser restoration as their only spells) or heavily specialized, generally with much weaker hit points and defenses.4)&nbsp; Besides that, NPCs get the equivalent of about 1 &quot;feat&quot; per level, which justify extra defenses and special attacks.&nbsp; This is a rough eyeball of the potency of special abilities, nothing formalized.&nbsp; 5)&nbsp; Important NPCs will also magical items and/or boons which function as magic items, roughly commiserate with what I would expect a PC of that level to have.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="TwoSix, post: 9147564, member: 205"] Despite my firm advocacy for NPC design freedom, I do actually relate to this. I don't love a lot of the 5e NPC design because it's so wildly out of bounds of what a PC can do. I would never have a halberdier level 8 town guard with 5 halberd attacks per round, for example. I have some loose constraints I use for humanoid-type PCs, the kind that would generally be expected to have some kind of level and "class". 1) 1 Hit Die per level, generally a d8, but warrior-types might have more and caster types less. They also always have at least 2 proficient saves and 4 proficient skills (if I bother to assign them for combat mooks). 2) Level 1-4 gets 1 base attack, 5-10 gets 2 base attacks, 11-16 gets 3, and 17+ gets 4. This is the baseline for their normal "swing a weapon" action, but a focused warrior type could have maybe 1-2 more, depending on their abilities. 3) The max spell level will generally not exceed the normal full caster progression for a combat-capable NPC. No 5th level spells unless they're level 9. NPCs who violate this rule are either non-combat NPCs (a level 3 healer with greater and lesser restoration as their only spells) or heavily specialized, generally with much weaker hit points and defenses. 4) Besides that, NPCs get the equivalent of about 1 "feat" per level, which justify extra defenses and special attacks. This is a rough eyeball of the potency of special abilities, nothing formalized. 5) Important NPCs will also magical items and/or boons which function as magic items, roughly commiserate with what I would expect a PC of that level to have. [/QUOTE]

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