Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Should NPCs Have to Follow the Same Rules as PCs?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Mustrum_Ridcully" data-source="post: 4338376" data-attributes="member: 710"><p>The important part to me is that the rules still "interface" on the aspects that matter. </p><p></p><p>NPCs still have ability scores, skill modifiers, attack rolls and even powers. </p><p>They just weren't arrived using different rules, and took into account the different goals.</p><p>I am not sure I could enjoy a system where this wasn't true, but on the other hand, but I didn't drink such a systems kool-aid yet <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /></p><p></p><p></p><p>There are some fundamental aspects that will always lead to contradictions and inconsistencies.</p><p></p><p>In 4E the inconsistency is that a NPC Fighter uses different rules to achieve his ability scores, attack rolls and powers then a PC Fighter of the same level.</p><p></p><p>In 3E, you get into problems creating consistency between PC level and monster CR. Theoretically, CR maps 1:1 with PC levels, but if you look closer, this isn't true anymore - nonassociated class levels for NPCs, but level adjustment for PCs. They exist because what works as a level 10 ability for a monster doesn't necessarily work as a level 10 ability for a PC (Fireball at/will - no problem for a monster, but breaks for a PC). </p><p></p><p>The final question is what part of inconsistency works better for the game as a whole? There seems to be no universal answer, as some people think the goal to use rules to "simulate" all aspects of the game world, and others prefer a system that works easy and fast and give up parts of the game mechanics = physics of the game world scheme. </p><p></p><p>These days, I am in the latter camp. I probably wasn't always. But my 3E experience and my 4E experience tells me that the gameplay value is just better having NPCs use different rules for PCs.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Mustrum_Ridcully, post: 4338376, member: 710"] The important part to me is that the rules still "interface" on the aspects that matter. NPCs still have ability scores, skill modifiers, attack rolls and even powers. They just weren't arrived using different rules, and took into account the different goals. I am not sure I could enjoy a system where this wasn't true, but on the other hand, but I didn't drink such a systems kool-aid yet ;) There are some fundamental aspects that will always lead to contradictions and inconsistencies. In 4E the inconsistency is that a NPC Fighter uses different rules to achieve his ability scores, attack rolls and powers then a PC Fighter of the same level. In 3E, you get into problems creating consistency between PC level and monster CR. Theoretically, CR maps 1:1 with PC levels, but if you look closer, this isn't true anymore - nonassociated class levels for NPCs, but level adjustment for PCs. They exist because what works as a level 10 ability for a monster doesn't necessarily work as a level 10 ability for a PC (Fireball at/will - no problem for a monster, but breaks for a PC). The final question is what part of inconsistency works better for the game as a whole? There seems to be no universal answer, as some people think the goal to use rules to "simulate" all aspects of the game world, and others prefer a system that works easy and fast and give up parts of the game mechanics = physics of the game world scheme. These days, I am in the latter camp. I probably wasn't always. But my 3E experience and my 4E experience tells me that the gameplay value is just better having NPCs use different rules for PCs. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Should NPCs Have to Follow the Same Rules as PCs?
Top