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<blockquote data-quote="mmu1" data-source="post: 4338434" data-attributes="member: 319">I believe that NPCs should only follow different rules than the PCs if they're more plot device than character.Need the prophet of some long-forgotten god to be able to throw a few divination and healing spells around, to advance the storyline? No problem.Want some mad alchemist to blow himself and half the town up? Great.On the other hand, if you suddenly decide you want to give some bandit NPCs that you'll be using in a combat encounter Power Attack and Cleave for free...&nbsp; that I'll have a problem with.Actually, the more mundane the &quot;freebie&quot; the less likely I am to hand it out to an NPC - no one really feels shortchanged if they find out that the BBEG sold his soul to a demon and got some non-standard powers in return. On the other hand, people (at least most of the ones I play with) sure get pissed when they fight through the BBEGs footsoldiers and they're all dressed in some exotic armor that's better than full plate but can't be worn by PCs because of some hand-wave, and can't be sold because it's eeeevil.In other words, if you're breaking the laws that make the fantasy world go round, it'd better be for something important, and interesting, and not just because you're feeling lazy when doing encounter design.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="mmu1, post: 4338434, member: 319"] I believe that NPCs should only follow different rules than the PCs if they're more plot device than character. Need the prophet of some long-forgotten god to be able to throw a few divination and healing spells around, to advance the storyline? No problem. Want some mad alchemist to blow himself and half the town up? Great. On the other hand, if you suddenly decide you want to give some bandit NPCs that you'll be using in a combat encounter Power Attack and Cleave for free... that I'll have a problem with. Actually, the more mundane the "freebie" the less likely I am to hand it out to an NPC - no one really feels shortchanged if they find out that the BBEG sold his soul to a demon and got some non-standard powers in return. On the other hand, people (at least most of the ones I play with) sure get pissed when they fight through the BBEGs footsoldiers and they're all dressed in some exotic armor that's better than full plate but can't be worn by PCs because of some hand-wave, and can't be sold because it's [i]eeeevil.[/i] In other words, if you're breaking the laws that make the fantasy world go round, it'd better be for something important, and interesting, and not just because you're feeling lazy when doing encounter design. [/QUOTE]

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