Starting a new Game

[Nathal]

Hi fellas. I am planning on starting a new game soon and my players all voted for 3E, so that is what I'll be running. One thing I found difficult about 3E over 2nd Edition is that NPCs are more complicated. In the old version of the game I could whip up a foe of the appropriate level in a matter of minutes. But now if I want an NPC to really compare against a PC I have to take feats and skills into consideration, which means coming up with NPCs on the fly is no longer as simple. The NPC charts in the DMG are a good start, but I'd like to know how other DMs handle impromptu NPCs in there 3rd Edition games.

 

[Guillaume]

Personally, I use Jamis Buck's NPC Generator. It gives really good results and it leaves me with the more diffcult task of coming up with a coherent background. You can get the generator here on EN World at this address :
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/news...wdownloaddetails&lid=171&ttitle=NPC_Generator

Good luck with the new game,

Guillaume

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Ditto on the Buck generators -- they save a lot of time, and they are easy to modify to get what you want.

 

[Gospog]

I also totally reccomend the Generators.

Also, Nathal, as I faced the same daunting situation a couple of years ago, I can tell you that the process does get easier.

The more you play 3E (and D20 games in general), the easier it will get.

This may seem like common sense to most readers, but when we started 3E, I thought I'd NEVER catch on. Now, everyone in the group knows the rules well eonugh to run a game!

Most important of all: good NPCs are important, but don't stress over thier cores. Give them a memorable personality, and concentrate on having fun!

Good luck!

 

[Nathal]

This may seem like common sense to most readers, but when we started 3E, I thought I'd NEVER catch on. Now, everyone in the group knows the rules well eonugh to run a game!

That's true. I have nearly every page of 2nd Edition memorized. I suppose its daunting to start from scratch, but 3rd Edition is better than 2nd to me so its worth the trouble.

I downloaded Jamis Bucks generator. I used to use the web site when I ran 3rd Edition last year for about 5 months, but forget about that free download.

Thanks!