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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Beginning of the End" data-source="post: 5056247" data-attributes="member: 55271">I would prep 5 stat blocks:Necromancer x 1Warrior Lieutenants (Ftr12) x 3Warrior Fodder (Ftr8) x 12Scouts (Rog10) x 2Spellslingers (Sor12) x 2If I chose to prep from scratch, I'd probably be looking at 30-40 minutes of prep. Most of this would be spent on the spell lists for the spellcasters. Might take a little bit longer if I chose to delve into my collection of supplements to find or tweak some unique necromantic stuff for the big baddie.This time investment assumes a fair amount of customization and attention to detail, which I'm spending because -- given the structure of the scenario -- I'm likely to get at least 5-6 encounters out of this group. Probably more. So making sure they're got a varied, detailed set of resources is worth the time.If I was prepping a similar group for a slightly higher level adventure in which this would just be one big melee, I would spend 10-15 minutes on the prep:(a) Scrap the different stat blocks for the warriors.(b) Prep spell lists for the spellslingers by simply deleting spells from the Necromancer's list.(c) Probably use resources like NPCWiki or cannibalize from one of the modules I own to grab generic stat blocks for the appropriate level and then adjust for the derro race.I was actually curious about this one, because I rarely do lycanthropes. So I did it. I use <a href="http://www.thealexandrian.net/creations/advanced-rules/stat-block.html" target="_blank">these stat blocks</a>. I predicted 5 minutes to advance the bugbear, but it took me 8 as I had to dig up the stats for the kukri and give some thought to the two-weapon feats:   ADVANCED BUGBEAR (CR9) – Male Bugbear – Ftr2/Rog5 – CE Medium Humanoid (goblinoid)  DETECTION – darkvision 60 ft., scent, Listen +12, Spot +12; Init +1 (Dex)  DEFENSES – AC 17 (+1 Dex, +3 natural, +2 leather armor, +1 two-weapon defense), touch 11, flat-footed 15; hp 52 (3d8+2d10+5d6+10)  ACTIONS – Spd 30 ft.; Melee kukri +9/+9/+4/+4 (1d4+3); Ranged javelin +8/+3 (1d6+2); Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.; Base Atk +7/+2; Grapple +9; Atk Options sneak attack +1d6; Combat Feats Combat Reflexes, Two-Weapon Defense  SQ darkvision 60 ft., evasion, scent, trapfinding  STR 17, DEX 12, CON 13, INT 10, WIS 10, CHA 9  FORT +5, REF +9, WILL +2  FEATS: Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, Two-Weapon Defense, Two-Weapon Fighting, Weapon Focus (kukri)  SKILLS: Climb +14, Hide +12, Jump +11, Listen +12, Move Silently +10, Spot +12  POSSESSIONS: 2 kukris, javelin, leather armor; large blue diamond (worth 500 gp), 120 gp  Then it took me 15 minutes to do the three lycanthropy stat blocks:   BUGBEAR WERERAT – BUGBEAR FORM (CR 11) – Male Bugbear Wererat – Ftr2/Rog5 – LE Medium Humanoid (goblinoid shapechanger)  DETECTION – darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent, Listen +12, Spot +12; Init +1 (Dex)  DEFENSES – AC 19 (+1 Dex, +5 natural, +2 leather armor, +1 two-weapon defense), touch 11, flat-footed 17; hp 52 (3d8+2d10+5d6+10)  ACTIONS – Spd 30 ft.; Melee kukri +9/+9/+4/+4 (1d4+3); Ranged javelin +8/+3 (1d6+2); Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.; Base Atk +7/+2; Grapple +9; Atk Options sneak attack +1d6; Combat Feats Combat Reflexes, Two-Weapon Defense  SQ alternate form, darkvision 60 ft., evasion, low-light vision, rat empathy, scent, trapfinding  STR 17, DEX 12, CON 13, INT 10, WIS 12, CHA 9  FORT +5, REF +9, WILL +2  FEATS: Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, Two-Weapon Defense, Two-Weapon Fighting, Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (kukri)  SKILLS: Climb +14, Hide +12, Jump +11, Listen +12, Move Silently +10, Spot +12  POSSESSIONS: 2 kukris, javelin, leather armor; large blue diamond (worth 500 gp), 120 gp    BUGBEAR WERERAT – DIRE RAT FORM (CR 11) – Male Bugbear Wererat – Ftr2/Rog5 – LE Small Humanoid (goblinoid shapechanger)  DETECTION – darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent, Listen +12, Spot +12; Init +1 (Dex)  DEFENSES – AC 22 (+4 Dex, +5 natural, +2 leather armor, +1 two-weapon defense), touch 14, flat-footed 17; hp 72 (3d8+2d10+5d6+20); DR 10/silver  ACTIONS – Spd 40 ft.; Melee bite +11/+6 (1d4+3 plus disease); Ranged +8/+3; Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.; Base Atk +7/+2; Grapple +5; Atk Options sneak attack +1d6; SA curse of lycanthropy; Combat Feats Combat Reflexes, Two-Weapon Defense  SQ alternate form, darkvision 60 ft., evasion, low-light vision, rat empathy, scent, trapfinding  STR 17, DEX 18, CON 15, INT 10, WIS 12, CHA 9  FORT +6, REF +12, WILL +2  FEATS: Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, Two-Weapon Defense, Two-Weapon Fighting, Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (kukri)  SKILLS: Climb +23, Hide +12, Jump +11, Listen +12, Move Silently +10, Spot +12, Swim +4  POSSESSIONS: 2 kukris, javelin, leather armor; large blue diamond (worth 500 gp), 120 gp    BUGBEAR WERERAT – HYBRID FORM (CR 11) – Male Bugbear Wererat – Ftr2/Rog5 – LE Medium Humanoid (goblinoid shapechanger)  DETECTION – darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent, Listen +12, Spot +12; Init +1 (Dex)  DEFENSES – AC 22 (+4 Dex, +5 natural, +2 leather armor, +1 two-weapon defense), touch 14, flat-footed 17; hp 72 (3d8+2d10+5d6+20); DR 10/silver  ACTIONS – Spd 30 ft.; Melee kukri +9/+9/+4/+4 (1d4+3) or bite +10/+5 (1d6+3 plus disease); Ranged javelin +8/+3 (1d6+2); Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.; Base Atk +7/+2; Grapple +9; Atk Options sneak attack +1d6; SA curse of lycanthropy; Combat Feats Combat Reflexes, Two-Weapon Defense  SQ alternate form, darkvision 60 ft., evasion, low-light vision, rat empathy, scent, trapfinding  STR 17, DEX 18, CON 15, INT 10, WIS 12, CHA 9  FORT +6, REF +12, WILL +2  FEATS: Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, Two-Weapon Defense, Two-Weapon Fighting, Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (kukri)  SKILLS: Climb +14, Hide +12, Jump +11, Listen +12, Move Silently +10, Spot +12  POSSESSIONS: 2 kukris, javelin, leather armor; large blue diamond (worth 500 gp), 120 gp  I think if I had to do it again, I would probably give him magical weapons. Maybe a +1 flaming burst kukri and a +1 icy burst kukri. I might also turn his leather armor into +2 shadow leather.Having re-familiarized myself with the lycanthropy template, I think in practice I'd skip the animal form stat block unless I was anticipating using it a lot for some reason. (His schtick is the two-weapon fighting, so he's going to fight in hybrid form, not animal form.) If the animal form came up in play, you could easily use the stats for his hybrid form, describe him as a rat, and boost his speed by +10 ft. I would prefer to advance the Marilith with class levels because I find that much quicker (and generally more interesting) than the advancement-by-HD method.10 minutes.(1) That it's optional.(2) That it's powerful.(3) That just because it's powerful, it doesn't mean you need to use all of that power every single time you use it.In other words: The system gives you the ability to customize every NPC with the same loving care and detail that you would spend on your own, personal PC. Which is awesome. But if you're actually spending that much time and energy on every single NPC, then you're unnecessarily wasting a lot of time and energy.I have a binder full of NPC stats. This includes the Everybody Else product for common "people on the street", but is fleshed out with stat blocks cannibalized from adventures I own. And whenever I do a custom stat block, I'll usually put a copy in the binder.NPCWiki is hugely useful as the digital equivalent thereof.Reskinning can also be pretty useful: If I want to stat up a big, nasty orc, then it can often be just as easy to grab the stats for an ogre.I also don't sweat the math all that much. I don't just completely ignore it, either. But I'm not building pacemakers. If this guy has a Spot bonus that's one point too high, nobody will ever know. And it'll probably balance out with the next guy who's Spot bonus ends up being one point too low. Maybe one of them was having a good day and the other one was cursed. I dunno. Whatever. It doesn't matter.Spell lists are a little bit of a drag, but my personal bane are spellbooks. This is particularly true because so many published adventures that should include a caster's spellbook don't bother to do so, so it ends up being labor-intensive prep at precisely those times when I'm not looking for labor-intensive prep.Other than that: Handouts. I love 'em. They can be murderous to do.</blockquote>

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