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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 2921664" data-attributes="member: 22779">I think part of it is some people think that they MUST do all the work.  Take Agback's example of keeping track of tactics.The average DnD combat lasts 5 rounds.  10 rounds is a very long one.  Thus, the only thing you need when statting up an enemy wizard is 5 spells plus buffs.  Add in three or four more spells just in case and you're done.  Doesn't matter what level the wizard is now, you only need to be concerned with a small handful of variables.  Unless you truly need to, there is no reason to do a full makeup of an 18th level wizard NPC.  It's not important.  Figure out the tactics of the encounter first and then tailor the spells to that.  If you want the wizard to summon lots of fodder then stand back and blast, have two or three summon monsters ready (the stats are available online), the DC's for a couple or three more spells and then simply repeat.  The only thing you need now are the buffs on the wizard. Takes about fifteen minutes.  And that's for a very high level encounter with one of the most variable encounters there is.Don't get bogged down in minutia.  Why bother doing up all the bad guy's skills?  They aren't going to matter.  Maybe spot and listen, but, other than that, don't worry about them.  Same goes for lots of things.  Yes, that 19th level fighter is going to have a bazillion feats.  But, he's not going to use all of them at the same time.  You likely only have to worry about the three basics - TWF, Power Attack, or Combat Expertise.  Beyond that, it's all gravy. Learn to use a computer.  Have a stat block prepared and simply cut and paste it into your adventure text.  Fill in the blanks.  Repeat as needed.I think that people who complain about the mass of work needed to DM fail to take advantage of the huge amount of shortcuts there are.Heck, need an NPC fully statted?  The NPC wiki has somewhere near 1000 NPC's right now, sorted by level.  What more do you need?</blockquote>

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