I recently have been wavering between the 3 and can see the pros and cons of each. I would like to stick with just one and would like to hear other people's preferences.
I would recommend not sticking to just one. NPCs should be as complex as they need to be. Plenty of NPCs don't need more than general info, but if the NPC is likely to be involved in combat (as an adversary, ally, target, etc) and be actually relevant, you'd better give the NPC combat stats. I would not generally give them a full PC writeup because it tends to be more effort than it's worth and tends to limit your options, but there's a lot of range in complexity to monster block writeups.
I'd agree with Pantagruel. You give them as much information as required for their role, then a little more for flavour, then done.
You don't need anything for the sweet old lady in the rocking chair on her porch as you walk through town that the party is meant to see but not interact with. You need perhaps the ability scores for merchants or regents who they'll likely interact with but are very unlikely to do more than a little talking with. You'll want a full statblock with abilities, weapons, armour etc if you're going to send the NPC on an adventure with the party where they'll be expected to fight alongside them - and perhaps even fight against them. For the BBEG, I might be tempted to fill out a character sheet.
The thing is, if you don't go deep enough for a given character, you won't have the tools to hand necessary to use them properly and fully. On the other hand, you should have hundreds of NPCs in your campaign (assuming it stretches over several levels at least and is substantive), even doing just ability scores for them all would be intense and, to be frank, a massive waste of time.
Figure out what level detail an NPC needs, then give them the appropriate level of attention. For most, I just pick a statblock (like Commoner, Veteran, etc, which I have cards for) before hand and have it available. That can stand in if things go off the rails, but really, they just have a brief personality description to let me roleplay them.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
Strongly in the camp of advising don't bother creating a character sheet for an NPC as it will inevitably provide more than you need.
I'd only do a full monster stat block if the likelihood of combat is high (i.e. if the PCs are visiting a temple to resurrect a fallen PC, you don't need to strike a spell slot form the NPC healer. Either they have resurrection because you the DM want that resource in that spot of the game world, or they don't). Notes for the character's characterization and game value (what they know, what resources they can provide) are what you need.
And a stat block need not be consistent with a given NPC. Cinematically think of Count Dooku in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. Yes Anakin arguably went up quite a few levels in Jedi Knight, but Dooku went down like a much easier monster than he did when he took Anakin and Obi Wan on the first time ... for narrative reasons, George Lucas the DM didn't want a BBEG boss fight on the first level of Revenge of the Sith, whereas in the earlier Attack of the Clones he was boss level.
If you absolutely want to have designated NPCs who you want to map along with your PCs, you may want to check out the Rivals notes Mercer et al provide in Call of the Netherdeep Iit's only a few pages, but the adventure is pretty cool). It's a way you tier the rival as the PCs develop. Rather than spending time "leveling" up a NPC.
The other cool thing about stat blocks over PC sheets, you're not bound by the class and level system PCs are playing through.
I choose option #4: mixing the methods. Here’s my approach at least:
For the vast majority of NPCs, I do nothing at all and just make stuff up on the fly as needed, about 70% of the world is like this.
Most of the time, especially for very simple NPCs, all I really need is a name and maybe some personality points (traits, ideal, bond, flaw). With that much and (maybe) the commoner statblock I can construct a nigh limitless number of unique shopkeeps, barkeeps, innkeeps, ostlers, etc. and their families. That’ll account for around 10% of every non-hostile person in the world.
For 90% of the hostiles out there, just using a plain Jane statblock will suffice.
I sometimes add a player race or a background to a commoner (sometimes both) to make them just a little unique (if it matters at all). I have published a variety of these in this thread if it helps: (https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/dungeons-dragons-discussion/homebrew-house-rules/129398-spostas-quick-custom-commoners). Every one of them was made with the basic commoner and simply adding a race, a background, and a personality. This covers around 10% of my non-hostile NPCs.
For a few NPCs, I might want to give them a little more… substance I guess. In that case, I take the above basic formula for a special NPC and applying it to any of the other statblocks that can accommodate “any race” (or their newer counterparts in MotM), it serves me well. Taking one of those “any race” status blocks and adding a race and a background to it can really flesh out an NPC. This’ll cover about 8% of the non-hostile and hostile NPCs. I have published a variety of these in this thread if it helps: (https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/dungeons-dragons-discussion/homebrew-house-rules/132012-quick-customized-npcs). Same method as before, just using different statblocks. Very useful I find.
A very small handful of VINPCs (Very Important NPCs) get the special treatment and get built using a PC character sheet. This covers the last 2% of my non-hostile NPCs.
If those VINPCs are supposed to see combat at all, I convert them to custom statblocks and drop ⅔—¾ of their abilities to streamline the statblock, and then double (or triple) the HP. I find this very useful for combat, and it covers about 1.9% of my hostile NPCs.
The last 0.01% of my hostile NPCs are ones that I built as character sheets and didn’t expect to get them in combat so I never converted them, but players do the darndest things sometimes. 😜
That’s approximately my method, maybe with a little give-and-take on the percentages. I hope that helps.
Yep, I have to agree with everyone here. Do only the work you need. (Those are great links, Sposta, nice job!)
Most NPCs won't need anything more than a name, a brief description, and a motivation. If they'll never see combat, then you can just make up target numbers for anything else the PCs might do to interact with them.
Simple stat blocks work for any that might see a fight. Use whatever you want. Once you get comfortable enough with the rules, you can recall what you need in the fly, especially for lower level NPCs.
If they are going to be an important ally or villain, I usually do make them as full PCs. But mostly that's just for me. Going trough the whole process frequently helps me come up with things I wouldn't normally. Just picking a Background and certain skills helps me flesh their story out. Or maybe it brings to mind certain spells that fit their theme. At higher levels especially it gives me an idea of how they interact with the world. And I get to think about their personal history as it might tie into the plot. It's more of a creative tool.
You have enough on your plate as a DM. Take the shortcuts that you can. It will let you focus on the more important stuff.
It's a mix, generally speaking. A random guard is just a level 1 warrior - until he suddenly needs to be more specific than that. While for a boss, I might well have a full character sheet. His goons might still just be level 1 warriors, until I suddenly need something more specific.
I don't think I've ever used a statblock, tho =)
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Don't stick to just one of the options, but definitely discard option 3 - it should never be necessary to build an NPC as a full PC.
Actually there are instances that, using the tools here, it can be very helpful to some people to build them as a full PC and I do it quite often.
It is especially useful for spellcasters or NPCs that might have several magic items (so the sheet autocalculates everything so I don't ever have to). For one thing, using the character builder, I can make a decently high level NPC of that kind faster that way. Secondly, with Roll20+Beyond20 it's a lot easier to cast spells through a PC sheet than monster stat block. Sure, I won't need 80-90% of what's there, but it's fast to build and integrates with our VTT far better.
So, like others have said, it all depends on your needs, and for some people in some cases, a full PC sheet is the easier way to go.
Don't stick to just one of the options, but definitely discard option 3 - it should never be necessary to build an NPC as a full PC.
Actually there are instances that, using the tools here, it can be very helpful to some people to build them as a full PC and I do it quite often.
It is especially useful for spellcasters or NPCs that might have several magic items (so the sheet autocalculates everything so I don't ever have to). For one thing, using the character builder, I can make a decently high level NPC of that kind faster that way. Secondly, with Roll20+Beyond20 it's a lot easier to cast spells through a PC sheet than monster stat block. Sure, I won't need 80-90% of what's there, but it's fast to build and integrates with our VTT far better.
So, like others have said, it all depends on your needs, and for some people in some cases, a full PC sheet is the easier way to go.
I agree. I don’t use a VTT, so I convert those NPCs to a statblock and cut out that extraneous 80-90%. I also double the Hit Dice to make them more survivable too.
I think the important aspect is that always is always a bad word to use, and never is never a good word to use.
Slightly more serious, you should always do what works best for you in each circumstance; that will change each time, and the only thing you should never do is force a one-size-fits-all approach to every problem.
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If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
I never go full character build for NPCs anymore. Giving them the same amount of options a full PC can have, especially if that npc is a caster, can slow things down too much if that npc gets into combat. But that's just me maybe others are good at handling complex npcs faster.
If its an npc that I just expect the party to talk to now and then and not get involved in fights, I don't really both starting them outside of their ability scores and perhaps a skill or tool prof suiting their role.
If it's an npc I think the party might start a fight with or fight alongside them, I make them more like monster blocks. Give them a couple interesting things to do, but don't over complicate them so it's easy to do their turns quickly.
Don't stick to just one of the options, but definitely discard option 3 - it should never be necessary to build an NPC as a full PC.
Actually there are instances that, using the tools here, it can be very helpful to some people to build them as a full PC and I do it quite often.
It is especially useful for spellcasters or NPCs that might have several magic items (so the sheet autocalculates everything so I don't ever have to). For one thing, using the character builder, I can make a decently high level NPC of that kind faster that way. Secondly, with Roll20+Beyond20 it's a lot easier to cast spells through a PC sheet than monster stat block. Sure, I won't need 80-90% of what's there, but it's fast to build and integrates with our VTT far better.
So, like others have said, it all depends on your needs, and for some people in some cases, a full PC sheet is the easier way to go.
I should have added that I am using a VTT and that is why I lean towards option 2 and 3.
It depends on what type of GM you are and how you play.
What type of GM: I know some GM's that have to have things written down and cannot just do things on the fly so they need to have a number of stat blocks prepared and prep everything they need or think they need for a session. I have tended to see younger GM's need to do this and GM's that are learning a game system and often GM's who know the system in and out tend to be more lax (but again it depends on the GM). Also some GM's just like to make NPCs and write backstories, just like some GM's like to draw maps and produce artwork of items, PC portraits, rooms and monsters.
Play style: My experience has been, if you are more of a Theater of the Minds Eye group then the often GM just wings it (and all that is good or bad with that method for that GM, note I have seen some very poor TotME games so my personal thoughts are influenced by them and it does not mean every GM is this way and that the group did not have fun, what I have seen is TotME GM's being more of a director and or author then dealing with the randomness of rolling dice). VTT may require more info to be inputted into the system for the NPC to work vs just taking a NPC from a book and adjusting it to fit your situation.
So unfortunately my answer is it depends and one size does not fit all. If you are programing for a VTT then you need to provide many ways and levels of detail for NPC's in the software.
I think it really depends on the specific NPC, the situation, and the type of Dungeon Master you are. Personally, I give basically every important NPC I run/make a monster stat-block, and a short description as well as an alignment and PTIFBs. Here is an example of a monster description I made using this system:
Bloody Cackle
Cackle is a neutral evil Sea Hag who enjoys manipulating people from far and rarely risks her own skin.
Personality trait. “Ahhahahha! I got you, I manipulated you! Oh boy, it sure is fun doing that!”
Ideal. “Honor, valor, bravery, kindness, friendship. All of these are merely synonyms for stupidity. Intelligence is the only thing that matters in life, and everything else, things such as a conscience, only slow you down. No one is worth respecting; those with power are worth being bowed to, but only if necessary to survive, and those with intelligence are the only ones who I might give a tiny semblance of real respect.”
Bond. “There is no such thing as a bond or friendship, everyone is disposable and getting yourself attached is merely pointless. But if I had to have a bond with someone, well, it would be myself of course!”
Flaw. “Manipulation and causing others pain is so fun, so fun that I can’t resist putting all effort, time, and intelligence into doing it when I could be accomplishing greater things.”
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I recently have been wavering between the 3 and can see the pros and cons of each. I would like to stick with just one and would like to hear other people's preferences.
Don't roll that one!
I would recommend not sticking to just one. NPCs should be as complex as they need to be. Plenty of NPCs don't need more than general info, but if the NPC is likely to be involved in combat (as an adversary, ally, target, etc) and be actually relevant, you'd better give the NPC combat stats. I would not generally give them a full PC writeup because it tends to be more effort than it's worth and tends to limit your options, but there's a lot of range in complexity to monster block writeups.
I'd agree with Pantagruel. You give them as much information as required for their role, then a little more for flavour, then done.
You don't need anything for the sweet old lady in the rocking chair on her porch as you walk through town that the party is meant to see but not interact with. You need perhaps the ability scores for merchants or regents who they'll likely interact with but are very unlikely to do more than a little talking with. You'll want a full statblock with abilities, weapons, armour etc if you're going to send the NPC on an adventure with the party where they'll be expected to fight alongside them - and perhaps even fight against them. For the BBEG, I might be tempted to fill out a character sheet.
The thing is, if you don't go deep enough for a given character, you won't have the tools to hand necessary to use them properly and fully. On the other hand, you should have hundreds of NPCs in your campaign (assuming it stretches over several levels at least and is substantive), even doing just ability scores for them all would be intense and, to be frank, a massive waste of time.
Figure out what level detail an NPC needs, then give them the appropriate level of attention. For most, I just pick a statblock (like Commoner, Veteran, etc, which I have cards for) before hand and have it available. That can stand in if things go off the rails, but really, they just have a brief personality description to let me roleplay them.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
Strongly in the camp of advising don't bother creating a character sheet for an NPC as it will inevitably provide more than you need.
I'd only do a full monster stat block if the likelihood of combat is high (i.e. if the PCs are visiting a temple to resurrect a fallen PC, you don't need to strike a spell slot form the NPC healer. Either they have resurrection because you the DM want that resource in that spot of the game world, or they don't). Notes for the character's characterization and game value (what they know, what resources they can provide) are what you need.
And a stat block need not be consistent with a given NPC. Cinematically think of Count Dooku in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. Yes Anakin arguably went up quite a few levels in Jedi Knight, but Dooku went down like a much easier monster than he did when he took Anakin and Obi Wan on the first time ... for narrative reasons, George Lucas the DM didn't want a BBEG boss fight on the first level of Revenge of the Sith, whereas in the earlier Attack of the Clones he was boss level.
If you absolutely want to have designated NPCs who you want to map along with your PCs, you may want to check out the Rivals notes Mercer et al provide in Call of the Netherdeep Iit's only a few pages, but the adventure is pretty cool). It's a way you tier the rival as the PCs develop. Rather than spending time "leveling" up a NPC.
The other cool thing about stat blocks over PC sheets, you're not bound by the class and level system PCs are playing through.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
I choose option #4: mixing the methods. Here’s my approach at least:
For the vast majority of NPCs, I do nothing at all and just make stuff up on the fly as needed, about 70% of the world is like this.
Most of the time, especially for very simple NPCs, all I really need is a name and maybe some personality points (traits, ideal, bond, flaw). With that much and (maybe) the commoner statblock I can construct a nigh limitless number of unique shopkeeps, barkeeps, innkeeps, ostlers, etc. and their families. That’ll account for around 10% of every non-hostile person in the world.
For 90% of the hostiles out there, just using a plain Jane statblock will suffice.
I sometimes add a player race or a background to a commoner (sometimes both) to make them just a little unique (if it matters at all). I have published a variety of these in this thread if it helps: (https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/dungeons-dragons-discussion/homebrew-house-rules/129398-spostas-quick-custom-commoners). Every one of them was made with the basic commoner and simply adding a race, a background, and a personality. This covers around 10% of my non-hostile NPCs.
For a few NPCs, I might want to give them a little more… substance I guess. In that case, I take the above basic formula for a special NPC and applying it to any of the other statblocks that can accommodate “any race” (or their newer counterparts in MotM), it serves me well. Taking one of those “any race” status blocks and adding a race and a background to it can really flesh out an NPC. This’ll cover about 8% of the non-hostile and hostile NPCs. I have published a variety of these in this thread if it helps: (https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/dungeons-dragons-discussion/homebrew-house-rules/132012-quick-customized-npcs). Same method as before, just using different statblocks. Very useful I find.
A very small handful of VINPCs (Very Important NPCs) get the special treatment and get built using a PC character sheet. This covers the last 2% of my non-hostile NPCs.
If those VINPCs are supposed to see combat at all, I convert them to custom statblocks and drop ⅔—¾ of their abilities to streamline the statblock, and then double (or triple) the HP. I find this very useful for combat, and it covers about 1.9% of my hostile NPCs.
The last 0.01% of my hostile NPCs are ones that I built as character sheets and didn’t expect to get them in combat so I never converted them, but players do the darndest things sometimes. 😜
That’s approximately my method, maybe with a little give-and-take on the percentages. I hope that helps.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
Yep, I have to agree with everyone here. Do only the work you need. (Those are great links, Sposta, nice job!)
Most NPCs won't need anything more than a name, a brief description, and a motivation. If they'll never see combat, then you can just make up target numbers for anything else the PCs might do to interact with them.
Simple stat blocks work for any that might see a fight. Use whatever you want. Once you get comfortable enough with the rules, you can recall what you need in the fly, especially for lower level NPCs.
If they are going to be an important ally or villain, I usually do make them as full PCs. But mostly that's just for me. Going trough the whole process frequently helps me come up with things I wouldn't normally. Just picking a Background and certain skills helps me flesh their story out. Or maybe it brings to mind certain spells that fit their theme. At higher levels especially it gives me an idea of how they interact with the world. And I get to think about their personal history as it might tie into the plot. It's more of a creative tool.
You have enough on your plate as a DM. Take the shortcuts that you can. It will let you focus on the more important stuff.
Thank you all for the info. It helps tremendously.
Don't roll that one!
It's a mix, generally speaking. A random guard is just a level 1 warrior - until he suddenly needs to be more specific than that. While for a boss, I might well have a full character sheet. His goons might still just be level 1 warriors, until I suddenly need something more specific.
I don't think I've ever used a statblock, tho =)
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Don't stick to just one of the options, but definitely discard option 3 - it should never be necessary to build an NPC as a full PC.
Yer going to have to clarify what an NPC is. A henchman? A hireling? ... Meat Shield? ;p
Actually there are instances that, using the tools here, it can be very helpful to some people to build them as a full PC and I do it quite often.
It is especially useful for spellcasters or NPCs that might have several magic items (so the sheet autocalculates everything so I don't ever have to). For one thing, using the character builder, I can make a decently high level NPC of that kind faster that way. Secondly, with Roll20+Beyond20 it's a lot easier to cast spells through a PC sheet than monster stat block. Sure, I won't need 80-90% of what's there, but it's fast to build and integrates with our VTT far better.
So, like others have said, it all depends on your needs, and for some people in some cases, a full PC sheet is the easier way to go.
I agree. I don’t use a VTT, so I convert those NPCs to a statblock and cut out that extraneous 80-90%. I also double the Hit Dice to make them more survivable too.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
I think the important aspect is that always is always a bad word to use, and never is never a good word to use.
Slightly more serious, you should always do what works best for you in each circumstance; that will change each time, and the only thing you should never do is force a one-size-fits-all approach to every problem.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
I never go full character build for NPCs anymore. Giving them the same amount of options a full PC can have, especially if that npc is a caster, can slow things down too much if that npc gets into combat. But that's just me maybe others are good at handling complex npcs faster.
If its an npc that I just expect the party to talk to now and then and not get involved in fights, I don't really both starting them outside of their ability scores and perhaps a skill or tool prof suiting their role.
If it's an npc I think the party might start a fight with or fight alongside them, I make them more like monster blocks. Give them a couple interesting things to do, but don't over complicate them so it's easy to do their turns quickly.
I should have added that I am using a VTT and that is why I lean towards option 2 and 3.
Don't roll that one!
It depends on what type of GM you are and how you play.
What type of GM: I know some GM's that have to have things written down and cannot just do things on the fly so they need to have a number of stat blocks prepared and prep everything they need or think they need for a session. I have tended to see younger GM's need to do this and GM's that are learning a game system and often GM's who know the system in and out tend to be more lax (but again it depends on the GM). Also some GM's just like to make NPCs and write backstories, just like some GM's like to draw maps and produce artwork of items, PC portraits, rooms and monsters.
Play style: My experience has been, if you are more of a Theater of the Minds Eye group then the often GM just wings it (and all that is good or bad with that method for that GM, note I have seen some very poor TotME games so my personal thoughts are influenced by them and it does not mean every GM is this way and that the group did not have fun, what I have seen is TotME GM's being more of a director and or author then dealing with the randomness of rolling dice). VTT may require more info to be inputted into the system for the NPC to work vs just taking a NPC from a book and adjusting it to fit your situation.
So unfortunately my answer is it depends and one size does not fit all. If you are programing for a VTT then you need to provide many ways and levels of detail for NPC's in the software.
I think it really depends on the specific NPC, the situation, and the type of Dungeon Master you are. Personally, I give basically every important NPC I run/make a monster stat-block, and a short description as well as an alignment and PTIFBs. Here is an example of a monster description I made using this system:
BoringBard's long and tedious posts somehow manage to enrapture audiences. How? Because he used Charm Person, the #1 bard spell!
He/him pronouns. Call me Bard. PROUD NERD!
Ever wanted to talk about your parties' worst mistakes? Do so HERE. What's your favorite class, why? Share & explain
HERE.