Hey all. Just a quick question. The Commoner is a pretty standard normal person. Stats are 10, hit points 4, etc. But when they swing their club, they get +2 to hit. Is this because they get (the equivalent of) a Proficiency Bonus with the club? I ask because I'm sussing out the difference between "normal" people and 1st level characters.
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ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he). Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.
Regular commoners don't have any stats at all - they don't need them, and making them have them when there really isn't any need for them creates weird cases (like how back in the days of trying to give everything in the game stats of some kind, a typical house cat would be the favorite to win a to-the-death combat against a typical 1st level wizard).
So when you pop open the monster section of the rules and see commoner, that's just the stats to use when you aren't dealing with just any old commoner, but one that is willing to try and smack somebody dangerous (like a PC) with a club. So they are a little better at it than a truly "just a normal person" commoner might be.
I don't think you can directly compare player characters and monsters/NPCs. They're made with different, if similar, formula.
Most low Challenge Rating (CRs) creatures have at least +2 to attack, or only +1 if they have a negative to Strength or Dex although I'm sure there are exceptions.
I can't figure out why they do 2(1d4) bludgeoning damage with a club. If I give them a dagger instead, do they automatically do 2(1d4) piercing? I appreciate AaronOfBarbaria's point that these are "exceptional" commoners, but it just seems kind of arbitrary. From where does this double damage stem?
Regular commoners don't have any stats at all - they don't need them, and making them have them when there really isn't any need for them creates weird cases (like how back in the days of trying to give everything in the game stats of some kind, a typical house cat would be the favorite to win a to-the-death combat against a typical 1st level wizard).
So when you pop open the monster section of the rules and see commoner, that's just the stats to use when you aren't dealing with just any old commoner, but one that is willing to try and smack somebody dangerous (like a PC) with a club. So they are a little better at it than a truly "just a normal person" commoner might be.
I know this is a super old comment but nothing in the rules or the commoner stat block suggests that "regular commoners don't have any stats at all." It's pretty common for official adventures to tell you to use the commoner stat block for ordinary NPCs if they're ever put in a situation where they might be in danger.
The equipment in a stat block is a suggestion for the DM; it's not meant to imply that every single instance of that stat block has exactly that equipment (or any equipment at all.) The fact that the stat block has a club isn't meant to suggest it should only be used for commoners who carry a club around all day and are willing to use it against the PCs. The club is there as a suggestion for situations where it would make sense for a commoner to have a weapon on them. Clubs are easy to make and use.
Well, now, my question is whether or not non-monster commoners exist in social monster communities like goblinoid or draconian or underdark..ian? or planar or whatever non-Humanoid-on-the-material-plane kind of character.
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Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider. My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong. I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲 “It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
Well, now, my question is whether or not non-monster commoners exist in social monster communities like goblinoid or draconian or underdark..ian? or planar or whatever non-Humanoid-on-the-material-plane kind of character.
For some settings it can be. Sharn in Eberron has commoner goblins and other races. Valenar does too...just not Valenar elves; the commoners there are humans and helf-elves. Darguun's commoners are slaves for the most part, so anything might be possible there.
In Planescape which handled planar adventures, had lots of various commoner races in Sigil. Outside of it, in the planes you had petitioners that were close.
Underdark seems to be a harsh places, so there are slaves in Drow and Duegar communities at least. True commoners might exist in the larger cities...with all the risks that entails.
Bottom line; if you are a DM, and you need them they are there.
NPC stat blocks can be used by any humanoid race. DMG chapter 9 has a list of adjustments you can make to those stat blocks if you feel it makes sense for an NPC to have the racial traits that often show up in other monster stat blocks for that race. E.g. If your NPC happens to be a goblin, you reduce their STR, increase their DEX, change their size to Small, give them Nimble Escape and add the Goblin language.
That doesn't mean it always makes sense to add every single one of those racial traits; you might decide the goblin peasants that aren't strong enough for raiding don't get Nimble Escape, for example. But the option's there if you need it.
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Hey all. Just a quick question. The Commoner is a pretty standard normal person. Stats are 10, hit points 4, etc. But when they swing their club, they get +2 to hit. Is this because they get (the equivalent of) a Proficiency Bonus with the club? I ask because I'm sussing out the difference between "normal" people and 1st level characters.
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he).
Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.
Regular commoners don't have any stats at all - they don't need them, and making them have them when there really isn't any need for them creates weird cases (like how back in the days of trying to give everything in the game stats of some kind, a typical house cat would be the favorite to win a to-the-death combat against a typical 1st level wizard).
So when you pop open the monster section of the rules and see commoner, that's just the stats to use when you aren't dealing with just any old commoner, but one that is willing to try and smack somebody dangerous (like a PC) with a club. So they are a little better at it than a truly "just a normal person" commoner might be.
I like it! Perhaps we can ask WotC to change the name to Bold Commoner. :)
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he).
Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.
I don't think you can directly compare player characters and monsters/NPCs. They're made with different, if similar, formula.
Most low Challenge Rating (CRs) creatures have at least +2 to attack, or only +1 if they have a negative to Strength or Dex although I'm sure there are exceptions.
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Everything has a proficiency bonus of at least +2. A crab has a proficiency bonus of +2.
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I can't figure out why they do 2(1d4) bludgeoning damage with a club. If I give them a dagger instead, do they automatically do 2(1d4) piercing? I appreciate AaronOfBarbaria's point that these are "exceptional" commoners, but it just seems kind of arbitrary. From where does this double damage stem?
They're not doing double damage. 2 is the average (rounded down) of their 1d4. The DM can use the average damage instead of rolling to save time.
I know this is a super old comment but nothing in the rules or the commoner stat block suggests that "regular commoners don't have any stats at all." It's pretty common for official adventures to tell you to use the commoner stat block for ordinary NPCs if they're ever put in a situation where they might be in danger.
The equipment in a stat block is a suggestion for the DM; it's not meant to imply that every single instance of that stat block has exactly that equipment (or any equipment at all.) The fact that the stat block has a club isn't meant to suggest it should only be used for commoners who carry a club around all day and are willing to use it against the PCs. The club is there as a suggestion for situations where it would make sense for a commoner to have a weapon on them. Clubs are easy to make and use.
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Well, now, my question is whether or not non-monster commoners exist in social monster communities like goblinoid or draconian or underdark..ian? or planar or whatever non-Humanoid-on-the-material-plane kind of character.
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider.
My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong.
I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲
“It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
For some settings it can be. Sharn in Eberron has commoner goblins and other races. Valenar does too...just not Valenar elves; the commoners there are humans and helf-elves. Darguun's commoners are slaves for the most part, so anything might be possible there.
In Planescape which handled planar adventures, had lots of various commoner races in Sigil. Outside of it, in the planes you had petitioners that were close.
Underdark seems to be a harsh places, so there are slaves in Drow and Duegar communities at least. True commoners might exist in the larger cities...with all the risks that entails.
Bottom line; if you are a DM, and you need them they are there.
NPC stat blocks can be used by any humanoid race. DMG chapter 9 has a list of adjustments you can make to those stat blocks if you feel it makes sense for an NPC to have the racial traits that often show up in other monster stat blocks for that race. E.g. If your NPC happens to be a goblin, you reduce their STR, increase their DEX, change their size to Small, give them Nimble Escape and add the Goblin language.
That doesn't mean it always makes sense to add every single one of those racial traits; you might decide the goblin peasants that aren't strong enough for raiding don't get Nimble Escape, for example. But the option's there if you need it.
The Forum Infestation (TM)