Why not use the illusionist stat block? It's a lot easier than trying to figure out the CR of an NPC that's using class levels, and happens be doable for a 2nd level party.
If you're building the fourth-level illusionist like a player character, they'll be a cakewalk for a 2nd-level party. The illusionist in Volo's Guide is CR 3 and is described as a 7th-level spellcaster. CR3 will be difficult but manageable for a 2nd-level party, especially if they can disrupt the illusionist's spellcasting.
A word of caution: be aware of how much damage your monster's spells can do relative the health of your party members and adjust it if you don't want there to be a chance of one-hit instakills. I cast Blight on a 2nd-level ranger without really looking at the damage. The ranger passed her saving throw and was still one-shot. Had she failed, she'd have been dead outright with no death saves from massive damage. It makes a fun story in retrospect, but it's not the kind of thing I would actually want a 2nd-level party to risk, and if I had been paying more attention it wouldn't have happened.
If you mean the school of illusion subclass, no. All it indicates is the fact that PC classes are not designed to be matched up against other PC classes. D&D is not a PVP game; all classes are designed based on the assumption they'll be matched against monsters which is part of the core asymmetrical design of the game.
Just for the sake of discussion, I could imagine an encounter with a level 4 evoker or enchanter that could cause serious problems for a small party. Necromancers and Conjurers can do some serious hurt, too. Diviners are mostly for roleplaying, it seems to me. You would think illusionists would do better.
Just for the sake of discussion, I could imagine an encounter with a level 4 evoker or enchanter that could cause serious problems for a small party. Necromancers and Conjurers can do some serious hurt, too. Diviners are mostly for roleplaying, it seems to me. You would think illusionists would do better.
Depends on what spells they're packing. Nothing stopping a diviner from lobbing a couple fireballs. Mechanically, a level 4 evoker has no real advantages in casting evocation spells over any other class aside from the sculpt spell ability. In fact, a level 4 diviner could be even mroe effective at that level by using their portent feature to make some nasty spell attacks, or force some really bad saving throw results.
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What levels are appropriate levels for NPCs based on PC character classes? I want to challenge but not kill my party of level 2 adventurers
EDIT: I particularly want to throw a spell caster at the PCs.
Don't use a PC Illusionist, use the Illusionist stat block instead, and pad the encounter with some allies.
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Why not use the illusionist stat block? It's a lot easier than trying to figure out the CR of an NPC that's using class levels, and happens be doable for a 2nd level party.
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Look at Illusionist to get an idea
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If you're building the fourth-level illusionist like a player character, they'll be a cakewalk for a 2nd-level party. The illusionist in Volo's Guide is CR 3 and is described as a 7th-level spellcaster. CR3 will be difficult but manageable for a 2nd-level party, especially if they can disrupt the illusionist's spellcasting.
A word of caution: be aware of how much damage your monster's spells can do relative the health of your party members and adjust it if you don't want there to be a chance of one-hit instakills. I cast Blight on a 2nd-level ranger without really looking at the damage. The ranger passed her saving throw and was still one-shot. Had she failed, she'd have been dead outright with no death saves from massive damage. It makes a fun story in retrospect, but it's not the kind of thing I would actually want a 2nd-level party to risk, and if I had been paying more attention it wouldn't have happened.
Would this not indicate that the Illusionist college is underpowered?
How so?
If you mean the school of illusion subclass, no. All it indicates is the fact that PC classes are not designed to be matched up against other PC classes. D&D is not a PVP game; all classes are designed based on the assumption they'll be matched against monsters which is part of the core asymmetrical design of the game.
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
Just for the sake of discussion, I could imagine an encounter with a level 4 evoker or enchanter that could cause serious problems for a small party. Necromancers and Conjurers can do some serious hurt, too. Diviners are mostly for roleplaying, it seems to me. You would think illusionists would do better.
I ran a 4th level illusionist with a couple of minions against a 1st level party and it was brutal. I toned them down to avoid a TPK early on.
Professional computer geek
Depends on what spells they're packing. Nothing stopping a diviner from lobbing a couple fireballs. Mechanically, a level 4 evoker has no real advantages in casting evocation spells over any other class aside from the sculpt spell ability. In fact, a level 4 diviner could be even mroe effective at that level by using their portent feature to make some nasty spell attacks, or force some really bad saving throw results.