Has anyone done this or know of a good way to do it? I've seen people make statblocks for NPCs based off of subclasses from XGTE and I know that the DMG has rules on giving NPCs class levels but I guess I'm looking more for generic NPC/enemies versus say a named character with their own class levels
One thing that I typically do is to grab an NPC stat block from an already created NPC statblock in one of the books, or what is already created online, and add some unique features to it.
For example, if I wanted a bouncer who had levels in SoulKnife, I would take the Thug statblock and add in the Psychic Blades feature from the SoulKnife. I know that seems overly simple... but it is one way to do things.
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To expand on what Doc said, the best way to do it would be to take NPCs that do the thing you want them to do most and add some class features to them. I had made a Kobold Sorcerer a little extra spicy for my players by giving him some meta-magic options, and gave a barbarian goblin rage and action surge. Now the CR might increase a little doing these things but as long as you don't try and give them unlimited uses it usually isn't enough to be detrimental.
To expand on what Doc said, the best way to do it would be to take NPCs that do the thing you want them to do most and add some class features to them. I had made a Kobold Sorcerer a little extra spicy for my players by giving him some meta-magic options, and gave a barbarian goblin rage and action surge. Now the CR might increase a little doing these things but as long as you don't try and give them unlimited uses it usually isn't enough to be detrimental.
See I thought of this as well but then it seemed like I'd have to go through and calculate new CR and call me lazy but I just don't want to do that, I may play around with it a bit and see if I can come up with some things that I like
I'm working on this problem for psionic features, in order to replicate the psi dice mechanic for monsters and NPCs.
Why not use the NPC/Monsters INT mod as the number of Psi dice that they have and base the die size on the tier that the NPC/monster falls under (EX. a monster appropriate for tier 1 players would have D6s for their psi dice while a monster appropriate for players tier 4 would have D12s? Just some thoughts
To expand on what Doc said, the best way to do it would be to take NPCs that do the thing you want them to do most and add some class features to them. I had made a Kobold Sorcerer a little extra spicy for my players by giving him some meta-magic options, and gave a barbarian goblin rage and action surge. Now the CR might increase a little doing these things but as long as you don't try and give them unlimited uses it usually isn't enough to be detrimental.
See I thought of this as well but then it seemed like I'd have to go through and calculate new CR and call me lazy but I just don't want to do that, I may play around with it a bit and see if I can come up with some things that I like
I'd just fudge most of this stuff. No DM should need to keep track of each individual creature's psionic dice pool; it's just not likely to matter enough to justify the effort. If the party is fighting a psionic monster, it's only going to live a few rounds anyway. Just use the ability when it feels appropriate.
The psi dice mechanic was developed for players who only have one character to keep track of. Monsters are very intentionally not designed with this level of resource management in mind.
Now if you're talking about an NPC fighting with the party and the adventure is set up to wear down character resources, then yeah it might matter (and in that scenario I'd have a player running the NPC for combat purposes rather than myself). But I think in the vast majority of cases, it won't. So save yourself some stress and wing it.
Has anyone done this or know of a good way to do it? I've seen people make statblocks for NPCs based off of subclasses from XGTE and I know that the DMG has rules on giving NPCs class levels but I guess I'm looking more for generic NPC/enemies versus say a named character with their own class levels
Heya!
One thing that I typically do is to grab an NPC stat block from an already created NPC statblock in one of the books, or what is already created online, and add some unique features to it.
For example, if I wanted a bouncer who had levels in SoulKnife, I would take the Thug statblock and add in the Psychic Blades feature from the SoulKnife. I know that seems overly simple... but it is one way to do things.
To expand on what Doc said, the best way to do it would be to take NPCs that do the thing you want them to do most and add some class features to them. I had made a Kobold Sorcerer a little extra spicy for my players by giving him some meta-magic options, and gave a barbarian goblin rage and action surge. Now the CR might increase a little doing these things but as long as you don't try and give them unlimited uses it usually isn't enough to be detrimental.
|| Sol Night-Arrow, Tabaxi Ranger ||
||Currently DMing a Homebrew Campaign ||
Guides or Important Threads of Mine ----- || List of ALL Official Familiars || My Homebrew Monsters ||
Level 3 One Shot Character Concepts ----- || Fist of the Gods || Triple Tap Hunter || Bullseye Dartmaster || Captain America ||
^^^Those are Links BTW^^^
I'm working on this problem for psionic features, in order to replicate the psi dice mechanic for monsters and NPCs.
See I thought of this as well but then it seemed like I'd have to go through and calculate new CR and call me lazy but I just don't want to do that, I may play around with it a bit and see if I can come up with some things that I like
Why not use the NPC/Monsters INT mod as the number of Psi dice that they have and base the die size on the tier that the NPC/monster falls under (EX. a monster appropriate for tier 1 players would have D6s for their psi dice while a monster appropriate for players tier 4 would have D12s? Just some thoughts
https://1-dot-encounter-planner.appspot.com/quick-monster-stats.html is something i use to do rough CR calculations. Honestly as long as you aren't adding legendary resistances and stuff you should be good. Adding 1 or 2 abilities will simply add flavor.
|| Sol Night-Arrow, Tabaxi Ranger ||
||Currently DMing a Homebrew Campaign ||
Guides or Important Threads of Mine ----- || List of ALL Official Familiars || My Homebrew Monsters ||
Level 3 One Shot Character Concepts ----- || Fist of the Gods || Triple Tap Hunter || Bullseye Dartmaster || Captain America ||
^^^Those are Links BTW^^^
I'd just fudge most of this stuff. No DM should need to keep track of each individual creature's psionic dice pool; it's just not likely to matter enough to justify the effort. If the party is fighting a psionic monster, it's only going to live a few rounds anyway. Just use the ability when it feels appropriate.
The psi dice mechanic was developed for players who only have one character to keep track of. Monsters are very intentionally not designed with this level of resource management in mind.
Now if you're talking about an NPC fighting with the party and the adventure is set up to wear down character resources, then yeah it might matter (and in that scenario I'd have a player running the NPC for combat purposes rather than myself). But I think in the vast majority of cases, it won't. So save yourself some stress and wing it.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm