GenghisDon
2012-07-24, 08:34 PM
Hi all, I'm curious how you would ACTUALLY rate the various NPC classes in CR. I know what the boks say, both for standard races & for monsters with NPC class levels, but I ain't buying it, myself.
I was thinking of an increasing negative adjustment for a reasonable ad hoc way to evaluate them.
RAW is level -1, but my thoughts are more like -1 per 4 levels. So a warrior, aristocrat, ect would be
L1 CR 1/2
L2 CR 1
L3 CR 2
L4 CR 3
L5 CR 3 (oops)
L6 CR 4
L7 CR 5
L8 CR 6
L9 CR 6 (oops)
L10 CR 7
L11 CR 8
L12 CR 9
L13 CR 9 (oops)
L14 CR 10
L15 CR 11
L16 CR 12
L17 CR 12 (oops)
L18 CR 13
L19 CR 14
L20 CR 15
oops might be rated as +1/2, at least for XP purposes
More importantly, what about NPC's that don't have the $ in gear they are alotted for in the DMG?
Setting PC starting $ as L0, I was thinking of averaging "gear level" with actual level for heavily gear dependant classes (like fighters, rogues, ect), and averaging gear level plus twice level for the less gear needy (casters).
Thoughts?
"naked" fighter L10 =CR 5?
"naked" cleric L10=CR 7?
L10 fighter with L6 gear=CR 8?
L10 cleric with L6 gear=CR 9 (8.5)?
I'm not sure I'm pleased with those...
I have always been somewhat unhappy about NPC gear & CR ratings. It strikes me as odd that at L1 the NPC has much more swag than the PC, and thus is marginally tougher, but as level advances the NPC immediately falls behind more & more, ranging from 1/2 to less than 1/3 the $. Is (even) a L20 Wizard REALLY worth CR 20 vs a party of 4 L20 characters, each with almost 4x his magic gear?
Conversely, certainly an NPC with above average gear, up to PC level amount, can't really be worth increasing CR? Aragh!
I get the reasoning...more gear for foes makes the PC's all the richer, but they simply don't stand up as the levels rise. Plus it makes finding magic items BORING as hell, because all the NPC's have a pile of piddling crap fit only to sell 90% of time. I find this extremely bad, as I'm no great lover of magic shops & whatever item a player can imagine being for sale around the corner. Ah well.
I was thinking of an increasing negative adjustment for a reasonable ad hoc way to evaluate them.
RAW is level -1, but my thoughts are more like -1 per 4 levels. So a warrior, aristocrat, ect would be
L1 CR 1/2
L2 CR 1
L3 CR 2
L4 CR 3
L5 CR 3 (oops)
L6 CR 4
L7 CR 5
L8 CR 6
L9 CR 6 (oops)
L10 CR 7
L11 CR 8
L12 CR 9
L13 CR 9 (oops)
L14 CR 10
L15 CR 11
L16 CR 12
L17 CR 12 (oops)
L18 CR 13
L19 CR 14
L20 CR 15
oops might be rated as +1/2, at least for XP purposes
More importantly, what about NPC's that don't have the $ in gear they are alotted for in the DMG?
Setting PC starting $ as L0, I was thinking of averaging "gear level" with actual level for heavily gear dependant classes (like fighters, rogues, ect), and averaging gear level plus twice level for the less gear needy (casters).
Thoughts?
"naked" fighter L10 =CR 5?
"naked" cleric L10=CR 7?
L10 fighter with L6 gear=CR 8?
L10 cleric with L6 gear=CR 9 (8.5)?
I'm not sure I'm pleased with those...
I have always been somewhat unhappy about NPC gear & CR ratings. It strikes me as odd that at L1 the NPC has much more swag than the PC, and thus is marginally tougher, but as level advances the NPC immediately falls behind more & more, ranging from 1/2 to less than 1/3 the $. Is (even) a L20 Wizard REALLY worth CR 20 vs a party of 4 L20 characters, each with almost 4x his magic gear?
Conversely, certainly an NPC with above average gear, up to PC level amount, can't really be worth increasing CR? Aragh!
I get the reasoning...more gear for foes makes the PC's all the richer, but they simply don't stand up as the levels rise. Plus it makes finding magic items BORING as hell, because all the NPC's have a pile of piddling crap fit only to sell 90% of time. I find this extremely bad, as I'm no great lover of magic shops & whatever item a player can imagine being for sale around the corner. Ah well.