A theory on Forgotten Realms and overpowered NPCs

[Mr.Bookworm]

They would not be nearly as talked about if there weren't so many of them in the book on full display.

There are 30 full unique NPC write-ups in my copy of the book (the 3.0 one). Each takes up anywhere from a quarter of a page to over a half a page and has an illustration. The average CR of these write-ups is 19.03. The lowest is 7 (Arrk) and the highest is 45 (Elminster, duh). This isn't counting all of the little lines like "Blast Hardcheese (Ftr 20)", just the full NPC write-ups.

The NPC write-ups are mostly contained to two chapters of the book, Geography and Organizations. There are two pages with NPC write-ups besides those, for a total of 146 pages. This is around one NPC every five pages. About half of these are villains; most of the rest are the big goodies of the setting.

While the FR book is actually pretty wonderful overall, I would argue that this is A) A pretty terrible waste of space, and B) part of what gives people the impression of high-level NPCs crowding out the setting.

So, uh, yeah. Thoughts?

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Nearly every one of those NPCs is just a downright terrible build, and would be a pushover for four optimized PCs of ~five levels lower.

Maybe there are so many NPCs is because there are so many novels, and they thought everyone would want to include their favorite Mary Sue (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MarySue) or God Mode Sue (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GodModeSue) in their tabletop RPG (a place where no such character belongs).

Or maybe the writers were given a number of pages to fill, and couldn't think of anything better for filler. Or maybe they were contractually obligated to stat out certain characters from certain novels.

Or maybe one of the corporate high-ups looked over the acquisitions from TSR, saw all of these characters gained as intellectual property, and decided that it would be a good idea to capitalize on those assets by cramming them all into the main book for the setting. This would be an individual who's never played a tabletop RPG in his entire life nor read a FR novel, and sees such characters only as well-known and well-liked spokesmen for selling products.

You would probably have to ask one of the original writers of FRCS directly, keeping in mind that it was first published over eleven years ago and you'll probably get a different answer from each writer, or no answer at all if there was any sort of NDA.

[Palanan]

A couple other reasons occur to me. Probably they wanted to integrate the characters into the FRCS to reflect the world as it had been developed to that point, one with an established history and mythology that a lot of players would know very well. Theory being that continuity with the novels enhances the game.

And, given that a lot of FR fans would already be familiar with the major figures, the writers probably wanted to show what they looked like in the new 3.0 system.

[Water_Bear]

Please tell me Blast Hardcheese is a real canon NPC. I will forsake all other campaign settings (except Eberron) if that's true.

[Zrak]

"You are a party of young warriors training under Blast Hardcheese."

"And?"

"I don't think you heard me say 'Blast Hardcheese.'"

Best campaign hook ever.

[Water_Bear]

We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5xhfCGcAYw)

[GoatBoy]

B

Beat PunchBeef

Big, Brave Brick of Meat

Big McLargeHuge

Blast HardCheese

Blast ThickNeck

Bob Johnson

Bold BigFlank

Bolt VanderHuge

Brick HardMeat

Buck PlankChest

Buff DrinkLots

Buff HardBack

Butch DeadLift


C

ChunkHead

Chunky

Crud BoneMeal

Crunch ButtSteak


D

Dirk HardPec


F

Fist RockBone

Flink

Flint IronStag

Fridge LargeMeat

G

Gristle McThornBody


H

Hack BlowFist

Hunk


L

Lump BeefBroth


P

Punch RockGroin

Punch Side-Iron

Punt SpeedChunk


R

Reef BlastBody

Roll Fizzlebeef

Rip SteakFace


S

Slab BulkHead

Slab SquatThrust

Slam

Slate Fistcrunch

Slate SlabRock

Smash LampJaw

Smoke ManMuscle

Splint ChestHair

Stump BeefKnob

Stump Chunkman


T

Thick McRunFast

Touch RustRod

Trunk SlamChest


W

Whip SlagCheek