NPC's that was built well? Are they out there?

[Norin]

So, there are threads abound that laugh at all the silly official NPC builds. Both illegal (nott meeting prereq's, etc) and just plain badly built.

That had me thinking, what are some examples of very well built NPC's?

Are there examples of official published NPC's that are put together in an effective manner, making them optimized, well rounded, versatile, and so on?

If you know them, share them. Also, a few notes about why you find said NPC to be built well.

Thanks!

[Norin]

The lack of replies says it all, eh?:smallwink:

Kind of what i expected too.

[Dissonance]

One example of a NPC villain that I have found to be effective is the Joker Bard (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5496158).

It's effective and a real pain in the neck for the PCs.

On the note of villains, any optimized antipaladin makes for a serious if survivable threat.

Other NPC builds that are very good:

Soul Forger Magus (it might be a legit playable class, but it makes a better NPC)
Aristocrats with over 14 INT
Full Sorcerer (ally, villain, third party, they work with anything)


A good rule of thumb when building NPCs is to make them helpful, but not sheep. Then a way for the NPC to defend themselves if the party tries to bully them.

For ENEMY NPCs, you want them to meet one of three requirements.

1st. Smarts. The villain knows it won't survive a straight up fight with the party, so does everything it can to avoid that. Make a physical confrontation their LAST option, then give them an ace that can let them escape to continue their dastardly plans.

2nd. trade off. Normally the winner of a fight is easy to determine, who is alive and who is dead. A kobold raid on the camp is easy enough to deal with. Make it at night and disrupt the PCs rest period and suddenly those measly kobolds made a deadlier enemy than the dragon they went off to slay in the first place. If the enemy can make the PCs expend resources, it's an overall win for the villains if they can get away. heck even if they can't, Macdoom E. Vile brought the party down to half HP, burned 1/3 of their potions, and the wizard used 3 spells out of 10. And they are only half way through the crawl.

3rd. social immunity. The grand daddy of them all. John U. Supper might be the most devilish bastard around, but he upholds the law and the people love him. Any overt attack on him lands the PCs in deep **** with the authorities and the populace. Worse if he is offed in an organized evil uprising, since he will be martyred. Make sure these guys rub this immunity in the PCs face. Often.

[Karnith]

I have always thought that Kjarlo the Unseen (Exemplars of Evil, 86) was strangely well-built for an official character. He's a rogue 1/spellthief 1/diviner 3/unseen seer 4 (look at all those classes, Wizards must be full of munchkins!), and at CR 9 casts spells as a 7th-level wizard, which isn't terrible. He isn't exactly geared for combat, but he sure looks like he can sneak and scout properly, and might feasibly elude/spy on a level-appropriate party.

Is it bad that I think being mildly competent seems like a huge accomplishment for official NPCs?

[Sylthia]

Sometimes for NPC mooks, I purposefully leave them unoptimized so they aren't overwhelming to the party in combat.

[rockdeworld]

I don't know about any official NPCs that are built well, but the Iron Chef Optimization Challenge (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=274122) provides a well of flavorful and optimized NPCs, in case you're looking for a resource.

[Sith_Happens]

Pretty sure the thread is asking about official NPCs.

[Gavinfoxx]

Yea, everyone, the OP is asking for official stats for named WotC NPC's...

[limejuicepowder]

I lent my copy to a friend, but I think the BoVD isn't too bad for NPCs, considering. The Dread (King? Commander? Knight? Lord?) is pretty formidable in that he has 9th and a minor artifact set - even though his listed "favored tactic" is not only bad but impossible.

[Tragak]

If the best ones only come from that one book, are we allowed to offer our own submissions for community review?

[nobodez]

Well, I know that for a while the NPCs in County of Urnst Living Greyhawk modules were build well, mainly because I had to build (or at least check the build of) the damn things (the things you do when your mother is a Triad member and you still live at home).

As for "official" NPCs, not to sure, as I never really cared about NPCs in books, only the ones in modules (as The only NPC I used straight out of a book was the Queen of the Githyanki when my PCs had to get someone from under her control in an Eberron module).

[Greenish]

It's not actually a named NPC, but the Du'ulora Champion (SoS pg. 66) is a surprisingly passable go at psychic warrior chain tripper, of all things.

[Runestar]

Generally, it seems the more decent npcs are also those who are not multiclassed into uselessness, and have less book-keeping (because multiclassing tend to cram builds with tons of minor abilities which are often useless in a battle anyways).

Elite Opponents (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/arch/eo)
DnD Fight Club (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/arch/fc)