Human/humanoid enemies?

[Protato]

I was wondering what I should do to stat out human enemies, and how to continue to make them threatening in the future. I'm planning to start a game where my players are level 3 with a minor magic item and possibly a feat, if I can balance it, and the setting is a war. I was looking to possibly give enemy forces class features, even for non-bosses, or outright make them player classes. Additionally, how would I handle elves, dwarves, and beastmen enemies? Same stats but with racial features? Is there any better way to do all this?

[Waterdeep Merch]

The MM has good stats for a variety of different soldiers, from guards and scouts to veterans. They make a good baseline.

The DMG has rules for switching races on a standard monster statline, like those above. It's pretty simple.

The DMG also has rules for empowering those same soldiers if you need them to be of a higher level. Remember that it's actually better to have lots of lower CR enemies than one or two of equal or higher CR to the party. They're more fun to fight and weirdly can be more dangerous, thanks to action economy.

[Slipperychicken]

The DMG also has rules for empowering those same soldiers if you need them to be of a higher level. Remember that it's actually better to have lots of lower CR enemies than one or two of equal or higher CR to the party. They're more fun to fight and weirdly can be more dangerous, thanks to action economy.

Also, players tend to focus on their turn 1 single-target damage output, often to the detriment of their ability to deal with large groups over a long fight.

[PhoenixPhyre]

The DMG also has rules for empowering those same soldiers if you need them to be of a higher level. Remember that it's actually better to have lots of lower CR enemies than one or two of equal or higher CR to the party. They're more fun to fight and weirdly can be more dangerous, thanks to action economy.

This is absolutely true. I find the sweet spot is between 3 and 5 enemies. More gets cumbersome to run, fewer is very swingy--either they're tough enough to overcome the massive action economy deficit and so they can blow up the party if they get lucky, or they get obliterated quickly. I've usually seen the second case happen. Even tough things die at 4:1 action economy deficits.

[90sMusic]

The MM has good stats for a variety of different soldiers, from guards and scouts to veterans. They make a good baseline.

The DMG has rules for switching races on a standard monster statline, like those above. It's pretty simple.

The DMG also has rules for empowering those same soldiers if you need them to be of a higher level. Remember that it's actually better to have lots of lower CR enemies than one or two of equal or higher CR to the party. They're more fun to fight and weirdly can be more dangerous, thanks to action economy.

While that is true, having a lot of these slog battles where there are dozens of characters acting for each turn takes a good bit away from players actually playing the game.

I have done fights like this before, but I usually make all of the enemies attack at once to streamline the whole affair to keep it from taking all day.

If you have 10 guys, and they have +5 to hit and are trying to hit someone with 15 ac, rather than rolling attacks for all of them just assume 5 will hit and 5 will miss and just roll their damage dealt in a lump sum.

You can still narrate the battle and describe it how you want to make it more interesting, but it drastically reduces the time between a player's turns which can kill some of the fun.

Also, giving class features and increasing the ability scores of your human enemies is totally fine. IMO some of the best villains are humans instead of monsters.

[PhoenixPhyre]

If you have 10 guys, and they have +5 to hit and are trying to hit someone with 15 ac, rather than rolling attacks for all of them just assume 5 will hit and 5 will miss and just roll their damage dealt in a lump sum.


While mathematically true, this implies that the 10 guys are all focus-firing on one target. It's a good recipe for dead PCs (especially at lower levels). Guy with bows are dangerous. Heck, the opening battle of Phandelver (goblin ambush) is notoriously dangerous because if the DM has the goblins focus fire on one party member, he's probably dead. And that's like 4 goblins.

So--be careful with this strategy. Saves time, but runs risks.

[Protato]

I statted an allied soldier earlier, and I'm wanting to know if it's any good. I put his stats into the spoiler below.


https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/293227565521436673/357751623964950529/vs1.PNG

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/293227565521436673/357751650787655681/vs2.PNG

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/293227565521436673/357751678893817876/Vs3.PNG

[Malifice]

I was wondering what I should do to stat out human enemies, and how to continue to make them threatening in the future. I'm planning to start a game where my players are level 3 with a minor magic item and possibly a feat, if I can balance it, and the setting is a war. I was looking to possibly give enemy forces class features, even for non-bosses, or outright make them player classes. Additionally, how would I handle elves, dwarves, and beastmen enemies? Same stats but with racial features? Is there any better way to do all this?

You could stat them up as PC classes but it takes too long, the game isnt balanced for it, and half the stuff you do gets wasted.

I dont see the point in spending 20-30 minutes statting up a NPC villian that is only there to die.

You're much better off simply using 'reskinned' NPC's from the MM and Volos.

Knights, Champions, Gladiators, Guards, Veterans, Thugs all work wonderfully for NPC 'warrior' types.

You have a plethora of spellcasting types, assasins etc as well.

Many monsters work wonders as well. Hobgoblin Warlords, Orogs, Drow etc are all very useful.

Ive used Orogs as 'Human Fighters' before, and no-one noticed. From memory, I just used Orogs, dropped Aggressive and Darkvision as traits, and added in Action surge as a trait (1/ short rest). I kept the CR the same.

Literally took 2 seconds to do.

[TalksAlone]

I statted an allied soldier earlier, and I'm wanting to know if it's any good. I put his stats into the spoiler below.


https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/293227565521436673/357751623964950529/vs1.PNG

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/293227565521436673/357751650787655681/vs2.PNG

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/293227565521436673/357751678893817876/Vs3.PNG

Wow, where did all those immunities come from? I mean, I'm all for wasting witch bolts and all, but this is waaaay off of a CR 1.

[Unoriginal]

I statted an allied soldier earlier, and I'm wanting to know if it's any good. I put his stats into the spoiler below.


https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/293227565521436673/357751623964950529/vs1.PNG

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/293227565521436673/357751650787655681/vs2.PNG

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/293227565521436673/357751678893817876/Vs3.PNG

First, how did you get 33 HP?

Second, as said before, where all those immunities come from?

Third, where all those skills come from? That's waaaaaaaaaay more than anyone else.

Fourth, why not use the stats for the Guard in the MM and add the racial traits of the specific NPC?

[Protato]

Wow, where did all those immunities come from? I mean, I'm all for wasting witch bolts and all, but this is waaaay off of a CR 1.


Oh no no, he has no immunities, the text is greyed out. He has 25HP, not 33, and no resistance, those are just Roll20's placeholder values.

[Dr. Cliché]

Personally, I'd give the important ones PC classes. Or at least the key features of PC classes (e.g. unless it's an important plot point, you probably don't need to worry about Thieves' Cant on rogue NPCs. Likewise, Wizard NPCs probably won't have an opportunity to make use of Ritual Casting or Arcane Recovery).

Regarding spells, I'd either make a generic list of spells prepared (for each type of caster I intend to use) and use that for most casting NPCs.

I could then make some additional lists based on themes of one kind or another. For example, if I have an organisation based on stealth, then I'll make a list based on illusion, invisibility and teleportation spells and have members of the organisation use that list. Meanwhile, a cult based around a Red Dragon will instead have a list based around fire spells. You get the idea.

[TalksAlone]

Oh no no, he has no immunities, the text is greyed out. He has 25HP, not 33, and no resistance, those are just Roll20's placeholder values.

Well, apologies for my ignorance then. Then I think its more or less where you want to be um terms of stats for a very tough soldier. Three important things tho:

1 There is no reason the Stunning Strike shouldn't have a Save DC to resist being stunned. That may seem as it makes the NPC packs less of a punch, but believe me pile to or three of this guys around someone and even the barbarian is gonna be in trouble. Alternatively, if you want to make them more dangerous individually give the Muktiattack with the Stunning Strike only. Two should suffice, three almost guarantees it (tho it would be a bit much). I almost want to say it should have the save DC based on Wisdom, but Strength could do the trick. Target save should be Con.

2 A pike would seem like makes a better fit here. A bit of reach can make the difference between being hit wearing only gambeson and subsequently being dead, or well... not.

3 The Cleave is interesting, but I do think it should have a Save DC too. Either that or your players will try to replicate it against your NPCs at every chance. Same thing about the save DC for Stunning Strike, but I advise against Multiattack on this one.

[Foxhound438]

consider getting Volo's Guide to Monsters, it has a lot of good NPC statblocks as well.

[Protato]

I'm worried he might be overpowered but I'm making a variant human red dragon sorcerer boss, as well. Any advice on making him?

[Unoriginal]

I'm worried he might be overpowered but I'm making a variant human red dragon sorcerer boss, as well. Any advice on making him?

Might have some advice, but first: what will be the level of the PCs when they'll fight him?

[Waterdeep Merch]

I'm worried he might be overpowered but I'm making a variant human red dragon sorcerer boss, as well. Any advice on making him?
Continue to use DMG monster rules to make him, not player rules. You can give him player class abilities, and that's fine, but balance his output as a monster, not a player. A level 20 player is not CR 20, for example.

Same thing with adding feats. Just make a note of allowing him to do whatever you want him to do, and balance accordingly. He doesn't need some feat that limits possible ASI's to bypass resistances. Just let him do it, and take it into account when calculating CR. Hell, don't even bother with ASI calculations. Take a vanilla NPC caster, ramp up the charisma to whatever you want, increase any other stats (with a mind to overall calculations, again), and roll with it. Monsters don't and shouldn't follow player rules.

Soapboxing aside, give him some metamagic abilities. Empower especially, maybe twin and quicken, subtle if you think the party might try to disrupt/counterspell him. Instead of working off sorcery points, I'd let him do each X number of times per short rest. Perhaps give him some more obviously draconic abilities than a player might have- more advanced dragonskin (higher AC), a recharging fire breath attack like a dragon, and maybe some legendary actions like wing buffets, flight evasions, and maybe a point-blank fire claw attack. Legendary resistance will also go far in making him feel boss-like. Remember to give him Wisdom save proficiency, to give the party wizard that little bit of extra trouble with landing shut down spells.

Speaking of spells, prepare according to his role in the inevitable boss fight. If he has powerful minions, he might use more buffs, debuffs, and area control spells to give his team combat superiority. If his minions aren't very tough, he'll probably act more selfish with his buff spells and may treat them as more disposable, shooting AoE damage spells right into the thick of them. If he's alone, he's not likely to use too many debuff or control spells that aren't widespread enough to stop most of the party. Instead, use lots of strong single-target damage spells or big AoE blasts like fireball to either weaken many at once or pick off dangerous opponents one at a time. Make sure he has the potential to effect the players in all three major saves- Dex, Con, and Wis. A balanced party will have at least one person who's great against each, but barring a high level monk or a paladin, no one's going to be good against all three.

[GlenSmash!]

consider getting Volo's Guide to Monsters, it has a lot of good NPC statblocks as well.

This. While the MM had very few high CR npc statblocks, VGtM has quite a bit more.

[Unoriginal]

If you want him to be a Sorcerer, keep in mind that he doesn't have to save his spell points for multiple encounters and so can use them all against the PCs.

Unless he's arrogant enough to think he can beat them without doing that, or if he has/had something else to do on the same day that would require that ressource.

[Joe the Rat]

While mathematically true, this implies that the 10 guys are all focus-firing on one target. It's a good recipe for dead PCs (especially at lower levels). Guy with bows are dangerous. Heck, the opening battle of Phandelver (goblin ambush) is notoriously dangerous because if the DM has the goblins focus fire on one party member, he's probably dead. And that's like 4 goblins.

So--be careful with this strategy. Saves time, but runs risks.

Use the dogpile rules in the DMG: If X attackers will hit on a Y or better, you get one hit per n attackers. Break them into blocks of auto-hits, with any extras "tagging along." You'll have to reconfigure for different ACs, so a table might help. Add it to your planning.

I did this for the soldiers the PCs brought to fight some giants. I described it as volleys of arrows loosed at the monstrous louts, and moved on to more PC-focused things. Big time-saver.

[Protato]

Alright, so I've compiled a list of spells for a few enemies, meant to roughly represent classes as NPC cannon fodder.

Warlock: Thaumaturgy, Eldritch Blast, Chill Touch, Hellish Rebuke, Shatter, Darkness, Spider Climb. The Warlock is designed to mostly be a blaster with Eldritch Blast, but it has some additional offense with Chill Touch Shatter, and Hellish rebuke. He's also got a self-buff with Spider Climb and an AoE debuff in Darkness. Thaumaturgy is for flavor (they're part of group that worships dragons and every caster gets Prestidigitation, Thaumaturgy, or Druidcraft free).

Draco Cantor (Bard): Vicious Mockery, Mage Hand, Prestidigitation, Healing Word, Cure Wounds, Faerie Fire, Shatter, Silence. Also has Combat Inspiration from the Valor Bard. They're meant to be powerful buffers and debuffers, mostly to support bosses.

Druid: Druidcraft, Produce Flame, Shillelagh, Fog Cloud, Thunderwave, Detect Magic, Flaming Sphere, Entangle, Wildshape CR1/4 once per long rest.

Druid are kinda there for scouting, but can buff and debuff as well, and have Flaming Sphere for decent damage. Fluff-wise, Druids may not see combat too terribly often unless their abilities are great, as Druids help with food production.

I'm still having trouble figuring out what I want from my draconic Sorcerer boss, although I might want him to have powers from a Red Dragon, and possibly a PC feat.

If any of these characters sound overpowered, my game has a level three Barbarian with 38 HP and a stat total of 94 with an item that heals the wearer by an additional 1d4 when healed in battle, a Druid with a homebrew beast rider subclass that rides on a giant Heron, basically a Warhorse with 15 AC and HP that scales, and a Tempest Cleric with an angelic guide that can act as a familiar and cast touch spells out to thirty feet, and that's not even the whole party.

[JeffreyGator]

I'm running a game where I am converting the AD&D A0-4 Slavers series. There are lots of named NPCs, I have largely been statting them out as PCs since they are often PC races. I also have been using Volo's guide stuff and other things.

There a few reasons why this makes sense for me.

1) It's fun to build tougher enemies than the monster manual may give.
A recent NPC figured into 2 major fights. the party of people who have been roleplaying for a collective 100+ years was challenged and actually had to be tactical to be victorious.
In the second fight the NPC was solo apart from a couple of traps. It is harder for a solo monster to be effective against 5 tier two PCs.
2) It presents unique challenges for the players. thugs aren't much more interesting than orcs.