Mudfarming, Commoners Inevitability gain exp

[ShurikVch]

...which is why I've always wished the NPC classes had some kind of class features that would make them better farmers/laborers/craftsmen than, say, a barbarian or a rogue.
Given the complete lack of NPC classes in 5e, I've been thinking of brewing up one or two with such class features. Of course, given that NPCs don't seem consistently bound by the same class/level/ability restrictions as PCs, it might be pointless.

How about the Master class from the War of the Lance?

This is the big problem with 3E D&D: The NPC classes don't get anything useful to their class and are still stuck in the Only Combat D&D game.

There is double untruth there:

1. The "don't get anything useful" - Adept gets Familiar (and may qualify for Hexer PrC), Expert - open class skill selection made it popular choice for pre-Factotum skillmonkeys; Aristocrat is about the only class which can make WbLmancy at 1st level; and even Commoner still gets Handle Animal (Bubs!), and may qualify to Survivor at 2nd level
2. "the Only Combat D&D game" - not all games of D&D are "Only Combat": for example, intrigue game shouldn't include too much of combat; and for "monster survival" game, Combat is a failure