Human monsters?

[Faeelin]

Hey,

I know it's possible oto create enemies who are the just X level NPCs, but I find this to be unsastisfying because A: it requires a fair amount of work, and more importantly, B: they seem weaker than the player's NPCs.


Yet I find campaigns with hordes of giant monsters kind of unsatisfying, and so I was wondering if people had any ideas.

[Nebo_]

Optimise the NPCs. It will take a bit of work, but it's either that or use hordes of monsters.

[playswithfire]

Grab builds from the character builder thread and use them as NPCs, maybe?

Should have a good range of levels and types and the work is largely done; other than actually rolling HP etc.

[Frosty]

1) give the NPCs better stats and better equipment
2) if they're not very important, wing the whole fight. Have rough ideas on what AC, BAB, HP and resistances, and just do the fight. Although this requires that you've built this type of character in the past and know roughly what they do. For example, I know how to build a basic Sorcerer and a Swift Hunter Scout/Ranger, so I can run those without writing one out b eforehand because I can sort of see it in my head what kind of things they should be able to do.

3) practice makes perfect. Practice writing out stat blocks.

[shaggz076]

I know it is a bi of work but I find it nice when running a game to have a generic characters that will be used as your run of the mill NPC encounters. The all you need to do is modify the template slightly to change things up. The big bosses are the only things that should be made as a PC would be made and even then you use the NPC tables in the DMG.

[Miles Invictus]

Shaggz: That's exactly what I do.

[Devils_Advocate]

Try using lone, small, yet surprisingly deadly monsters instead?

Or traps, or puzzles, or other inanimate hazards or obstacles.

Not every adventure even has to involve enemies. Maybe a group of high-level characters need to evacuate an island before a volcano erupts or something.

Maybe the PCs have to uncover some sort of nefarious scheme, and the stats of the guy responsible aren't really relevant. They might have to fight some of his goons and/or maybe the villain himself (though he may just be some squishy Expert who goes down easy when and if they confront him directly), but the real challenge is figuring out who's responsible for what, where to go to find them, how to stop the evil plot in time, etc.

("Though it sounds of madness, some systems have charted out experience rewards for activities other than murder.")

Grab builds from the character builder thread and use them as NPCs, maybe?

Should have a good range of levels and types and the work is largely done; other than actually rolling HP etc.

Or, heck, just ask for a build for your villain concept. If you don't want to do a lot of work optimizing, there are other gamers who are perfectly happy to do it for you.