Re: NPC classes

On 4/2/2024 4:14 PM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

On Tue, 2 Apr 2024 10:58:10 +0200, Kyonshi <gmkeros@gmail.com> wrote:
 

I recently was rethinking the use of NPC classes in my (mostly
OSR-style) games. Previously I had dismissed them as unsuccessful
attempts at making overpowered PC classes. But reading them "as written"
they make much more sense as human boss monsters in a lot of cases.

 

What are your preferred NPC classes, if any?

 Generally, I don't 'class' NPCs unless I fully expect them to go up
against the players (at which point, at least in my mind, they
transition from 'NPC' to 'monster' ;-). But when I do, I stick with
RAW and limit the NPCs to the same choices as the players. It adds
consistency to the world, and makes things more fair in terms of
gameplay.
 One of the problems I've found with 'classing' NPCs is that it leads
to power creep. The king has to be a level 15 warrior, the blacksmith
is 4th level rogue, etc. etc. Superficially this makes sense, except
D&D classes are largely ranked around their combat effectiveness, and
that's not the only way to achieve power. So I try to avoid giving
levels and classes to the NPCs.
 

I was mostly thinking about using them as specific sort of monster NPCs because they would be basically boss monsters with special powers that just happen to be human.
And I noticed a lot of them are kind of... lame. I mean things like the Necromancer is fine, especially with a bit of a backstory that's an amazing character to deal with...
(Pulsipher published that one as a pdf on his website a while ago: https://pulsiphergames.com/DandD/NECROMANCERAnAD&DCharacterClass.pdf)
...but then there's stuff like the Bandit. Ok, that's basically Robin Hood or another named outlaw. But the Thief-Acrobat. I mean, wut? The Scout? The Sentinel? The Jester?