Today's 4E Excerpt is the sample town of Fallcrest.
At the bottom in an NPC who is obviously just a Tiefling classed as a Rogue. I'm curious to see how you'll make more NPCs like that in 4E now.
Cheers! :)
Edit: Everyone needs a rest on memorial day, even excerpt posting robots. Happy Memorial Day everyone! :)
Today's 4E Excerpt is the sample town of Fallcrest.
At the bottom in an NPC who is obviously just a Tiefling classed as a Rogue. I'm curious to see how you'll make more NPCs like that in 4E now.
Cheers! :)
Edit: Everyone needs a rest on memorial day, even excerpt posting robots. Happy Memorial Day everyone! :)
I have read the excerpt on Fallcrest, and I was not overly impressed. Also, I am at work on Memorial Day, which means that I do not deserve rest. I work 24/7, and I am exhausted. As I type this I am falling asleep and...
At the bottom in an NPC who is obviously just a Tiefling classed as a Rogue. I'm curious to see how you'll make more NPCs like that in 4E now.
My guess:
- Select class and level
- Select a compatible monster role and use it to calculate hit points, attack and defense values*
- Assign ability scores by using table XXX
- Assign 4 class skills from the list of class skills
- Assign 2 at-will powers from the list of class at-will powers
- Assign a number of encounter powers from list of class encounter powers, by using table YYY. A good guess is Heroic tier=1 encounter power, Paragon=2, Epic=3.
- Add all racial and class features.
- Give it nonmagical gear and a single magic item with level ranging from level-2 to level.
*The reason of using monster stats and not PC stats is that the NPC should have better hit points/values to compensate its lack of feats and magic items.
Do you think Daily powers are ever given out? Perhaps to Elite or Solo "Classed" NPCs?
Cheers! :)
PS: Very well thought out process Krauser. Seems like you've been spending a lot of time contemplating this! ;)
I think the new writeup format is pretty good. It gives the DM a quick overview of the town and useful places the PC's are likely to visit. Inns, taverns, and shops are usually the first things my party looks for and detailing those with some basic NPC info is a genius stroke in my book. Also noticed that they got rid of the gp limit of the town entry and the total assets values.
I have found the NPC stats to closely resemble monster stats, in that you don't see any skills or feats but rather its combat abilities and stats and defences. Also of note is the fact that the NPC's ability modifiers are +4 higher than their associated scores, which I have noticed for some monsters as well. This is most likely due to the "Skirmisher level 8" entry which may be adding half its level to all ability modifiers.
Do you think Daily powers are ever given out? Perhaps to Elite or Solo "Classed" NPCs?
Cheers! :)
PS: Very well thought out process Krauser. Seems like you've been spending a lot of time contemplating this! ;)
I find unlikely that NPCs will get Daily powers. They don't make sense for enemies since they will fight the PCs in a single encounter. For allies, they won't have them to make PCs look more "special".
A cool idea for Elite or Solo NPCs, however, would be to make a daily power an encounter power, and make encounter powers rechargeable powers. That would be scary for the PCs.
Anyway, there is always the option of making NPCs using PC creation rules, but of course, this takes a lot of more work.
Very nice town design.
WotC has been struggling with their cartography in recent years, so this is a really nice change. Both beautiful and interesting all at once.
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There was speculation as to what the iconic town in the DMG was going to be. I think that thread has been lost, but people were speculating Hommlet, Threshold, etc. I forget why the specualtion was that the DMG town would be a town we were all (somewhat) familiar with. perhaps we all just misread "iconic". /shrug
In any event, Fallcrest doesn't ring a bell and seems to be an entirely new creation. At first blush its the sort of starter town I like and should suffice.
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I find unlikely that NPCs will get Daily powers. They don't make sense for enemies since they will fight the PCs in a single encounter.
Really? I'd figure that vs. the PCs is the one time per day when they would use Daily powers. PCs are probably the toughest thing they are going to come across. If not then, when? What else would they be saving Daily powers for?
I know monsters don't get daily powers, so I doubt NPC's will either. Monsters DO get powers that can recharge but you have to roll each round to see if they do or not. A good example is dragon breath.
As for the best town I've ever started a campaign in. My vote goes for Diamond Lake in the Age of Worms. We had the BEST time ever in that town, and the NPC's were a really great help and hindrance to the party. Two words.....Balabar Smenk!!!
I find unlikely that NPCs will get Daily powers. They don't make sense for enemies since they will fight the PCs in a single encounter.Really? I'd figure that vs. the PCs is the one time per day when they would use Daily powers. PCs are probably the toughest thing they are going to come across. If not then, when? What else would they be saving Daily powers for?
The point is, they won't use daily powers because they won't have them.
Five monsters of level X are supposed to make a balanced encounter for a PC party of level X. By "balanced", it means that the PCs are probably going to win - perhaps spending a few healing surges. Not spending daily power - these should be reserved for encounters of higher level or desperate situations (such as being out of healing surges).
But, if the monsters have daily powers, it gives them an edge over the PCs - who may not be supposed to use their daily powers on this encounter, or may have already used them. This breaks the "PCs are probably going to win" assumption.
So, powers equivalent to daily powers would be reserved for encounters that the DM want to be really tough - such as elite or solo NPCs, or NPCs built using PC creation rules.