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The lates from the 4th Edition MM
For those with no care to link
As one of the most prolific races in a fantasy setting, humans are likely antagonists for any group of player characters. Whether the PCs are getting into a drunken bar fight, wandering into a bandit ambush, or fighting their way past castle guards, at some point they are likely to face off against human adversaries. For a Dungeon Master, this once meant creating a stat block for each human, including class levels, picking out equipment, spells, feats, skills, and so on.
All that has changed.
Although 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons still provides tools for creating NPCs with fleshed out stat blocks, those types of characters represent a small percent of human antagonists. Most humans are monsters. Mechanically, they resemble any other creature, from aboleths to zombies. This treatment of humans allows the DM to spend less time preparing stats, and more time developing the story and creating dynamic battles.
Each human stat block has the same basic elements as any other monster—initiative, senses, hp, defenses, speed, ability scores, and so on. Humans also have monster-like powers designed on their role and purpose. Although these powers might resemble or imitate the powers of a PC class, they have different expectations for attack, damage, and effects. And if one of the powers doesn’t work for your purpose, you can easily swap it out for another.
In fact, with just a few alterations to the attack, damage, and flavor, virtually any power in the Monster Manual becomes a potential attack for a human. It’s as easy as switching a damage type, weapon, or power name. For instance, let’s say you want to make the human mage (see below) into cleric. By making the damage type radiant and giving the creature a leader-like power, let’s say, the incite faith power from the kobold wyrmpriest, you quickly create a cleric-like monster.
Incite Faith (minor; encounter)
Close burst 10; kobold allies in the burst gain 5 temporary hit points and shift 1 square.
To the players, this human now has the necessary flavor to give the impression of a cleric; as a DM, you’ve saved the 10 or even 20 minutes it would take to generate a creature from scratch. Alternatively, the Dungeon Master’s Guide offers an array of class templates to quickly apply a character class to a monster, and for those that want to handcraft each human, the guidelines are still in place to create a vivid NPC. Regardless of the human you want to make, in 4th Edition you won’t see human stat blocks taking up half a page.
--Greg Bilsland
Human Berserker Level 4 Brute
Medium natural humanoid XP 175
Initiative +3 Senses Perception +2
HP 66; Bloodied 33; see also battle fury
AC 15; Fortitude 15, Refl ex 14, Will 14
Speed 7
m Greataxe (standard; at-will) ✦ Weapon
+7 vs. AC; 1d12 + 4 damage (crit 1d12 + 16).
M Battle Fury (free, when first bloodied; encounter)
The human berserker makes a melee basic attack with a +4
bonus to the attack roll and deals an extra 1d6 damage on a hit.
R Handaxe (standard; at-will) ✦ Weapon
Ranged 5/10; +5 vs. AC; 1d6 + 3 damage.
Alignment Any Languages Common
Skills Athletics +9, Endurance +9
Str 17 (+5) Dex 12 (+3) Wis 11 (+2)
Con 16 (+5) Int 10 (+2) Cha 12 (+3)
Equipment hide armor, greataxe, 2 handaxes
Human Berserker Tactics
Berserkers hurl themselves headlong into fights, eager to conquer
or die. Usually begin by throwing axes, and then charge
into melee. They use battle fury when first bloodied, hoping to
overwhelm enemies with their sudden burst of rage.
Human Mage Level 4 Artillery
Medium natural humanoid XP 175
Initiative +4 Senses Perception +5
HP 42; Bloodied 21
AC 17; Fortitude 13, Refl ex 14, Will 15
Speed 6
mQuarterstaff (standard; at-will) ✦ Weapon
+4 vs. AC; 1d8 damage.
rMagic Missile (standard; at-will) ✦ Force
Ranged 20; +7 vs. Refl ex; 2d4 + 4 force damage.
R Dancing Lightning (standard; encounter) ✦ Lightning
The mage makes a separate attack against 3 diff erent targets:
ranged 10; +7 vs. Refl ex; 1d6 + 4 lightning damage.
A Thunder Burst (standard; encounter) ✦ Thunder
Area burst 1 within 10; +7 vs. Fortitude; 1d8 + 4 thunder
damage, and the target is dazed (save ends).
Alignment Any Languages Common
Skills Arcana +11
Str 10 (+2) Dex 14 (+4) Wis 17 (+5)
Con 12 (+3) Int 18 (+6) Cha 12 (+3)
Equipment robes, quarterstaff , wand
Human Mage Tactics
A human mage prefers to fight at range, picking off enemies
with magic missile, dancing lightning, and thunder burst.
Human Lore
A character knows the following information with a successful
Nature check.
DC 15: Humans are a scattered and divided people. They
inhabit kingdoms, fiefdoms, and isolated settlements throughout
the world, expanding their influence, exploring the
darkest frontiers, and making war against their rivals.
DC 20: The ruins of ancient human empires are scattered
throughout the world. No present-day human kingdom
matches these fallen empires in terms of scale and grandeur,
but humans remain undaunted. Their culture has reasserted
itself, and humans have begun to expand their influence.
Encounter Groups
Humans can play secondary roles in encounters featuring just
about any other creature, but in these encounters, the humans
take center stage.
Level 3 Encounter (XP 775)
✦ 1 human berserker (level 4 brute)
✦ 2 human guards (level 3 soldier)
✦ 2 spitting drakes (level 3 artillery)
Level 4 Encounter (XP 889)
✦ 1 human mage (level 4 artillery)
✦ 2 human bandits (level 2 skirmisher)
✦ 2 gravehound zombies (level 3 brute)
✦ 3 zombie rotters (level 3 minion)
Level 5 Encounter (XP 1,050)
✦ 2 human mages (level 4 artillery)
✦ 6 human lackeys (level 7 minion)
✦ 1 evistro demon (level 6 brute)
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One question for those with the books:
What if I want to create adventurer adversaries for my Group.
I mean, lets say I create an advnture where my group has to plunder the Grave of the four Kings of Dune. There is also another group of adventurers who wants to do the same.
Can I create this group to resemble the PC group? One rogue, one warlock etc. with powers and cool equipment as easy as you can create monsters?
One question for those with the books:
What if I want to create adventurer adversaries for my Group.I mean, lets say I create an advnture where my group has to plunder the Grave of the four Kings of Dune. There is also another group of adventurers who wants to do the same.
Can I create this group to resemble the PC group? One rogue, one warlock etc. with powers and cool equipment as easy as you can create monsters?
Yes, there is a streamlined process to create classed NPCs.
It's similar to creating a PC, but you don't need to choose feats or magic items. Rather, the NPC gets extra hit points and level-based bonuses on attacks and defenses which are supposed to be equivalent of the feats/magic items of a PC of same level.
If you want the NPC to be more scary, you can give it a functional template (such as battle champion), which makes it an elite monster.
Of course, you can also stat NPCs as PCs, but the DMG advises you to do that only on exceptional cases, such as for recurring villains.
One question for those with the books:
What if I want to create adventurer adversaries for my Group.I mean, lets say I create an advnture where my group has to plunder the Grave of the four Kings of Dune. There is also another group of adventurers who wants to do the same.
Can I create this group to resemble the PC group? One rogue, one warlock etc. with powers and cool equipment as easy as you can create monsters?
Yes! In fact, there is a template in the Dungeon Master's Guide you can add to monsters in order to give them class powers. So, all you have to do is stat out the characters as monsters (or players if you want to invest time in the process) and apply this _very_ useful template to it.
Yes! In fact, there is a template in the Dungeon Master's Guide you can add to monsters in order to give them class powers. So, all you have to do is stat out the characters as monsters (or players if you want to invest time in the process) and apply this _very_ useful template to it.
The method for adding class templates is intended to make stronger (elite/solo) monsters. For creating "adventurer-like" humanoid NPCs, the NPC design presented on page 187 is more logical.
By exception based design, this article/excerpt seems to me to be logical. It does make a change from the 3.5 Monster Manual where there weren't any humans at all (although arguably you could use NPC adventurer class stats from the DMG in a pinch).
'One set of Rules for what PCs can do, several more sets for what everything else can do.' is brought home by this piece. I would like to think that someone has considered what it does for game balance when, by roleplaying, the PCs attempt to recruit such exception based design humans to act as underlings/henchman, (and possibly even want them to 'level up' along with the PCs) but I am not very optimistic as to that by this stage. Maybe it will look better if/when I see any of the 4E books.
For long-time henchmen, I would advise using classed NPCs rather than monsters, as there are no trivial rules to advance monsters more than 5 levels (~15 game sessions). The "human monsters" work best as single-encounter monsters or mooks allied with the PCs.
s a DM I am aware that players sometimes do the unexpected, and sometimes that involves PCs acting in manners likely to impact on small-time villains/monsters (in this context read 4E 'human monsters' who had been intended just for a random encounter). Sometimes the party cleric does deliver an amazing speech to a group of first-time brigands who have not gone much beyond attempted robbery thus far, and it seems likeliest that one or more of them would want to sign up with the PCs on a long-term basis, if they'll have them.
I know, I know, it could be argued that: 'the system supports exception based design, so just handwave or make up your own way to deal with this'. My counter point to that is I have been sitting here, seeing excerpts & previews for the past six months telling me that one of the design goals of 4E was to save the DM bother, reducing the number of situations and magnitude of the headaches where the PCs do...
But what headaches you will really have a DM?
By "exception-based design", it means that you have a basic, easy set of rules which cover most situations, and some additional tools to handle situations that don't occur too often.
The PCs making a monster (such as a "human bandit") their friend and making it follow them is a rare event. The PCs making the human bandit follow them for more than 15 adventures is a very rare event. The DM wanting the NPC to advance along the PCs is even more rare (most NPCs aren't "exceptional" enough to advance as PCs)
But, if this situation occurs, the systems gives you tools to handle that.
After the monster advances more than 5 levels, you make him a new monster (such as "Human super-bandit") using the monster creation rules presented on the DMG. This gives room to +5 levels to advance.
Or, as soon as the human bandit advances his first level, you make him a classed NPC using the NPC creation rules. If you try to preserve some of his old abilities, the PCs will not notice that you made a new statblock from scratch, as PCs also lose some abilities and gain others when they advance levels. For instance, when the 2th-level human bandit advances to 3rd-level, you make him a 3rd-level human rogue with the Dazing Strike exploit.
None of these two methods are a "headache" for the DM. In fact, I think both are far easier than 3.5E NPC creation.
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The lates from the 4th Edition MM
For those with no care to link
Actually, "Human" was listed as a monster in the first ed MM, of was it MM2 ?
So this is hardly groundbreaking news, though I think it makes sense.
Krauser_Levyl:
I am used to a system of D & D where, because the mechanics for everything was codified in extensive (and supposedly play-tested for balance, at least as far as the core-rules went) rules, I feel that I knew where I am for game mechanics, and when I DM this leaves me the freedom to be inventive with the story & fluff, or occasionally around the very edge of mechanics. The 4E previews, to a lesser extent, and your posts to a very much greater, are showing 4E to me as being akin to the Planescape (2nd edition AD & D) version of Limbo.... a CN constantly shifting, seething chaotic soup where there are few or no absolutes or standards*.
This argument is rather contradictory. If you want to be inventive, than a system that has "few or no absolutes or standards" may be more useful to you than a system that attempts to cover everything with a single rule.
4E presents four ways of statting NPCs.
The first is picking an existing monster and adjusting it using monster advancement and templates.
The second is using the monster creation rules.
The third is using the NPC creation rules.
And the fourth is doing exactly what you do on 3.5E: stat the NPCs as if you were statting PCs.
What that means? If you want things to work exactly like 3.5E - and you can do that, then only use the fourth method and ignore the other methods. It gives a lot work - although still probably less work than you have statting NPCs on 3.5.
I just find weird that people think that having options is worse than not having options at all.
This argument is rather contradictory. If you want to be inventive, than a system that has "few or no absolutes or standards" may be more useful to you than a system that attempts to cover everything with a single rule.4E presents four ways of statting NPCs.
The first is picking an existing monster and adjusting it using monster advancement and templates.
The second is using the monster creation rules.
The third is using the NPC creation rules.
And the fourth is doing exactly what you do on 3.5E: stat the NPCs as if you were statting PCs.
What that means? If you want things to work exactly like 3.5E - and you can do that, then only use the fourth method and ignore the other methods. It gives a lot work - although still probably less work than you have statting NPCs on 3.5.
I just find weird that people think that having options is worse than not having options at all.
(edited)
Excuse me, please, but if you looked at my previous post closely, I thought that I had moved beyond the point of the thread, to consider/realise what might be giving me qualms about 4E in general; to try to identify where my general feeling of unease about the edition may be coming from.I admitted/considered that the marketing may have been focussing on aspects of the edition which do not overall give a fair overall impression of the system; that there is a chance that there are things out there which (waiting until the legitimate release date) there was an outside possibility that I might yet discover about the system, that could, in theory, set my mind slightly more at ease.
I think we may be posting at cross-purposes here, not understanding what the other person is trying to say, so I will not post further on this issue on this thread, except to smurf if I consider necessary. :D
From the point of view of my (likely never) DM'ing 4.0, I expect the highest standards from myself, if I am running a game, and I currently consider it unlikely that I would have the energy, creativity, morale, and desire to deal with all the potential problems (which if I understand correctly you view as 'space to be creative') which I currently perceive that a 4E game would require of me to DM. Someone else posted on another thread something along the lines that they see 4E as being (like Chess) 'simple to understand but much more complex to master'. If I am a DM in a game, I expect to have a reasonable level of mastery in that game.
(Note: This is my saying that I futilely attempt perfection in some things, possibly to an unrealistically high standard, which other people may not find necessary- I often spend minutes editing and re-editing message board posts trying to be as precise as possible in what I say.)
I think your problem with 4E may be due to reading about 4E with a 3.5E mindset. But on my view... 4E is not hard at all to master. In fact, there are less things you absolutely need to know - and more guidelines.
On 3.5E, you have a system to advance characters with classes, or improve its statistics with templates. The system may technically be used to advance every intelligent creature, through the Level Adjustment rule.
A lot of people like this system, and that's understandable. There are plenty reasons to like it - the system is elegant, methodical, straightforward, and covers every case. It gives a lot of work to the DM, but it's an acceptable price for its versatility.
The problem is... the system only works on theory. It works good for some cases, bad for others, and breaks completely for others. The higher the HD of the creature, less point is on giving it class levels, as the monster's natural abilities easily overshadow these extra class abiltities.
And something that doesn't work, doesn't make a DM's job any easier. Instead, it leds to wasted time and frustration. The time used to distribute the monster's 98 skill points and 13 feats seems wasted when the monster is killed by a save-or-die spell before even acting on his initiative.
What 4E does is to admit that no single system would work on every case - and instead gives you alternate systems. Instead of one generic, complicated system, you have a number of relatively simple systems, that together cover a wide range of customization options.