Monday, July 03, 2006

Need more mooks

As I'm slogging through building baddies for my campaign I was once again reminded about how annoyed I am that the DMG doesn't have standard NPC charts for Warriors like they do for the PC classes. Has anyone out there put together a bunch of stat blocks for simple warriors? I could maybe see myself paying a buck or two for a collection of decent stat blocks. Hell, I can imagine a whole PDF product line like this. Call it Goons or Grunts or something. Each installement in the line would give you statblocks for Warriors levels 1-10, or even just 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th for a certain theme. I've used Warriors with levels in the teens, but I'm not sure if anyone else does that.

Examples:

Orcs with Falchions (like the 1st level guy in the MM)
Orcs with Double Axes
Orc Archers
Viking Raiders
Knights
Archers
Guards (you know, generic guys with spears or polearms)
Peasant Cannon Fodder (beat on some Commoners!)
Ninjas (using the Expert class)
Pirates (again using the Expert class)

Are such things available and I don't know where to look? Would anyone else pay a buck for ten or twenty statblocks full of mook? Setting aside for the moment the feasiblility of this concept as a commercial product, what if I did up some stat blocks and threw together a PDF. Would anyone download a freebie full of cheap orcs?

6 comments:

  1. If you are going to use NPC classes in the Wild Times campaign, I'd suggest adding a couple extra levels to them - as it is, NPC classes are weaker than standard classes and the PCs a built so as to be stronger than standard classes.

    Why not use the Fighter, anyway? Just don't want to mess with the Feats? You can always create a fairly standard list that doesn't require you to have to remember funky stuff in play (like Power Attack or Combat Expertise) but still provides benefit beyond what a warrior can do:
    1: Weapon Focus
    2: Improved Initiative
    4: Weapon Specialization
    6: Combat Reflexes
    8: Improved Critical
    10: Greater Weapon Focus
    12:Greater Weapon Specialization

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  2. Oh, I'm not afraid of the Fighter class, by any means. I just think that since the NPC classes are there, one should make use of them.

    In fact, I have some very nice Gith fighters just dying to make your acquaintance...

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  3. Anonymous5:18 PM

    That's a good idea. I've been contracted to write some content for the D&D web site, and I think I'll do something like that. It'd be fun and useful.

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  4. Anonymous5:18 PM

    Uh, that was me with the anonymous post above.

    - Mearls

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  5. Awesome! And the skills will tally correctly, unlike most of my builds.

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  6. Anonymous2:10 AM

    There may be some statted warriors in Skirmisher Publishing's "Warriors", although it was for 3rd edition.

    http://www.skirmisher.com/warriors01.html

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