Another question from a newb

[enyggma514]

How do you guys come up with stats for badguys? Do you have some generic stats for random encounters and such? Or do you make stats for every individual creature. For example if you were going to have yor pcs fight a group of Kobolds would you make up stats for each one or come up with a set of stats for all of them?

[Adam of the Old Kingdom]

generic stats.

except for leaders and special guys, bosses or such, mooks will likely only be as good as there WP and HtH type and level.

if you table ise it, you can throw in the PP dice so you can roll or decide if a bonus is apt at the time.

[Veknironth]

Well, in general just figure out a decent number for the badguy and assign it to all of them. Eventually, sharp players are going to realize how many HP the guys have and will start adding up the damage in their heads. Of course, these are minor encounters meant to essentially show how tough the PC's are and to gear them up for (or soften them up for) the big baddies.

-Vek
"Generic answer."

[The Dark Elf]

I do generic stats for thugs and such. namely +1 to str, par, dod, dam at low levels and increase these all by 1 when they get mid then high then very high etc... If the thugs are armed, add str & par bonuses from WPs on top.

Always role stats for named as u need to know what spells they have etc.

If u want to make one on one fights in a finale good then look at your PC's stats and match them or give boss more HP, less damage or the like. Works great!

[RockJock]

Twhaley has a great idea. I wish I had the time and inclination to build up that sort of database. I usually go with the basic fighting stats, and something similar to the quick stat option for the leaders, and sergeants in the group. If the group is more powerful, or the bad guys are suppose to be I say the thugs took boxing, so an extra attack, maybe have improved weapons, so a +1, or +2 to parry, strike, and/or damage.

[Northern Ranger]

I generally just base the stats of villains on the bonuses and such of my players characters. If I want the fight to be a challenge, I match them or perhaps make certain monsters a little tougher than the characters, if I want the heroes to breeze through I make the monsters wusses. It works pretty well, but you have a good working knowledge of the characters in your group. (The sheets aren't always available for you to look at when your writing up the encounters!)

[Natalya]

Ditto as all above.

To make sure that I'm giving a fair challenge, I will review everyone's character sheets upon occasion, and I track their combat stats, special abilities, level, ect.

For middle of the road combat, I use the stats of the "middle" PC. That way, the bricks have it easier (which is what they are designed for), the wimps have to think creatively or have their butts handed to them, and the middle PCs are equitably challenged. I also have a couple of lists of commonly known spells and common psionics for generic mages and/or psychics (though I'm not above pulling a handy spell or psionic ability out of memory if it's reasonably leveled).

Sometimes I'll throw in a possible "wimp" combat with low-statted NPCs, but my PCs (bless their hearts ) have always opted to find a way of talking their way out of the situation instead of going for the easy slaughter.

The bosses though.....it will be tough. Though a lot of it depends on whether I want the bosses to live through the first encounter. So you've got hard (either bonuses slightly above the brick, or magic, or psionics, or any combination of the above) with a few bodyguards, or you've got insanely hard.

[enyggma514]

Thanks for the advice. I've previously only run D20 games so this is all new to me. I think I'm definatly going to use the "monster manual" idea seeing as how it will probably help me understand some of the rules better.

I'll also probably do that with my Rifts stuff as well. Thanks for the advice! and keep it coming.

[Adam of the Old Kingdom]

I see.

PB distributes it's Feats and class abilities differently.

BAB is now part of HtH and WPs as well as a couple of other skills, like boxing. some Feats are part of WPs and others are OCC abilities.
that is how I see the structure of special abilities in the 2 rule sets.

so making a table of HtH, then add WPs, anbd cut it down to Level 1-3, 4 -6, and 7+ (I think) that should cover the major phases of development. then as I said, understand or note the attributes of the race and you can have 3 lines on a table to cover NPC grunts from level 1 to 8.
good for most random encounters. for a fair few sessions.

[Goliath Strongarm]

Well, when I was running PF, I had a book that had about 130 NPCs, plus a folder on my computer that had another 300 or so. Unfortunately, that computer has gone the way of the dodo bird. But, for generic baddies, I had one full one made up, and just used a the same one, with a few different sets of HP tracking.

For specific NPCs, that I wanted a long, drawn out fight, or something similar, I would use a full sheet just for them. Nothing says lovin like that level 15 assassin, who has 1 level in diabolist (to protect his hideout), and a bunch of scrolls (modified with power wards! mwahahhahahahahahahhahahahahahahahaha)

[Adam of the Old Kingdom]

oh yes, just as Goliath said, full stats for Bosses, and significant NPCs.

[verdilak]

Yes, as stated, full stats for the important ones. If you come across 5 whatever, I just roll up stuff once and make all 5 the same. Now sometimes, I like to overwhelm my players with 200+ orgs, goblins, ect. but I usually make the hp/sdc equal 10 or less so its more about slash and fight then anything else, and usually make the dmg the lowest it could be, like give all the goblins hp/sdc 10 and dmg of 2 each. Makes things fun when I'm looking for a nice little hacklust.