For Lost Cairns of the Savages the men (Half-bloods) are the monsters. What i did was qualify them as the following types and built a basic template for each type:

(I wont spoil anything here)

1. Braves- these are low level scouts and sentries- they have mastery of bows and small thrown weapons. They are essentially 2-3rd level. They will have Very low amounts of valuable treasure. They exist as a “monster” template only.

2. Warriors- these are your everyday fighters, they make up the bulk of warbands. They are essentially 4-6 level fighters and have mastery of bows, thrown weapons and melee weapons they will have a small amount of valuable treasure. They too exist as a “monster” template only.

3. Elites - these are warband leaders 1-2 for every full warband. They are 6-7 level fighters have grand mastery of a variety of weapons based on their level and specific place within the tribal society. They have more valuable treasure and may carry a (shaman) blessed magical item.these guys have built personalities and are feature NPC / monsters. They have a “monster” template but also a brief description and tactics they may employ.

4. Shaman acolytes- these are low level spell users of a variety of classes depending on their specific place in the tribal society. They may be witches, shamen, clerics or really any of the available classes. They will have low monetary treasure but will carry a small holy item, totem or relic based on their purpose. They accompany warbands. They have a “monster” template but have a brief description and tactic.

5. Shamen- these are higher level holy/sorcerous elites, they are rare, 1-2 per tribe. Again they may be of any spell using class and built individually to serve a specific purpose within the campaign. These are full fledged NPCs with a near complete character sheet.

6. Chief- they are high level fighter classes and are built individually as leaders of specific tribes. They are very few in number and report directly to the over all big bad. They have personalities and are full character NPCs.

7. Big bad and minions- super secret but built individually and given traits that serve a specific purpose in the overall campaign. Really nasty foes.

In conclusion i have done a bit of both, stated the lower levels out as “monster” and also built specific “personalites” to trigger the PC’s to remember (hate, loath, hunt etc) individuals who are more memorable.

So how do you all work spell lists for NPC spellcasters - including the all important (to PCs as least) spellbooks?

Brock Savage wrote:

I simply don't have the time to go through the hassle of creating fully fleshed leveled NPCs from scratch. When necessary I re-skin and tweak existing monster and NPCs profiles to my liking.

That's how I feel as well. If there's a necromancer class in a game, I'm not about to go to the trouble of creating a "necromancer" monster as well. I might add extra powers or bonus spells (or whatever) to the basic class though.

But I freely confess to being lazy. If someone feels less languid about the subject, by all means go for it.

Spider of Leng wrote:

Throw in some dark gods and cult magic and everything has a simple explanation.

Indeed: the players (and their PCs) don't know everything...heck, no one does, including the Ref. 

Chainsaw wrote:

Blackadder23 wrote:

If there's a necromancer class in a game, I'm not about to go to the trouble of creating a "necromancer" monster as well. I might add extra powers or bonus spells (or whatever) to the basic class though.

But I freely confess to being lazy. If someone feels less languid about the subject, by all means go for it.

I'm probably misunderstanding you, but for me, formally classing an NPC seems like more work (and more limiting) than jotting down the few stats I know I'll need for the situation and whatever abilities I want. Again, probably misunderstanding you.

I already created a quick method of putting together NPCs of 1st-12th levels for my encounter tables. If I want more variety, I just take one of the class kits from Waifs of the Boreas and modify it to be a higher level.
I actually did a lot of work on those, so I'm going to get as much use out of them as possible!

Chainsaw wrote:

Blackadder23 wrote:

I already created a quick method of putting together NPCs of 1st-12th levels for my encounter tables.

That addresses the time issue, but I personally don't like using PC class rules if we're talking about humans used as monsters. I'll assign them whatever abilities I want. Anyway, no biggie. 

"blackadder23" wrote:

I actually did a lot of work on those, so I'm going to get as much use out of them as possible!

Makes total sense.

Good deal.