I'm shocked that with this considerable pool of talent we have here that we just can't whip up a small online project to make up some general stat blocks and sort them by challenge and job. Like a small stat block for a "weenie fighty type", and another for "tough spellslinger".

There was something of that sort available by ENWorld member "Dr. Skull" - a series of NPC cards describing fighters, various bandits, warriors, etc. I have these materials archived somewhere with a number of alterations and additions (alternate spell lists for wizards, etc.), but making them available for the public may not be an ethical thing to do without permission.

Quote from: Dr Rotwang!Yeah, but I'm still shamed.

Dude, forgot about it.  I was playing D&D for like a million years before I said to myself "Hey, I'll just use this hobgoblin for the human guards.  The players will never know the difference."

Quote from: JamesVI'm shocked that with this considerable pool of talent we have here that we just can't whip up a small online project to make up some general stat blocks and sort them by challenge and job. Like a small stat block for a "weenie fighty type", and another for "tough spellslinger".

May I recommend:

D20 NPC Wiki

d100 NPCs thread @ ENWorld

For most of my games nowadays, I have the time to put a lot of prep work into my games.  So, I generally stick to the rules and make reasonable allies and adversaries.  I figured out the art of fudging it a long time ago, though, and I freely and frequently pull reasonable stats out of the air when I need to.

For my Wilderlands game, I seldom bother using full NPC stats.  Most of their encounters are with creatures, and most of those are either in pre-made modules or via random encounter table.  Thanks for the link to the d20 wiki - that will help a LOT.

For my other game, I'm running Arcana Evolved.  This presents 3 challenges... (1) AE characters tend to be more involved than normal D&D characters, (2) there's not near as much web support out there, and (3) due to the nature of the campaign, the party is much more likely to run afoul of NPCs and creatures with class levels.  Fortunately, both Diamondthrone.com and Fiery Dragon put together wonderful NPC charts like the 3.0 DMG used to have, with every base class and sub-class listed.  I freely make use of these.

I also do what Pseudo does - I re-use a lot of my stuff.  I made detailed base stats for Chorrim Warriors and Warmains, leveled all the way up to 14, along with sub-variants like Wyvern Riders, Archer Corps, and what passes for their magic (well, anti-magic) corps.  I have used them often since then.  I've done similar with Rhodin and Skurg.  It's way easier to pull a 10th-level unfettered out of thin air if you already have stats for a 7th-level one.

-O

Quote from: Caesar SlaadMay I recommend...

Well color me wrong

Hail Caesar!

Skip past the German part

Are you the author?

Erm, nope, actually got there through one of your blog posts.

My solution would look slightly different...

Quote from: SosthenesSkip past the German part

Unless you read German...like me.

Warum sind die d20 stats auf Englisch?  Is that something I've not noticed before in non-English speaking gamers?

Most German D&D gamers just buy the original products, so when it comes to game terms we're clearly more used to English terms. Most of the time it also sounds cooler, both because foreign languages always do and because some of the translations are beyond awkward. (And always have been. First edition AD&D translated torch with the equivalent of flashlight)

Quote from: SosthenesMost German D&D gamers just buy the original products, so when it comes to game terms we're clearly more used to English terms. Most of the time it also sounds cooler, both because foreign languages always do and because some of the translations are beyond awkward. (And always have been. First edition AD&D translated torch with the equivalent of flashlight)

LOL on the flashlight, I can see some issues come up there...someone had a British English/Germen dictionary.  Of course I once asked for instant coffee and couldn't come up with anything better than "sofortig loeslich Kaffee."