This is split from the thread "Orcs removed from the D&D 6E Monster Manual?!"

It's about how NPCs are statted in D&D. Specifically here I mean NPCs of PC-available races like dwarf, elf, and human.

Quote from: Ratman_tf on February 01, 2025, 08:41:26 PM

Quote from: jhkim on February 01, 2025, 12:02:06 PM

Quote from: Ratman_tf on February 01, 2025, 02:39:46 AM

Quote from: jhkim on February 01, 2025, 12:39:08 AMRight. And there has never been a generic stat block for "human". And as of 5E (2014), we also didn't have separate stat blocks for "elf", "dwarf", "halfling" and so on. Instead, we had stat blocks for different types of NPCs based on profession like "bandit", "cultist", "guard" - and it was noted that the GM could add racial traits to them.

https://archive.org/details/tsr02102mc1monstrouscompendium/page/n91/mode/2up

Ratman_tf, that's exactly what I'm saying. You linked to a Monstrous Compendium section that has six separate stat blocks for "Aborigines/Cavemen", "Adventurers"*, "Bandits/Brigands"*, "Barbarians/Nomads", "Berserkers/Dervishes", and "Farmers/Herders". (And the two starred ones have a lot of stats that are "variable" based on description.)

There's never been a stat block for plain "human". It depends on the type, because humans are too variable.

But they weren't lumped in with "Humanoids". Because humans are distinct from Orcs and Elves and Dwarves. Or at least they weren't.

Here's the progression in more detail:

1) In the original Monster Manual (1977), there is a generic stat block for "dwarf" and "elf", but humans instead have multiple stat blocks depending on their type like "bandit" or "merchant". The "dwarf" and "elf" entries also note that there could be ones with class levels. e.g. "For every 40 dwarves in a group there will be a fighter of 2nd through 6th level". A dwarf fighter presumably ignores the MM stat block and instead is treated like a PC, like using the "fighter" table instead of the 1HD monster table.

2) The 3E MM also has a generic "dwarf" and "elf" entry but no entry for humans of any sort. Instead, there are NPC rules in the DMG that give stat blocks depending on class, and modifiers to change the stat block based on race. There were also NPC-only classes like "Commoner" that allowed for non-heroic NPCs that still could be written up using the PC rules.

3) The 4E MM did away with generic stats for any race. Instead, each entry like "dwarf" or "elf" or "human" has multiple stat entries like "elf archer" and "elf scout". I'm actually not sure how NPC adventurers were supposed to be handled.

4) In 5th edition (2014), they did away with NPCs being generated by PC rules. Instead, NPCs should just be written up as stat blocks without having to conform to the rules for PCs. The 5E MM had no entries under "dwarf" or "elf" or "human", but instead had a separate section for NPC stat blocks. NPC stat blocks are generic to race, there is just "scout" that is described as "Medium Humanoid (Any Race), Any Alignment". The DM is instructed to modify it for an elven scout versus a halfling scout vs a human scout.

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Personally, I have problems with all of the approaches.

The 3E approach is rough for me because it is way too heavy on the bookkeeping. Statting out all NPCs as PCs is a major pain.

However, the 5E approach is too loosey-goosey for me - especially for spell-using classes. In order to do world-building, I want to have predictable rules for how NPC spell-casters work compared to PC spell-casters. For example, what does it mean to have a few clerics in a town? I ended up assuming that NPCs largely did follow the PC rules for background purposes, and I usually wrote up NPCs using the PC rules.

The 1E approach has less of a bookkeeping problem because the rules are simpler. Still, even in 1E, it is tricky statting out a medium or high-level spellcaster using the PC rules. Also, without something like NPC-only classes, some NPCs are an awkward fit that seem shoe-horned into PC classes and rules - like Lady Virginia Weathermay being statted as a 2nd level fighter.

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My ideal would be to have something like 3E's NPC-only classes, so that there are predictable rules for what an NPC can do at different levels of power. However, these should be designed for easier write-up rather than following the rules for PCs (particularly at higher levels).