New 'Dungeons & Dragons' Supplement Adds Tons of Useful NPCs
A new supplement for Dungeons & Dragons provides statblocks for over 50 new NPCs as well as four [...]
A new supplement for Dungeons & Dragons provides statblocks for over 50 new NPCs as well as four new NPC classes to give DMs the tools to build their own unique NPCs for future campaigns.
Earlier this week, Adam Hancock released Slinker, Sailor, Soldier, Spy on the DMs Guild. The new supplement contains statblocks for 52 types of NPCs that can be adapted into just about any classic Dungeons & Dragons campaign. The opening paragraph of the supplement notes that Dungeons & Dragons currently has only 149 NPC stat blocks spread throughout its many Fifth Edition publications. That's not a lot of options for a DM, especially if they have a party that tends to drag their NPCs into combat. After all, a good DM knows that any social encounter can quickly switch into combat, and that it's good to have some stats ready in case a party member attempts to charm a monarch or suddenly stab that shady merchant.
The NPCs of Slinker, Sailor, Soldier, Spy run the gamut from the typical cat burglar to the powerful high mage and hellspawn warrior. The NPCs have challenge ratings ranging from 1/8 to 14, meaning there's plenty of options for low to mid-level campaigns. Several of these NPCs can easily be tweaked to become "unique" bad guys, especially if you're looking for a powerful spellcaster to vex your party.
The second half of the book contains rules on how to build a custom NPC using one of four NPC classes - the burglar, mage, priest, and warrior. These are deliberately incompatible with player characters and are instead used to give a template for scaling an NPC to a party. Hancock explains that he attempted to "reverse engineer" the Wizards of the Coast stat blocks so that players can make NPCs with equivalent abilities and power progressions as "official" NPCs. I found this tool to be quite handy, especially if you want an NPC to grow more powerful as a campaign moves along.
Slinker, Sailor, Soldier, Spy is a useful supplement for DMs who need more stat blocks in their back pocket. One can never have too many NPCs, and this supplement can be a huge help when crafting future encounters.
Slinker, Sailor, Soldier, Spy can be purchased for $8.95 on the DMs Guild.
