NPCs (monsters) with items

[mattcolville]

I ran a big session last week, epic combat, and I'm trying to determine "how hard would this be to do in FG?"

One thing I did was give a Mind Flayer the Hand of Vecna.

So in FG I grab a Mind Flayer and I try dragging "the hand and eye of vecna" onto it and nothing happens. Doesn't seem to matter where I drag it. I try this with some less complex items, nothing happens. By "nothing happens" I mean "the item appears nowhere on the sheet."

Then I realize that NPCs have no "items" field. There seems to be no way to give an NPC/Monster an item. This is another one of those "this really seems like it should work, given how often enemies in D&D have items" so I'm hoping it's just something obvious I'm missing.

I guess I should add that the reason I want to do this, apart from wanting a monsters items to show up on their sheet, is that if the item grants something like a spell, I'd expect using the item on the NPC sheet would use the NPCs stats.

Again, I searched for this but couldn't find an answer. I gave up after a couple of searches because it made me wait a minute between each search. :/

[LordEntrails]

As you noted, NPC's don't have item objects. The assumption is that if you want an NPC to have an item, you indicate such in the relevant story entry and then update the NPC stat block and actions accordingly.

Think of the NPC record as a quick reference stat block. It doesn't have all the capabilities of a PC, as in general once you create an NPC is doesn't evolve and need to be managed.

You could create your Mind Flayer as a PC, take ownership of it, and then change it to enemy in the CT. Or, as I usually do for very special NPCs, create it as a PC in my development campaign, then create an NPC and cut and paste the actions from the PC entry to the NPC entry.

Someday it would be nice if you could convert back and forth between PC's and NPC's, or that they have the same record capabilities. But they don't yet.

[Talyn]

What I've done so far is to put the "loot" that NPC has into a Parcel, then plop the link to that parcel in the formatted text box of the NPC so I can get to it quick.

[Andraax]

If you want to have the item handy, drag and drop the link into the "Other" tab. Then you can make any necessary adjustments to stats, attacks, etc.

[L. R. Ballard]

As you noted, NPC's don't have item objects. The assumption is that if you want an NPC to have an item, you indicate such in the relevant story entry and then update the NPC stat block and actions accordingly.

Think of the NPC record as a quick reference stat block. It doesn't have all the capabilities of a PC, as in general once you create an NPC is doesn't evolve and need to be managed.

You could create your Mind Flayer as a PC, take ownership of it, and then change it to enemy in the CT. Or, as I usually do for very special NPCs, create it as a PC in my development campaign, then create an NPC and cut and paste the actions from the PC entry to the NPC entry.

Someday it would be nice if you could convert back and forth between PC's and NPC's, or that they have the same record capabilities. But they don't yet.

As a role-player since the mid-1980s, I've always made humanoid NPCs like PCs, i.e., with magic items, inventory, weapon and nonweapon proficiencies in 2e, and, later, skills and feats in 3e. Your recent suggestion to me to build an NPC as a PC first, then transfer stats to the NPC card, is reasonable as a workaround. But I agree with Matt that it seems like items should work for NPCs.

Is a possible solution to establish two categories of PC stat cards, so that a DM can click a button to treat the PC stat card as an NPC, i.e., hide the character on the map and do all the other things that an NPC typically does by default? That would be high on my wish list.

P.S.: I realize that that solution won't work for Matt's example since the mind flayer begins as an NPC. So, it appears that developing the NPC stat card would take higher priority than creating a second kind of PC stat card.

[L. R. Ballard]

If you want to have the item handy, drag and drop the link into the "Other" tab. Then you can make any necessary adjustments to stats, attacks, etc.

Could the NPC be potentially encumbered?

[L. R. Ballard]

What I've done so far is to put the "loot" that NPC has into a Parcel, then plop the link to that parcel in the formatted text box of the NPC so I can get to it quick.

Does the NPC record track the weight of the items in the parcel toward the NPC's encumbrance?

[Zacchaeus]

Could the NPC be potentially encumbered?

It is your game. If you want to encumber an NPC then do so.

[L. R. Ballard]

It is your game. If you want to encumber an NPC then do so.

Does the NPC record track the weight of an added item as it does in a PC stat card?

[Zacchaeus]

Does the NPC record track the weight of an added item as it does in a PC stat card?

No. Until you mentioned it I doubt anyone has ever thought of encumbering an NPC.