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Adversaries & Allies

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Suggested Price $2.00

Foes, Friends, Followers

Expanding on the 5th Edition Monster Manual, here are over 50 new non-player characters to populate the world of your 5E game!

In the pages of Adversaries & Allies, you'll find:

  • New spellcasters to advise and oppose your party, from the Enchanter, Skald, and Loremaster to the strange and sinister Necromancer, Diabolist, and Eldritch Cult Leader.
  • NPC versions of iconic PC classes, like the Bard, Cleric, Monk, Ranger, and Rogue.
  • A host of supporting cast that goes beyond the generic commoner, guard, and noble to include the City Watch, Expert, Merchant, Ruler, Scholar, and others.
  • And more!

I'm pleased to offer this document with over 30 printer-friendly pages of new NPCs as a pay-what-you-want item, including an introduction and design notes. I hope my fellow Dungeon Masters will come to find it as indispensable as I do.

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Reviews (23)
Discussions (13)
Customer avatar
Callum S October 23, 2019 8:00 am UTC
PURCHASER
This is amazing. Any chance you’re doing any more like this?
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Customer avatar
Dan L October 24, 2019 6:36 pm UTC
CREATOR
Thank you so much! I'm working - slowly! - on a revised and expanded version of this, and I have a couple of collections of themed NPCs in the works.
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Customer avatar
Callum S October 25, 2019 5:34 pm UTC
PURCHASER
I can’t wait. This is genuinely one of my favourite pieces on here.
Customer avatar
Christopher B February 01, 2018 9:04 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Hi, the updated download link says v1.4, but when you download the file, it says v1.3.
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Customer avatar
Jayme A February 13, 2018 1:06 am UTC
PURCHASER
I have the same problem. Link says 1.4, the download is 1.3. But only for the PDF. The 1.4 DOCX download seems to be fine.
Customer avatar
Alexander S February 01, 2018 3:49 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Just saw this was updated. Any notes on what has changed since the last version? Thanks!
Customer avatar
Kurt T January 05, 2018 6:09 am UTC
PURCHASER
I regularly use this and highly recommend it. A real go-to!
Customer avatar
Brice Z November 15, 2016 5:13 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Hi, Dan

I have purchased your product. Do you have any xml files available for Game Master 5?
Customer avatar
Jody J June 09, 2016 6:35 pm UTC
PURCHASER
This product has been added to the DMs Guild Creature Index. http://www.dmsguild.com/product/184543/DMs-Guild-Creature-Index
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Customer avatar
Dan L June 10, 2016 3:13 am UTC
CREATOR
Awesome. Thank you!
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Customer avatar
J. Michael L July 28, 2016 8:03 am UTC
PURCHASER
I don't see this Creature Index.
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Customer avatar
Jody J July 29, 2016 12:23 am UTC
PURCHASER
The Index was removed for not adding value to the community.
Customer avatar
May 01, 2016 8:58 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Hey, just wondering if im ok to use this in my campaign blog, along with other items you've uploaded provided i link back to the purchase page
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Customer avatar
Dan L May 03, 2016 9:22 pm UTC
CREATOR
Absolutely, and I'm pleased you find it useful enough to want to use this way.
Customer avatar
Tim B April 27, 2016 6:51 pm UTC
PURCHASER
FYI, I created a simple index combining the NPCs from Adversaries & Allies and the Monster Manual. Feel free to incorporate it in the document (no need to credit me unless you really want to, and if you do, use the "compiled by" line's text as-is, styling doesn't have to be the same though) or just use at your own leisure. Second page includes the text "raw" so you can use it to your own ends regarding incorporating NPC listings in other works.

http://www.neuronphaser.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Adversaries-Allies_MM_combined-NPC-index.pdf
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Customer avatar
Tim B April 28, 2016 4:11 pm UTC
PURCHASER
I think Adept is missing from the NPCs by CR table at the end. I made sure to add it in my document linked above.
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Customer avatar
Dan L May 03, 2016 9:18 pm UTC
CREATOR
Good catch. Fixed in the latest update.

(And that's quite a nice document you've compiled, and very useful.)
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Customer avatar
Tim B May 06, 2016 12:59 am UTC
PURCHASER
Thanks! Glad to help out.
Customer avatar
Gaëtan P April 23, 2016 6:25 am UTC
PURCHASER
I really appreciate the ridiculous amount of work that goes into building this many rational NPCs.

I like the last page with the "by CR" grouping, but would also really like to see a grouping "by caster level". Possibly even "caster level + type".

You spend some time on pages 34-35 going through this, but some basic chart would be extra helpful. Especially if you included a MM reference to people in the "family" so that I knew where to find both the Adept and the Archmage and everything in between.
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Customer avatar
Dan L May 03, 2016 9:07 pm UTC
CREATOR
That's a solid idea. Let me put a pin in that for a later update.
Customer avatar
March 31, 2016 8:09 pm UTC
Does it also include high level npcs? I need to ham my players :)
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Customer avatar
Dan L April 04, 2016 3:48 pm UTC
CREATOR
Kinda. :) Challenge ratings range from 0 to 10, and a few of the spellcasters are designed using high-level PCs as the template - but the high character levels don't always translate to high challenge ratings. It's just one of the quirks of CR math.

What's not included are varying power levels for each NPC type, which I know some folks have wanted to see. It's something I might do at some point as a follow-up resource, if there seems to be enough demand.
Customer avatar
Robyn K February 28, 2016 6:14 pm UTC
PURCHASER
For your Cleric entry, you have a number of spells (Death Ward, Raise Dead, Mass Cure Wounds) listed at the wrong level.
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Customer avatar
Dan L February 28, 2016 9:05 pm UTC
CREATOR
And so I do! Thanks for the catch; I'll make the fix for that the next time I do an update.
Customer avatar
Mike S February 13, 2016 1:04 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Hi Dan! I love this product. 5e really needed a bunch of new NPC stat blocks and this is a perfect fit for that need. Any chance we could have a list of NPCs by challenge rating? I find a list like that to be really useful when selecting the right NPCs to challenge PCs at a certain level. Thanks again for this. It's excellent.
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Customer avatar
Dan L February 14, 2016 4:07 pm UTC
CREATOR
Hey, Mike! Thanks for the great feedback. A list by challenge rating is a fine idea; I'll see if I can add that to the file the next time I do an update.
Customer avatar
Tim B February 09, 2016 8:08 am UTC
PURCHASER
Quick question and I saw your note about challenge rating, but in one NPC, an 11th level spell caster is a CR 2, a battle Mage is a 9th level caster but CR 6. The priests are 8 or 9th level and CR 2 as well. Are these typos to have an 11th level only a CR 2 while a 9 level is a 6?
Reply
Customer avatar
Dan L February 09, 2016 2:37 pm UTC
CREATOR
Hi, Tim! Thanks for your question. I was also mildly surprised to find out that, because of the way Challenge Rating is calculated, caster level and CR don't map to each other in any consistent way. CR depends a whole lot on AC and damage-per-round, so unless the spellcaster has a powerful evocation like a fireball (especially one that scales with level, which is one way it DOES affect the challenge), they're likely to be slotted down on the lower end of the CR scale regardless of level. (This, by the way, is one reason why I only pay passing attention to CR in my own games, and focus much more on specific powers I know will give my players trouble. Fear effects, for instance, are likely to take the wind out of one of the party's tanks, who doesn't tend to do well on her Wis saves - which goes to show that you can make clever and effective use of creature abilities that might not have much effect on CR.)
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Customer avatar
Tim B February 10, 2016 2:18 am UTC
PURCHASER
Thanks for the reply...I'm enjoying the PDF and already have a couple I'm going to use in my next sessions. Makes my prep time shorter having these available...thanks!
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Platinum seller
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38
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File Last Updated:
January 31, 2018
This title was added to our catalog on January 30, 2016.