Question for DMs

>>54359560
Depends on how important they are. The more presence said NPC has on the overall structure of the game, the more likely I am to build a full character, level by level.

>>54359580
This. Main villain gets a sheet, most other npcs fall into some npc category where they just take their stats out of the MM or whatever. Also stealing premade stats for a character of their level and class works well.

>>54359647

I've kind of fallen into the loop of knowing what I want out of someone who needs to be a threat to the party. Their BAB, their AC, their HP, and their saves.

Then I just make up what they had on them after the PCs win.

Does this make me a bad person

I don't usually make a sheet and level them like a character, just because most of my villains aren't pc classes, I usually tend to make up custom abilities for them.
I like my big boss fights to have multiple phases, with the bosses being able to take a couple of actions a turn, as well as having the terrain changing throughout the fight and sometimes adding some followers for the villain, keeps thing interesting in what can be a long fight against one enemy.

>>54359670
No, at least as long as they never figure out. Basically you want the players to always THINK you stated these guys out in detail, even if there is nothing that could be further from the truth.

>>54359756
I think sometimes its actually better not to nail down all of the details, and figure things out during the fight, depending on how things are going. If the fight has gone on long enough, and its just going to be a couple boring rounds of hitting a cc'd enemy till he dies, I have him die fast, if the fight is going to easy, I make it harder.

>>54359802

God bless the DM screen