There’s an unconscious bend in #DnD5e to assume there are a shit-ton of characters like the player characters adventuring out there. I would *STRONGLY* advise against this. The PCs are SPECIAL. They are earth-shaking heroes,NOT just another Ranger or Rogue or Cleric levelling up.I likewise personally think it's a mistake to assume that every published adventure happens in the "canonical" game world.
Your world is your world whether you're using a published setting or your own. You decide what major events happen in it, not us.
— Dan Dillon (@Dan_Dillon_1) May 2, 2021
Oh. I don’t think that at all. But every game I play in is filled with “this is Bob the 6th level rogue npc”. I want to be Conan or Sinbad, not a schmoe checking it at the 501 Thieves’ local to see how much I suck. Oh sure sure, not saying you do, but it's a related phenomenon that I think comes from the same or similar headspace.
Also, you can make NPCs the same way you would PCs, but as a DM I so much prefer using stat block style NPCs. That just makes my life so much easier.
— Dan Dillon (@Dan_Dillon_1) May 2, 2021
Like, why make a rogue PC-style NPC when you can just use the Assassin stat block? Easy to just drop on any individual features you want it to have from the rogue class if it's that important.
— Dan Dillon (@Dan_Dillon_1) May 2, 2021