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View Full Version : The Nameless NPCs



afroakuma
2009-06-22, 11:21 PM
They form the vast bulk of the population and color your towns, your cities and your nations. From the lowliest farmboy to the mightiest wizard, everything that is not a PC is implicitly a non-player character under the DM's control.

However, these entities lack diversity and flavor in statistical terms. What distinguishes the farmboy from the schoolboy from the shop boy? What's the difference between a farmboy and a farmhand?

For whatever role you think a common NPC might play, please post your opinion on the role, its class level mix, its race and whether it should use the standard "all 10s" array or the nonelite array.

My own few:

{table=head]Role|Level|Race|Array
Farmboy|Com1|Human|S
Farmer|Com1/Exp2|Human|S
Farmgirl|Com1|Human|S
Farmhand|Com2|Human|S
Farmwife|Com2/Exp1|Human|S
Rascal|Com 1|Human|S
Rowdy|Com1|Human|S
Shop Boy|Com1|Human|S[/Table]

bosssmiley
2009-06-23, 05:07 AM
Commoner: 1 racial HD. Yokel accent. 3d6 in order. Reskin and add professional abilities as required.

edit: to add character to the peons I just make a couple of random rolls on NPC trait tables and go from there.

Shademan
2009-06-23, 05:15 AM
well you always have the soldiers and guards... i just call them "insert city/nation name Fodder"

afroakuma
2009-06-23, 07:36 AM
Yes, but what about giving those encounters some character? What if your party goes off-rails and decides to pick a fight with the fat guard, the skinny guard and the plump lady with the hens?

And what about the other generic NPCs, those in PC classes that just aren't interesting enough to have been fully statted? What qualifies as an "Acolyte?" An "Apprentice?"