PDA

View Full Version : NPC Xperience.



Thames
2012-12-05, 09:16 PM
In 3.5 I recall something in the dmg about surviving a year for an NPC is a CR1 encounter. Which is pretty neat because it gives me a benchmark on how fast unimpressive NPCs (and PCs who do a really bad job) should progress in level.
What I was wondering is: Is the XP given to an NPC straight up or divided amongst his community, because they survived the year together (thus overcoming the CR together)? And is there a PF equivalent?

Erik Vale
2012-12-05, 10:00 PM
What I was wondering is: Is the XP given to an NPC straight up or divided amongst his community, because they survived the year together (thus overcoming the CR together)? And is there a PF equivalent?

But then again, he has to survive in comunity life, one full of murderers, merchants, and enforced jobs.

But it now explanes how in DnD people are supposed to be level one about 92% of the time.

nedz
2012-12-05, 10:50 PM
NPCs get levels at the speed of plot.

Which is to say: as fast as the DM wants.

graymagiker
2012-12-06, 12:44 AM
NPCs get levels at the speed of plot.

What he said.

Thames
2012-12-06, 11:43 AM
I am the GM. And I am trying to come up with a baseline with regards to age. I figure I can use that to lend some consistency to the game and use it to figure out how to mark extraordinary NPCs within the game.

Now, a CR1 encounter awards 400xp which would have an NPC at level 2 in 2 and a half years. Assuming they don't start receiving XP until adulthood (barring the extraordinary) and that adulthood starts at 12ish, then they'd be level 2 by 17ish and level 3 by 29ish.

So, if we further assume that all races achieve adulthood at the same rate (no centuries long childhood for elves), modified minorly for any inherent racial intelligence modifiers (so a +2 INT would mean adulthood achieved at 14-17 and -2 INT mean 8-10). There then comes along the problem of how to allocate XP to the longer lived races.

I'm hoping that this won't take their average level too high, even though I want it higher than the younger races. I'm pretty sure that shouldn't happen with only a CR1 though. (I also wish to be able to award the PCs XP if they elect to take a few years off at various points, without it being an enticement to do so)

locutus
2012-12-06, 12:14 PM
You are more ambitious than I. I've just declared that 1 in 10 person has a level, and that of those, 1 in 9 is level 2, of those, 1 in 8 is level 3 etc. It works fairly well in my city of 900k people, up to about level 9 or 10, at which point level is related to how much land there is in your fief. Of course, Your looking for a greater degree of verisimilitude, and I might jsut adopt whatever you come up with!

nedz
2012-12-06, 12:18 PM
If you want a simulationist approach then the NPCs CR appropriate encounters arrival should have a random distribution. This means that their levels should have a Gaussian distribution.

They ought to have some CR inappropriate encounters too, but that just attenuates the distribution curve.

This should mean that most NPCs are 1st level, quite how you vary the proportions is setting dependant — just how dangerous is the world ?

If you stick to a flat distribution curve then you won't have any high level NPCs for your players to interact with, even when they are high level.

tyckspoon
2012-12-06, 01:20 PM
Now, a CR1 encounter awards 400xp which would have an NPC at level 2 in 2 and a half years. Assuming they don't start receiving XP until adulthood (barring the extraordinary) and that adulthood starts at 12ish, then they'd be level 2 by 17ish and level 3 by 29ish.


FWIW, the SRD actually gives 'Adulthood' ages for all of the base races- Humans are officially 'adult' at 15 + a random factor depending on the class they choose, representing the time they needed to get that 1st level as something useful instead of remaining a Commoner.


If you stick to a flat distribution curve then you won't have any high level NPCs for your players to interact with, even when they are high level.

High level NPCs should either be involved in adventuring or have gotten adventuring-quality challenges and XP sometime in their past, IMO; they're outside the kinds of basic systems OP is talking about. One simply does not become high level through regular life.