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Kel_Arath
2007-04-04, 08:27 PM
if the party were to encounter a (dungeon/castle/keep) with alot of guards/general NPC's, with class levels. what should be the ratio of wizard, cleric, fighter, ranger, rogue?

Quietus
2007-04-04, 08:51 PM
Whatever is approximately the right mix to make it fit with the story.

melchizedek
2007-04-04, 08:55 PM
What class levels are the PCs?

dukexx
2007-04-04, 08:55 PM
Fighter>rogue>ranger>cleric>wizard.

my 2cp

Inyssius Tor
2007-04-04, 09:08 PM
If we're talking a standard, mundane keep... I would make almost all the enemies warriors, with one or two fighters per encounter. Near the chapel and/or hospital, there would be a mid-power cleric or two. Depending on how war-oriented the fortress is, there could be a single powerful wizard studying in his chambers, and several apprentices sprinkled around; alternatively, there could be one unit (five or six) of mid-power wizards near the main garrison. As for rogues: the establishment frowns on them. Perhaps a few of the servants, staff, and courtiers have rogue levels, and some of the guards (let's say seven percent) took a one-level dip into rogue.

asqwasqw
2007-04-04, 09:13 PM
I don't think any would be ranger, instead have warriors with the appropriate feats. Unless they are urban rangers...

Matthew
2007-04-07, 09:12 PM
I don't know. The odd Ranger probably wouldn't be out of place, especially if the Keep is located in the wilderness. A Master of the Hunt or Forest Warden might be a Ranger, as might the Keeper of the Hounds or somesuch.

Yes, NPCs should generally have NPC Classes and levels. Something like 1% of that population might be made up of Adventurer Classes, the majority probably being Fighters. I always think there ought to be more Scouts than Rogues in Military type installations.

Anyway, Quietus gives the best answer without more detailed information about what kind of Keep and its purpose in your game.

Ulzgoroth
2007-04-07, 09:47 PM
Fighter/ranger > cleric > wizard, scratch rogue, I'd guess.

Fighter/ranger balance depends on city/country location, though you might have some rangers anywhere. A wilderness keep might have most of its troops function in the field as irregulars, which points to ranger. You might even have a barbarian someplace...PCs aren't the only ones who wander from home.

Clerics are extremely useful for any sort of combat, so there'll probably be a few. Wizards probably tend to be less easy to recruit for warfare. Rogues (primarily, not dip) employed by someone who owns a keep probably aren't hired as guards.

Yami
2007-04-08, 02:29 AM
I myself often use barbarians as often as fighters for my keeps. The classic small warlord castle in my campaigns are built on your classic baron or barbarian king you find in literature, with as many warriors being the kind who loaf about and party rather than train, though there's usually a weapons master who does his best in forging the men into true fighters.

Throw in the token cleric to preach to the family and servants though probably more to placate whatever religious authority governs the area. You could maybe have a mage to teach the lord's children and tries to ensure their not all just muscle bound louts, but I would think any truely powerful wizard would not be hanging around such a place unless it was his, or the owner of said castle was truely a man of influence. But then I would have a grand fortess or what not.

As for rangers and rogues, they depend on the flavor of a castle. If you have one that often goes hunting in the arbitrary nearby forest you could have a master of the hunt and his apreantices, or even have a few of the lord's children have taken that class.

Any number of guards could be rouges who really just want to live the easy life, get a cushy guard postition, nothing dangerous and make easy money winning more often than not at games of chance. A truely large castle could even have a spy master and an apprentice. Perhaps the sentries took thier jobs seriously and grabbed classes in rouge because they needed the spot and listen skills and use the hide skills to better fade into the background and give the place a less militant feel about it (The lady of the castle insisted years ago when she moved in that the place feel more like home and less like a prison.)

Better yet, a few servants could actually be spies for other forces. Ones who merely defend themselves when the PC's try to burn the place down. They could be easily over looked until the pull a knife out of one of the characters. Of course, I would assume though that most rouges in the place (save ones in it's employ) would rather flee than fight the party.

Of course for dungeons its a whole nother matter.

Truely though it does depend on the feel you want the place to have. A unit of level 1 sorcerors makes for a nice replacement of archers for the walls, but then that only works if the area is rich in magic for example. You could even have the garrison be a unit of monks, rotating in from the fields because the local forces pulled all the really fighters off to go fight a war somewhere.

Anyways the classic load out is a mob of meat with some flavor sprinkled about and a garnish of magic.

Quietus
2007-04-08, 04:09 AM
Anyway, Quietus gives the best answer without more detailed information about what kind of Keep and its purpose in your game.

Well thank you - And here I was just trying to be a smart***. Though it's true... why worry about having the proper mix? Take a look at what's there. You have a keep, and we have no other information - but here's some other ideas.


Is the area high magic? In that case, it's more likely that there'll be more sorcerors/wizards drawn to the area.

Is the owner of the keep rich and/or powerful? If so, there's a good chance he has a wizard there to teach his children. Otherwise, it's probably an expert.

Does the keep do a lot of spying? If so, there'll be rogues hanging around. I do like the idea of some of the kitchen staff and such being rogue-classed, and from another keep attempting to infiltrate; Nothing's quite as humbling when you go to leave the dishwasher and the chef alone, then they rush in and each clap a frying pan on either side of your head. Flanking = sneak attack, after all.

Is there a big forest nearby? If so, there's probably rangers... as noted above, a master of the hunt is likely, along with others who have a taste for the chase. These serve as excellent cavalry in combat, as well. For that matter...

Is the keep out of the way? If so, they'll have a larger cavalry, because they'll need to have longer distance patrols. Some of the above rangers aren't likely to be part of this (they're hunters who provide the keep with meat), but you would have a team or three of fighters who are mounted. Remember to place the stable with creating the keep.

What kind of area is it in? Is it a more natural, gritty area? If that's the case, then the locals are more likely to lean toward barbarian than fighter. Unless, that is, the place is run by someone who's specifically attempting to enforce his will on the area, in which case it'll be fighters. Also, keep in mind that warriors/fighters who've all trained together will be likely to work together tactically. If you have a group of six warriors with a single fighter (or even bard, with ranks in Perform (oratory) to shout orders at them and encourage them while they fight?) who commands them, they're going to fight better as a group than six warriors who have only just met, who'll all do their own thing.