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View Full Version : Help Running a Literal Boatload of NPCs



SteveLightblade
2022-02-07, 06:53 PM
I'm about to run a Pathfinder campaign for my group where they're all pirates, and will be in charge of their own ship. This is the first time I have rum a game where a large amount of friendly followers have been with the party, and I was wondering if anyone here has experience with this. This is what I have regarding these NPCs

1. NPCs are all initially allies of the party. While circumstances in the campaign may cause morale to be lost and abandonment of the ship, there are no secret traitors on the crew

2. While a lot of the crew, especially the specialists such as the crew's navigator, doctor, cook, etc. will usually be in relatively safer places during ship combat, it can be expected that many crew members will die during the campaign and the party will cycle through many hirelings.

3. The plan is to not have many "special" crew members standing out against a backdrop of cookie cutter hirelings, and that the characters important to the campaign's plot will blend in with the rest of the crew. However, this may change.

So does anyone have any ideas/experience in not making these characters more than just a mini that shouldn't be attacked? Am I being too ambitious?

Berenger
2022-02-07, 11:46 PM
What type(s) of ship(s) do you think the characters will acquire during the campaign?

Because you can absolutely craft 20 memorable crewmembers for a smaller vessel, but certainly not 600 for a galleon.

Batcathat
2022-02-08, 02:13 AM
One way to give them some depth without too much work might be to give each crew member — no matter how unimportant — one or two character traits that is unique to them. "This guy limps and really likes animals" and "this gal is loud and love to gamble" may not be much, but it's better than just being crew members #13 and #28. That way they're at least a little memorable and you don't have to write an entire backstory for someone who might die ten minutes into the session.

Glorthindel
2022-02-08, 04:08 AM
When I do this, I either paint a model specifically for each crew member (with their name on the base), or create a quick-reference card for the NPC with name, picture, and a few facts they will have picked up in general friendly conversation. Then leave the reference cards (and models if I have had the time for that) on the table during play.

This is because it is really easy for players to forget about or mix up NPC's, especially when there are more than one or two. By creating specific on-table references, it helps fix their "presence" in the players minds, especially when there are clear identifiers ("the one with the red bandana", "the one who picture is showing missing teeth", "the one with a blunderbuss he's named 'mary'", etc).

HurinSmite
2022-02-08, 05:20 AM
I'd suggest not overpreparing them. Give them a name and main occupation during non-combat times to help you develop them when needed. A name and occupation should also help your players, if they can't remember the name they can still say "the cook!".


You mentioned they're all allies from the beginning. I'd suggest giving them a starting disposition ranging fron unfriendly to helpful. It's a shame to not atleast leave some crewmembers predisposed to mutiny down the line.
It sounds like you're setting up your pirate ship to be a NPC meat grinder? It might be historically correct, what with on pirate ships people were packed like sardines. But I worry swapping out new NPCs so often will wear you and your players down. Your players are the "hero" pirates and will take main scene during fighting. Let the other fighting-crew fight in the background but obviously don't run initiative with them. If you want more names of positions I'd suggest "Return of the Obra Dinn" or the series Black Sails. Here's a list of Obra Dinn's crew: https://obradinn.fandom.com/wiki/Characters. If you're set on the party cycling through many hirelings I'd consider looking into somekind of leadership mechanic. A ship that loses 30% of its crew every expedition will soon be known as cursed. People will want higher salary, or you'll just get Groetus worshippers.
Consider turning your NPC into a troop/troops crew when fighting? It can better represent them losing but not dying wholesale. You can even give the troop different abilities depending on what special NPC is in charge or just in the troop?. NPC bard gives troop an aura of inspire courage, A quartermaster equips them with better weapons/guns.


Are you being too ambitious? I think the "cycle through many hirelings" sentence makes it harder down the line for yourself. Expand on NPCs if need be and improvise.

Since it's pathfinder there is a pathfinder campaign podcast with ship crew. Granted it's mostly a half-orc crew but the GM claims to only start with a list of names and working from there. It might give some inspiration. It's called the Glass Cannon Podcast and you can start from ep 31-44. ----- If you don't care about the overarching story and doesn't have.. 30 hours to spare (30 episodes).

Easy e
2022-02-08, 10:41 AM
If they are Joe Crew Order Taker, they do not need to be any more than an extra on-set.

Only a handful of crewmen are important enough for the PCs to know by name, and that is assuming the PCs themselves are not the key crew of the ship in the first place.

Grod_The_Giant
2022-02-08, 12:35 PM
I'm a big fan of combining large numbers of faceless mooks into a single mob/formation/battle group/whatever you want to call it. Paizo published some official mass combat rules (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/other-rules/mass-combat/), though I have absolutely no idea how they work in practice; there are also any number of homebrews out there.

Easy e
2022-02-08, 12:59 PM
In the wargame, On The Seven Seas by Osprey the crew members have a Greed and Fear score. If their Greed is higher than their Fear, they are likely to follow orders. If their Fear is over their Greed score, they are less likely to follow orders and eventually mutiny. Various things move their scores up and down out of 0-10 IIRC.

This could be a good simple way to gauge the "mood of the crew" without having to have each one be unique.

VoxRationis
2022-02-09, 03:36 AM
I'm running a rather similar campaign right now, and I'm mostly avoiding detailed person-by-person plotting of the crew, mostly noting the division of arms among their number, and occasionally giving names to significant crew members as they come up. On reflection, though, I suppose the social structure at play somewhat discourages turnover, as it will be difficult to replace casualties, so my use case isn't quite yours.

Xervous
2022-02-09, 03:09 PM
Current campaign has lots of hirelings and crew. I let my players worry over naming the crew and giving them personalities. At first they went all out, but it eventually boiled down to them caring about specific standouts and just hand waving the rest.

Though in hindsight maybe they bring so much crew because the random incident system favors offing the inexperienced new hires over their beloved companions and pets.

VonKaiserstein
2022-02-09, 07:57 PM
Seventh Sanctum is a great source for random stuff. Give them random names, random real life jobs, random motivations, etc. For when you don't want to put any work into it to in case they don't survive the session, but also so they have a unique seed to build upon in case they become party mascots.

Another great idea is to take the 'Muppet Treasure Island' approach. Grab an existing series you're already quite familiar with. Put the characters, with their essential characteristics, in place without telling your players what you've done. When they realize the hulking, boisterous deckhand with the bulging eyes was meant to be Sweetums, it's hilarious. Especially if the disturbingly squamous chef begins singing rainbow connection to the overly aggressive, porcine firstmate female pirate- you know it worked when their eyes narrow and they go wait a minute....

On a more serious note, it does give you very easy access to characters you've seen in dozens of genres and can believably present. As they warp through your lens, they may even transcend their source material.

SteveLightblade
2022-02-14, 11:15 AM
I'm not on much, so this is going to be a long batch reply.


What type(s) of ship(s) do you think the characters will acquire during the campaign?

Because you can absolutely craft 20 memorable crewmembers for a smaller vessel, but certainly not 600 for a galleon.

I'm starting them out with a brigantine, but I altered rules for ship operation, especially for cannons, that allow for smaller crews than historically accurate to around maybe 1/3 of actual crew size. The campaign is intended to be more of a sandbox, so if they want to go take a Manowar, and find a way that somehow is possible, I will allow them to do that. After reading this comment, maybe a core 20-30 may be a good idea, with the rest being background characters.


One way to give them some depth without too much work might be to give each crew member — no matter how unimportant — one or two character traits that is unique to them. "This guy limps and really likes animals" and "this gal is loud and love to gamble" may not be much, but it's better than just being crew members #13 and #28. That way they're at least a little memorable and you don't have to write an entire backstory for someone who might die ten minutes into the session.

This sounds like a good idea, I'll start working on a table of a few traits so I can generate fluff on the fly.


When I do this, I either paint a model specifically for each crew member (with their name on the base), or create a quick-reference card for the NPC with name, picture, and a few facts they will have picked up in general friendly conversation. Then leave the reference cards (and models if I have had the time for that) on the table during play.

This is because it is really easy for players to forget about or mix up NPC's, especially when there are more than one or two. By creating specific on-table references, it helps fix their "presence" in the players minds, especially when there are clear identifiers ("the one with the red bandana", "the one who picture is showing missing teeth", "the one with a blunderbuss he's named 'mary'", etc).

This might be good, but as some other people recommended, I will be using mass combat rules, so minis for individuals might be a waste.


I'd suggest not overpreparing them. Give them a name and main occupation during non-combat times to help you develop them when needed. A name and occupation should also help your players, if they can't remember the name they can still say "the cook!".


You mentioned they're all allies from the beginning. I'd suggest giving them a starting disposition ranging fron unfriendly to helpful. It's a shame to not atleast leave some crewmembers predisposed to mutiny down the line.
It sounds like you're setting up your pirate ship to be a NPC meat grinder? It might be historically correct, what with on pirate ships people were packed like sardines. But I worry swapping out new NPCs so often will wear you and your players down. Your players are the "hero" pirates and will take main scene during fighting. Let the other fighting-crew fight in the background but obviously don't run initiative with them. If you want more names of positions I'd suggest "Return of the Obra Dinn" or the series Black Sails. Here's a list of Obra Dinn's crew: https://obradinn.fandom.com/wiki/Characters. If you're set on the party cycling through many hirelings I'd consider looking into somekind of leadership mechanic. A ship that loses 30% of its crew every expedition will soon be known as cursed. People will want higher salary, or you'll just get Groetus worshippers.
Consider turning your NPC into a troop/troops crew when fighting? It can better represent them losing but not dying wholesale. You can even give the troop different abilities depending on what special NPC is in charge or just in the troop?. NPC bard gives troop an aura of inspire courage, A quartermaster equips them with better weapons/guns.


Are you being too ambitious? I think the "cycle through many hirelings" sentence makes it harder down the line for yourself. Expand on NPCs if need be and improvise.

Since it's pathfinder there is a pathfinder campaign podcast with ship crew. Granted it's mostly a half-orc crew but the GM claims to only start with a list of names and working from there. It might give some inspiration. It's called the Glass Cannon Podcast and you can start from ep 31-44. ----- If you don't care about the overarching story and doesn't have.. 30 hours to spare (30 episodes).

1. I might change my mind on that then. While I'm okay with having mutiny happening in the campaign, the problem is that my players are naturally wary of NPCs that try to help them. I don't know if anyone else thinks that this is a problem.
2. I want the world at large, and especially the world of piracy, to feel dangerous, so yes. "Background fighting" where I auto resolve the battle and casualties with a percentile roll might be a good idea when there doesn't need to be an epic battle but the crew is all there. I'll check out both of those just because I like things having to do with pirates and the Golden Age of Piracy, but I have also done some historical research just for his campaign. Already I have someone wanting to take the Leadership feat, so the leadership rules can be transferred over to the player's hired crew as well as his own personal goon platoon. I've also homebrewed my own morale system based on living conditions, casualties, reward hauls, and consistent alcohol consumption (players can either choose to have the quartermaster dole out grog to maintain morale, or give them alcohol that isn't watered down to raise morale)
3. I think I'll be doing that. Thank you for the suggestion.


If they are Joe Crew Order Taker, they do not need to be any more than an extra on-set.

Only a handful of crewmen are important enough for the PCs to know by name, and that is assuming the PCs themselves are not the key crew of the ship in the first place.

Thanks for this suggestion. I think you're right. If a crew member functions the same way as 10 other crew members, I don't think they'll care if there's nothing much in terms of interactions with them.


I'm a big fan of combining large numbers of faceless mooks into a single mob/formation/battle group/whatever you want to call it. Paizo published some official mass combat rules (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/other-rules/mass-combat/), though I have absolutely no idea how they work in practice; there are also any number of homebrews out there.

I've read these, but I've never actually used them. I can test them out in our first session, but if they don't work, I can use a homebrew system. There's usually long stretches of time between sessions, which means I can rethink how these things work.


In the wargame, On The Seven Seas by Osprey the crew members have a Greed and Fear score. If their Greed is higher than their Fear, they are likely to follow orders. If their Fear is over their Greed score, they are less likely to follow orders and eventually mutiny. Various things move their scores up and down out of 0-10 IIRC.

This could be a good simple way to gauge the "mood of the crew" without having to have each one be unique.


I'm running a rather similar campaign right now, and I'm mostly avoiding detailed person-by-person plotting of the crew, mostly noting the division of arms among their number, and occasionally giving names to significant crew members as they come up. On reflection, though, I suppose the social structure at play somewhat discourages turnover, as it will be difficult to replace casualties, so my use case isn't quite yours.


Current campaign has lots of hirelings and crew. I let my players worry over naming the crew and giving them personalities. At first they went all out, but it eventually boiled down to them caring about specific standouts and just hand waving the rest.

Though in hindsight maybe they bring so much crew because the random incident system favors offing the inexperienced new hires over their beloved companions and pets.

I'll look into this. I have an incident chart that I made myself for long periods of travel, but none of them involve lots of people dying unexpectedly.


Seventh Sanctum is a great source for random stuff. Give them random names, random real life jobs, random motivations, etc. For when you don't want to put any work into it to in case they don't survive the session, but also so they have a unique seed to build upon in case they become party mascots.

Another great idea is to take the 'Muppet Treasure Island' approach. Grab an existing series you're already quite familiar with. Put the characters, with their essential characteristics, in place without telling your players what you've done. When they realize the hulking, boisterous deckhand with the bulging eyes was meant to be Sweetums, it's hilarious. Especially if the disturbingly squamous chef begins singing rainbow connection to the overly aggressive, porcine firstmate female pirate- you know it worked when their eyes narrow and they go wait a minute....

On a more serious note, it does give you very easy access to characters you've seen in dozens of genres and can believably present. As they warp through your lens, they may even transcend their source material.

Just checked out Seventh Sanctum. It might be something I'll use in multiple campaigns since my characters are usually not the most inspired. As for the "Muppet Treasure Island" approach, I have done that for quite a few things, but my players usually catch on pretty quick unless I take from things they don't know about.

Thanks for the suggestions and advice so far.