A tool I created for creating fleshed out noble NPCs quickly

[Scalenex]

So I like running political campaigns and I like filling out family trees, perhaps I create more NPCs than necessary but it is fun for me and I got a system to come up with concepts for nobles that lets me come up with a fleshed out character concepts.

Minister (M): Administrative Skills and Book Smarts

Diplomat (D): Diplomatic Ability and Standing with Peers

Warrior (W): Martial and Tactical Prowess

Populist (P): Popularity with the masses and general charisma

I have four basic traits and I roll a d10 for each trait, then I make up a short bio for what the combination of traits means.

1-Terrible
2-Bad
3-Bad
4-Adequate
5-Adequate
6-Adequate
7-Good
8-Good
9-Good
10-Amazing


M 8, D 9, W 4, P 3
So this nobleman is a bookworm who likes engaging in political schemes is somewhat cowardly about direct physical confrontation and dislikes dealing with the masses but it is not openly disdainful of them.

M 2, D 5, W 7, P 6
This is a nobleman values focuses on his martial skills, not the best tactical mind but not a moron either, and he is a good fighter. He finds statecraft boring, but he has a modest measure of popularity and respect from winning tournaments.

M 9, D 3, W 7, P 4
This noble woman was so intelligent her parents apprenticed her to a wizard. She has a knack for combat spells and with her general intelligence is a good tactician to boot. She is more than a bit arrogant and is not good at soft diplomacy.

M 9, D 4, W 4, P 1

This noblewoman is intelligent and cunning but also cruel reacting angrily to even small failures but she is prudent enough to keep save her worst excesses for the common people. She is polite to other noble’s faces but they have all heard rumors of her cruelties inflicted on commoners.

M 2, D 6, W 7, P 10
This nobleman is a great warrior who is beloved by the people who love to sing about his mighty deeds. It also helps that the nobleman loves to throw feasts and festivals. Unfortunately, he is taking out debt to pay for these celebrations and is bankrupting the realm with all his extravagant expenditures.


Of course a Lord or Lady’s strengths and weaknesses will be more obvious if they are sitting in a high position. A king or queen who has a 1 in any of the four traits is going to be far more detrimental the realm than a knight or courtier. It might not matter if a knight has a 1 diplomacy rating if all he ever has to do is fight. A courtier with a W 1 (signifying that they are weakling AND a coward) might not be a problem if they never have to get near a real battle.

Of course, don't be a slave to the numbers, this is meant to set guidelines and not be a strait jacket


I have other traits to roll for but usually only cover them for very important NPCs.

Piety (optional)

1-I hate the gods and their priests
2-Religion is not important
3-Religion is not important
4-I will keep up appearances
5-I will keep up appearances
6- I will keep up appearances
7-Keeping good relations with the local priesthoods is important
8- Keeping good relations with the local priesthoods is important
9- Keeping good relations with the local priesthoods is important
10-My faith is central to my life


Family loyalty (optional)

1-Disowned
2-Rebellious
3-Rebellious
4-Normal
5-Normal
6-Normal
7-Normal
8-Very loyal
9-Very loyal
10-Very loyal

I only use this trait if I developing a noble family instead of one NPC. If a character gets a high family loyalty rating, I will adjust their base traits to resemble their parents.
Also, if a nobleman or lady is NOT inheriting a title, family loyalty determines if they are content with what they got or they are very bitter about their sibling getting so much more than they. In this case “1” instead of being disowned means “plotting fratricide”



Sometimes, if I’m filling out a historical family tree, I might use a d10 to see if they died young or lived to a ripe old age.

Someone with a low M rating who died young might have died doing something dumb whereas someone with a high M rating who died young might have been assassinated because they were a threat to someone’s scheme.

Someone with a low W rating who died young probably died in battle in an embarrassing way while someone with a high W rating probably died heroically.


Sometimes for a highborn couple I’ll use a d10 roll to figure out if they had lots of kids or few kids. I’ll also roll a d10 to see how well the couple adapts to their arranged marriage. If the couples gets along well, I’ll add a few bonus kids. If the couple does not get along well, I’ll deduct a kid or two. I also assume that birds of a feather flock together, couples that have similar traits tend to get along better though once in a while you can have a true power couple if each spouse's strengths makes up for the other's weaknesses.

If a government is a Magocracy, I’ll roll to see how good a Lord or Lady is at whatever magic the nobility practices.

In most cases my Magocracies do not award leadership to the most powerful spell caster, they just require those holding titles to have some spellcasting ability.

[sandmote]

Minister, Warrior, Diplomat, and Populist seem like good stats to use here. I'll probably try this at some point.

I do think this system can also be expanded to other groups in society too. For shopkeepers I first thought of Work Ethic, Appraisal, Generosity, and Backbone. And on second thought Generosity seems equivalent to Populist and Backbone to Warrior, so it might not even be worth adjusting the terms for those outside the aristocracy.

Someone with a low W rating who died young probably died in battle in an embarrassing way while someone with a high W rating probably died heroically.

I do think you lose some variety by using warrior both for martial ability and bravery. You can have a coward who is competent when forced to fight and someone foolhardy without the skill to back it up, and I don't see where your system differentiates much between the two. I bring this up because you mention 1 W means "that they are weakling AND a coward," and I'm wondering if skill/bravery is purely a judgment call or based on the roll in some way.

[Catullus64]

This is awesome! I would definitely use the Piety statistic, though I think I would adjust the individual steps so that genuine religiosity is more than 1/10th of the nobles; but that's got to do with my campaign setting more than anything else, where the gods are sufficiently active that a Piety score of 1-3 (in your terms) would be tantamount to suicide.

If I may add what I would consider a pretty important statistic just for the heck of it:

Wealth

1 - This noble is landless or up to their eyeballs in debt; they cannot sustain the lifestyle associated with their rank, are utterly dependent on the favors of others to do so, or they must take up a trade unworthy of their station.

2-3 - This noble has a modest estate which can support a decent house and a small number of servants and retainers.

4-7 - This noble has an estate or business which can support a fortified keep, comfortable living, and several dozen dependents.

8-9 - This noble has multiple wealthy estates or trade ventures, and a small army of tenants and retainers to call upon. They can afford to indulge in great luxury.

10 - This noble is wealthy on a scale which rivals or surpasses kings. They possess a great deal of either land, profitable trade interests, or plundered treasure. They can raise entire armies and finance entire public works.


I think this works well with the above statistics, since the noble's personal character in conjunction with their means tells an interesting story.

Addendum

Something which I think could also be a great use for this tool would be to use it not just to create individual nobles, but to characterize the entire nobility of a particular society.

High Minister indicates a nobility that is a vital and influential part of governance and administration, while Low Minister nobles devalue learning and are disengaged from matters of governance.

High Diplomat means a very cohesive nobility with a strong sense of shared identity and values. Low Diplomat feud with one another constantly and tend to be highly sectarian.

High Warrior means an aristocracy that is vital to the military of its country and thus prizes martial excellence. Low Warrior nobles are divorced from military life.

High Populist nobles need to court public opinion and are subject to some degree of public accountability. Low Populist nobles are disengaged from the populace and tend to be dismissive and cruel towards them.

Let's say I roll four sets using your base four stats.

Nobility of Country A:

Minister 9
Diplomat 8
Warrior 2
Populist 5

Nobility of Country B:

Minister 3
Diplomat 6
Warrior 10
Populist 4

Nobility of Country C:

Minister 2
Diplomat 5
Warrior 4
Populist 7

Nobility of Country D:

Minister 8
Diplomat 3
Warrior 7
Populist 2

Country A's nobility are pretty heavily demilitarized, and mainly serve as a literate elite. Civil service examinations are the primary determinant of their status and duties. Their ambivalence towards the people is due to the fact that they are snobbish, but relatively meritocratic.

Country B's nobles are constantly occupied in warfare, and have little regard for advanced learning. They are arrogant and domineering towards the people but generally not outright cruel. Their diplomatic strength comes from their strong sense of personal honor and shared values amongst one another.

Country C's nobles are a fading remnant of a dying social order. The central government, be it autocratic or democratic, has all but completely marginalized their role as warriors and administrators. Because they are politically weak, they must generally court public favor to obtain honors and offices.

Country D's nobles are a shadowy, possibly inhuman elite, seldom seen by the commoners who speak of them in hushed tones. They are physically and magically powerful to a man, and terrible to behold in action, but they mostly content themselves to a secluded life, trusting lesser servants to actually convey their commands. They feud frequently and terribly amongst themselves.

[Scalenex]

Minister, Warrior, Diplomat, and Populist seem like good stats to use here. I'll probably try this at some point.

I do think this system can also be expanded to other groups in society too. For shopkeepers I first thought of Work Ethic, Appraisal, Generosity, and Backbone. And on second thought Generosity seems equivalent to Populist and Backbone to Warrior, so it might not even be worth adjusting the terms for those outside the aristocracy.

That's a very good idea. That's exactly what I was hoping for that someone would take my base idea and run with it in a new direction.

I do think you lose some variety by using warrior both for martial ability and bravery. You can have a coward who is competent when forced to fight and someone foolhardy without the skill to back it up, and I don't see where your system differentiates much between the two. I bring this up because you mention 1 W means "that they are weakling AND a coward," and I'm wondering if skill/bravery is purely a judgment call or based on the roll in some way.

Maybe Warrior is a little too all encompassing because it covers bravery, fighting skills, and tactical acumen.

It can be split up. Perhaps bravery can transcend the marshal field and be it's own category because you can be brave and bold in politics and diplomacy too.

I set this system up for creating broad strokes for filling out minor NPCs quickly. If a noble character (or anyone else) turns into a story important character, obviously they need more detail and nuance than a supporting character.

This is awesome! I would definitely use the Piety statistic, though I think I would adjust the individual steps so that genuine religiosity is more than 1/10th of the nobles; but that's got to do with my campaign setting more than anything else, where the gods are sufficiently active that a Piety score of 1-3 (in your terms) would be tantamount to suicide.

Reasonable. This is what I am using. If you want to adjust this chart for your world, great. I'm trying to inspire other world builders, not tell them what to do.

I also see anything above as 5 as being fairly pious. In my world piety 10 means they might qualify for some divine magic.

Also, you can adjust it. I played a lot of Crusader Kings and in Crusader Kings you can decide whether a noble has a court based, monastery based, or a military education.

In a lot of cases a court education could get a character +2 Minister, a monastery education +2 Piety, and a military education +2 Warrior, or something similar.

If I may add what I would consider a pretty important statistic just for the heck of it:
Wealth

1 - This noble is landless or up to their eyeballs in debt; they cannot sustain the lifestyle associated with their rank, are utterly dependent on the favors of others to do so, or they must take up a trade unworthy of their station.

2-3 - This noble has a modest estate which can support a decent house and a small number of servants and retainers.

4-7 - This noble has an estate or business which can support a fortified keep, comfortable living, and several dozen dependents.

8-9 - This noble has multiple wealthy estates or trade ventures, and a small army of tenants and retainers to call upon. They can afford to indulge in great luxury.

10 - This noble is wealthy on a scale which rivals or surpasses kings. They possess a great deal of either land, profitable trade interests, or plundered treasure. They can raise entire armies and finance entire public works.


I think this works well with the above statistics, since the noble's personal character in conjunction with their means tells an interesting story.

This is a good tool. Not for me personally, since I usually develop the land and then figure out who is ruling it.

If the land a noble controls has lots of resources, the noble controlling it has lots of wealth. Also, not all nobles have land. Especially if the first born inherits everything. A lot of nobles have to become knights, clergy, or courtiers. They are still nobles, but their wealth is based mostly on how well they do they job and to a lesser extant on how generous their landed family members are.

Addendum

Something which I think could also be a great use for this tool would be to use it not just to create individual nobles, but to characterize the entire nobility of a particular society.

High Minister indicates a nobility that is a vital and influential part of governance and administration, while Low Minister nobles devalue learning and are disengaged from matters of governance.

High Diplomat means a very cohesive nobility with a strong sense of shared identity and values. Low Diplomat feud with one another constantly and tend to be highly sectarian.

High Warrior means an aristocracy that is vital to the military of its country and thus prizes martial excellence. Low Warrior nobles are divorced from military life.

High Populist nobles need to court public opinion and are subject to some degree of public accountability. Low Populist nobles are disengaged from the populace and tend to be dismissive and cruel towards them.

Let's say I roll four sets using your base four stats.

Nobility of Country A:

Minister 9
Diplomat 8
Warrior 2
Populist 5

Nobility of Country B:

Minister 3
Diplomat 6
Warrior 10
Populist 4

Nobility of Country C:

Minister 2
Diplomat 5
Warrior 4
Populist 7

Nobility of Country D:

Minister 8
Diplomat 3
Warrior 7
Populist 2

Country A's nobility are pretty heavily demilitarized, and mainly serve as a literate elite. Civil service examinations are the primary determinant of their status and duties. Their ambivalence towards the people is due to the fact that they are snobbish, but relatively meritocratic.

Country B's nobles are constantly occupied in warfare, and have little regard for advanced learning. They are arrogant and domineering towards the people but generally not outright cruel. Their diplomatic strength comes from their strong sense of personal honor and shared values amongst one another.

Country C's nobles are a fading remnant of a dying social order. The central government, be it autocratic or democratic, has all but completely marginalized their role as warriors and administrators. Because they are politically weak, they must generally court public favor to obtain honors and offices.

Country D's nobles are a shadowy, possibly inhuman elite, seldom seen by the commoners who speak of them in hushed tones. They are physically and magically powerful to a man, and terrible to behold in action, but they mostly content themselves to a secluded life, trusting lesser servants to actually convey their commands. They feud frequently and terribly amongst themselves.

I like your idea.

Most of my large nations, I had a concept in mind and did not randomize anything. But now that I'm developing more smaller nations, this might be a good system.

I suppose your idea of collectivist traits for nobility could also work for a noble family given that I'm borrowing inspiration from Song of Ice and Fire for creating feuding noble houses.

I did create a similar chart for Dwarf Clans.

I also have two major dwarf nations, Meckelorn (which was living in exile in a long time and only reclaimed thier homeland two generations ago) and Stahlheim (which is rich and somewhat assimilated to human values), so I gave them modified charts.

The Clan is famous for:

1 - adhesion to traditions
2 - former victories
3 - riches
4 - famous ancestors
5 - great dwellings and/or artifacts
6 - artifacts
7 – craftsmen

8-10 Something stereotypically Meckelorner or Stahlheimer.

So Stahlheim clans have twice the chances to be rich and Meckelorn clans have twice the chance to have famous victories.


In my worlds, dwarves don't have noble families in the same sense. Every dwarf that is not an outcast is part of a clan. Any clan in theory could hold land and titles, but in practice, titles and land keeps bouncing about the top 10% of clans. But even low status clans have things to be proud or ashamed of.

It is also possible to be born into one of the leading families and not have a title and it's possible for a lucky dwarf in a lesser family to merit their way into a leadership position.

Meckelorn tends to give social mobility to war heroes and Stahlheim tends to give social mobility to good businessmen.

[brian 333]

So I like running political campaigns and I like filling out family trees, perhaps I create more NPCs than necessary but it is fun for me and I got a system to come up with concepts for nobles that lets me come up with a fleshed out character concepts.

Minister (M): Administrative Skills and Book Smarts

Diplomat (D): Diplomatic Ability and Standing with Peers

Warrior (W): Martial and Tactical Prowess

Populist (P): Popularity with the masses and general charisma

I have four basic traits and I roll a d10 for each trait, then I make up a short bio for what the combination of traits means.

1-Terrible
2-Bad
3-Bad
4-Adequate
5-Adequate
6-Adequate
7-Good
8-Good
9-Good
10-Amazing


M 8, D 9, W 4, P 3
So this nobleman is a bookworm who likes engaging in political schemes is somewhat cowardly about direct physical confrontation and dislikes dealing with the masses but it is not openly disdainful of them.

M 2, D 5, W 7, P 6
This is a nobleman values is martial skills, not the best tactical mind but he is a good fighter. He finds statecraft boring, but he has a modest measure of popularity and respect from winning tournaments.

M 9, D 3, W 7, P 4
This noble woman was so intelligent her parents apprenticed her to a wizard. She has a knack for combat spells and with her general intelligence is a good tactician to boot. She is more than a bit arrogant and is not good at soft diplomacy.

M 9, D 4, W 4, P 1

This noblewoman is intelligent and cunning but also cruel reacting angrily to even small failures but she is prudent enough to keep save her worst excesses for the common people. She is polite to other noble’s faces but they have all her rumors of her cruelties inflicted on commoners.

M 2, D 6, W 7, P 10
This nobleman is a great warrior who is beloved by the people who love to sing about his mighty deeds. It also helps that the nobleman loves to throw feasts and festivals. Unfortunately, he is taking out debt to pay for these celebrations and is bankrupting the realm with all his extravagant expenditures.


Of course a Lord or Lady’s strengths and weaknesses will be more obvious if they are sitting in a high position. A king or queen who has a 1 in any of the four traits is going to be far more detrimental the realm than a knight or courtier. It might not matter if a knight has a 1 diplomacy rating if all he ever has to do is fight. A courtier with a W 1 (signifying that they are weakling AND a coward) might not be a problem if they never have to get near a real battle.

Of course, don't be a slave to the numbers, this is meant to set guidelines and not be a strait jacket


I have other traits to roll for but usually only cover them for very important NPCs.

Piety (optional)

1-I hate the gods and their priests
2-Religion is not important
3-Religion is not important
4-I will keep up appearances
5-I will keep up appearances
6- I will keep up appearances
7-Keeping good relations with the local priesthoods is important
8- Keeping good relations with the local priesthoods is important
9- Keeping good relations with the local priesthoods is important
10-My faith is central to my life


Family loyalty (optional)

1-Disowned
2-Rebellious
3-Rebellious
4-Normal
5-Normal
6-Normal
7-Normal
8-Very loyal
9-Very loyal
10-Very loyal

I only use this trait if I developing a noble family instead of one NPC. If a character gets a high family loyalty rating, I will adjust their base traits to resemble their parents.
Also, if a nobleman or lady is NOT inheriting a title, family loyalty determines if they are content with what they got or they are very bitter about their sibling getting so much more than they. In this case “1” instead of being disowned means “plotting fratricide”



Sometimes, if I’m filling out a historical family tree, I might use a d10 to see if they died young or lived to a ripe old age.

Someone with a low M rating who died young might have died doing something dumb whereas someone with a high M rating who died young might have been assassinated because they were a threat to someone’s scheme.

Someone with a low W rating who died young probably died in battle in an embarrassing way while someone with a high W rating probably died heroically.


Sometimes for a highborn couple I’ll use a d10 roll to figure out if they had lots of kids or few kids. I’ll also roll a d10 to see how well the couple adapts to their arranged marriage. If the couples gets along well, I’ll add a few bonus kids. If the couple does not get along well, I’ll deduct a kid or two. I also assume that birds of a feather flock together, couples that have similar traits tend to get along better though once in a while you can have a true power couple if each spouse's strengths makes up for the other's weaknesses.

If a government is a Magocracy, I’ll roll to see how good a Lord or Lady is at whatever magic the nobility practices.

In most cases my Magocracies do not award leadership to the most powerful spell caster, they just require those holding titles to have some spellcasting ability.

I think the traits you have would work well for generating a noble cast NPC or group of NPCs. Two suggestions to consider, modify, or disregard as you see fit:

Consider the D10 linear scale you are using vs. a bell curve scale. 3d4-2 gives you the exact same range you are using, with a great many 'average' results and a very few extreme results. 2d6-1 gives you one more potential result, (11 instead of 10,) with more frequent extremes than 3d4, but still more average results than a single d10. Your typical noble will be average, for a noble, more often, and outliers can consequently be more out there.

For example, assuming a 3d4-2 system, and assuming Populist category, you can have:
1- sacrifices own people for fun and profit. Treats all subjects as property.
2- terrible or inept relationship with subjects
3- bad
4- bad
5- barely adequate
6- adequate
7- adequate
8- marginally good
9- good
10- good
11- excellent relationship with subjects
12- revered by subjects, potentially venerated enough to be deified

In this example, 1 and 12 are almost never rolled on 3d4-2, so they can represent very extreme positions without making your world a world of extremes. Of course, with 2d6-1 you'd have to tone down the extremes, and with 1d10 eliminate them altogether because an extreme is as likely as an average. But having a Dracula or a King Arthur pop up once in a while could be more interesting than, 'bad public speaker #241'.

Consider, instead of more traits, the modification of high or low traits. The idea that high or low Warrior ability reflects bravery, tactical acumen, and physical prowess may be good enough most of the time, but when it matters in game, converting those three qualities into individual scores may be a better solution than simply adding more and more stats to track.

So, assume a stat below 4 and above 7 may require further modification if a noble becomes involved in something related to that stat. Let's use the d10 scale:
1-Terrible
2-Bad
3-Bad
4-Adequate
5-Adequate
6-Adequate
7-Good
8-Good
9-Good
10-Amazing

Now, we have a Warrior with a very good or very bad stat that needs modification. We have three aspects of that stat, Bravery, Tactics, and Prowess. If the Warrior stat is 1, subtract 3 from each roll. For a Warrior stat of 2, subtract 2. For a Warrior stat of 3, subtract 1. For a Warrior stat of 8, 9, or 10, add 1, 2, or 3 respectively.

Our example has a 1 Warrior stat, so we roll 6-3, 2-3, and 10-3, giving our Warrior Noble a 3 in Bravery: (leads from behind.) This poor guy has a -1 in Tactics: (his best plans tend to benefit the enemy more than his own side.) With a 7 in prowess, he turns out to be a fair fighter on an individual basis, but he will try to avoid such situations even at the expense of his troops.

Our more heroic noble has rolled a 9 in Warrior, which grants him a +2 to his aspects. This guy rolls 10+2, 2+2, and 6+2. A 12 in Bravery means this character is virtually fearless. Add that to his 4 in Tactics, and his Bravery sometimes results in foolhardy decisions in battle. It's a good thing his 8 in Prowess allows him to fight his way through problems rather than think his way through them.

For the vast majority of nobles, the rolled score reflects that noble's reputation. Only for those who are actively engaged in something requiring additional expansion would additional attributes be necessary. A warrior with a 10 Trait score who is never engaged in martial activities doesn't need additional attributes.

Finally, on a completely unrelated issue:
Roll 2d6-1
1- arcane
2- arcane
3- arcane
4- administrator
5- fighter
6- fighter
7- fighter
8- administrator
9- divine
10- divine
11- divine

Each noble relies on different power sources to exert his will. The W stat as described applies to fighter nobles. Arcanists use Magic, Administrators use Management, and those who rely upon their faith use Mana.

[Scalenex]

I think the traits you have would work well for generating a noble cast NPC or group of NPCs. Two suggestions to consider, modify, or disregard as you see fit:

Consider the D10 linear scale you are using vs. a bell curve scale. 3d4-2 gives you the exact same range you are using, with a great many 'average' results and a very few extreme results. 2d6-1 gives you one more potential result, (11 instead of 10,) with more frequent extremes than 3d4, but still more average results than a single d10. Your typical noble will be average, for a noble, more often, and outliers can consequently be more out there.

For example, assuming a 3d4-2 system, and assuming Populist category, you can have:
1- sacrifices own people for fun and profit. Treats all subjects as property.
2- terrible or inept relationship with subjects
3- bad
4- bad
5- barely adequate
6- adequate
7- adequate
8- marginally good
9- good
10- good
11- excellent relationship with subjects
12- revered by subjects, potentially venerated enough to be deified

In this example, 1 and 12 are almost never rolled on 3d4-2, so they can represent very extreme positions without making your world a world of extremes. Of course, with 2d6-1 you'd have to tone down the extremes, and with 1d10 eliminate them altogether because an extreme is as likely as an average. But having a Dracula or a King Arthur pop up once in a while could be more interesting than, 'bad public speaker #241'.

I like the way you think. I've homebrewed a system combining White Wolf's d10 system with D&Desque sword and sorcery, which I call D&D10. But I still have couple d20s, d4s, and other dice from my D&D days in addition to my large pile of d10s.

To play Devil's Advocate. By weighting the system towards averages, you replace "bad public speaker #241" with "adequate noble with no interesting traits #241"

Consider, instead of more traits, the modification of high or low traits. The idea that high or low Warrior ability reflects bravery, tactical acumen, and physical prowess may be good enough most of the time, but when it matters in game, converting those three qualities into individual scores may be a better solution than simply adding more and more stats to track.

So, assume a stat below 4 and above 7 may require further modification if a noble becomes involved in something related to that stat. Let's use the d10 scale:
1-Terrible
2-Bad
3-Bad
4-Adequate
5-Adequate
6-Adequate
7-Good
8-Good
9-Good
10-Amazing

Now, we have a Warrior with a very good or very bad stat that needs modification. We have three aspects of that stat, Bravery, Tactics, and Prowess. If the Warrior stat is 1, subtract 3 from each roll. For a Warrior stat of 2, subtract 2. For a Warrior stat of 3, subtract 1. For a Warrior stat of 8, 9, or 10, add 1, 2, or 3 respectively.

Our example has a 1 Warrior stat, so we roll 6-3, 2-3, and 10-3, giving our Warrior Noble a 3 in Bravery: (leads from behind.) This poor guy has a -1 in Tactics: (his best plans tend to benefit the enemy more than his own side.) With a 7 in prowess, he turns out to be a fair fighter on an individual basis, but he will try to avoid such situations even at the expense of his troops.

Our more heroic noble has rolled a 9 in Warrior, which grants him a +2 to his aspects. This guy rolls 10+2, 2+2, and 6+2. A 12 in Bravery means this character is virtually fearless. Add that to his 4 in Tactics, and his Bravery sometimes results in foolhardy decisions in battle. It's a good thing his 8 in Prowess allows him to fight his way through problems rather than think his way through them.

For the vast majority of nobles, the rolled score reflects that noble's reputation. Only for those who are actively engaged in something requiring additional expansion would additional attributes be necessary. A warrior with a 10 Trait score who is never engaged in martial activities doesn't need additional attributes.

Again I like the way you think. This is well thought and explained.

Finally, on a completely unrelated issue:
Roll 2d6-1
1- arcane
2- arcane
3- arcane
4- administrator
5- fighter
6- fighter
7- fighter
8- administrator
9- divine
10- divine
11- divine

Each noble relies on different power sources to exert his will. The W stat as described applies to fighter nobles. Arcanists use Magic, Administrators use Management, and those who rely upon their faith use Mana.

My system uses a points buy instead of character class, but I don't normally stat out NPCs unless I need to.

I have put some thought into where a noble gets their power from. I could randomize what a noble's source of power is, but I'd rather choose based on their background.

In my setting of Fumaya, I figure out what noble families are pushing most. Noble families have a standard practice of putting first and second born sons (the heir and the spare) into ABC training and third and subsequent sons into XYZ training. Similar with daughters.

First and second born sons likely to inherit titles are ideally trained to be awesome fighters or wizards with at least moderate managerial skills. They are typically apprenticed to knights or wizards.

First and second born daughters are expected to marry men with titles and ideally they should awesome ministers and diplomats to manage the realm while their husbands are off fighting.

Third and subsequent sons and daughters are typically encouraged to become clergy. That way they can still be involved in the halls of powers but not directly competing with their elder siblings.

This often doesn't work out because human beings don't fit neatly into detailed life plans like this.

And, if a young noble has great piety, they might get ecclesiastical education even if they are first born. If a young noble is physically gifted, they might martial training even if they are third born or female.

A somewhat rebellious family will resist the family's plan regardless of what his or her innate aptitudes are.

One issue that bugs nobles is how unpredictable divine magic is in my world.

Extremely pious people often develop divine magic, but is also common for extremely pious people to have no divine magic. Once in a great while, a moderately pious person actually gets divine magic. No one cracked the formula well enough to guarantee divine magic.

If a peasant sends his son or daughter to the priesthood, they aren't too upset if their child doesn't ever develop divine magic. They are proud their child was accepted and happy not to have one fewer mouth to feed, but if a young lord or lady has an ecclesiastical education and never develops divine magic, their parents are likely to view them as failures.

[sandmote]

Okay, running through a couple shopkeepers, based on my examples of Work Ethic, Appraisal, Generosity, and Backbone.

E 4, A 4, G 8, B 10
Woo, this guy gives and doesn't back down from it, huh. Not the best at his job, but he's probably more focused on helping the local paupers with his business than making as much as he can. Doubt there's any chance you can get him to give to someone he thinks is taking advantage of him though.

E 7, A 1, G 9, B 3
Eager worker, likely someone's assistant (or trained by someone who didn't explain the business side of things). Can't count costs enough to give an accurate estimate beforehand, but likely a lot of people push him into it--and he doesn't feel like he can undermine the initial estimate.

E 6, A 9, G 3, B 10
Likely very rich; she knows how to spot a deal and is even better at sticking to it, but isn't cruel. Regularly stocked.

E 1, A 8, G 9, B 4
Fronts for a criminal enterprise. Good at keeping separate books and leaving them to their dealings but wouldn't be able to stay in business without their payouts.

E 4, A 8, G 6, B 9
An old master, perhaps? Can't lift the heavier equipment (or their eyes are going) but has years of practice determining what's require to complete a job. Very crotchety but still willing to give an interested apprentice a guiding hand and some aid to the widows.

---

I'll try some at 3d4-2 now.

E 6, A 3, G 7, B 5
Less extreme version of the 2nd example on the above list. Likely able to gauge costs enough that they don't get taken advantage of, but doesn't push it if when they fail to turn a profit on their jobs.

E 6, A 9, G 8, B 5
Keeps a brisk business, and the books are well kept and accurate. Tracks each farthing given and to whom, I guess.

E 6, A 5, G 4, B 4
Probably not too helpful, but can be cowed into a deal if the threat is great enough--not sure what I'm supposed to do here.

E 5, A 8, G 5, B 3
I rolled another 6 for Work Ethic, so I rerolled. Shrewd without pushing the deal, but certainly backs down to someone else. Not necessarily to the community though. Perhaps a particular individual with influence instead?

I will say the 3d4-2 method probably gives a more realistic result, but I'd probably need the d10 method if I were rolling at the table to characterize someone I hadn't expected the party to talk to (or encounter). I came up with something significantly slower when I had to deal with half the stats being 5s or 6s.

[sktarq]

Okay it takes a bit of work and may need some goggleing for syntax issues but you can basically automate this in excel or google docs.
Basical on Sheet1 of the document you are working on you have a formula that tells it to pull a randomly selected cells of a certain coloum in another page of the same file. Sheet2 (and row/column however you set the details) can be filed with whatever you want. Names, hair/eye/skin colours, race or family line, numerical values of a distribution of your choice, or adjectives...so perhaps make up a list of adjectives for a trait repeat them in varying amount so that you get the overall distribution you want. So for admin you could have personality things like absentminded, distrustful, or perhaps focused on duties like mercantile, logistic focused, or adjudicator/magistrate....this could replace the numerical score or it could be a starting point to colour the numerical score....for example a low M score with absentminded would imply someone who may not care or is obsessed with something else (parties, horse racing, their children's weddings) while a high score with absentminded could imply someone with a 1000 things on their mind none of which get full focus.

Add a line in sheet1 and the setup will spit back a half dozen adjectives, a basic physical description, etc.

how I created mass NPC's for various situations in games a while back.

I'm on lunch ATM but will see if I can find the details of how to do this sometime tmw.

[Scalenex]

So here's a fun example of the principle in action. I have a region of my world with a bunch of independently small kingdoms in the mountains.

I've been running a solo game for a PC who essentially gets to control his sidekick NPCs during combat so I can throw bigger stuff at him.

Anyway they did some detective work to discover that one of these nations, Prophet's Pass (an independent nation of about 60,000 people) has been secretly ruled by a vampire puppet master for two hundred years, primarily by intimidating and/or charming the richest merchants. She fed primarily on travelers who would not be missed, grabbing their valuables and laundering them through her merchant thralls in order to have her merchant thralls bribe people to get the policies past the vampire wants.

About every 20 years, the vampire gets tired of her puppet government and initiates a coup putting a new batch of puppets in charge. The most recent government was a ruling council of the highest ranking priest, the military commander, the oldest man (thrall), the oldest woman (oldest woman was a thrall but after she died the second oldest woman who took over is not is too strong willed to thrall), and the head of the merchant association (thrall). The five people vote on things.

Now the vampire is dead, some of the locals view the adventurers as heroes, others are resentful that the adventurers are walking away with the vampire's treasure horde (gleaned mostly from them over 200 years), and some locals don't believe the "vampire puppet master story."

Also, Prophet's Pass has two oracles in it, and the quiet one what rarely says anything prophesized "The puppet master is dead, beware the hungry dragon instead." Of course people are debating whether the hungry dragon is literal or refers to a nearby nation with a dragon banner or is something else.

The merchant leader is in a dungeon with his assets seized. The second and third most powerful merchants are also in cells with their assets seized. So is the oldest man. The adventurers are leaving for now, but they are going to have to swing back through Prophet's Pass soonish so I need to figure out if the government will be intact when they return and how friendly will they be?

Essentially this mean only the priest and the military commander can avert chaos.

For the military commander, without fudging a roll, he actually rolled a 10 W trait. He could just take over the region by force but will he?

He got this M6, D3, W10, P8.

So P8 suggest that he is well-liked by the general populace and that he cares for the common man, so he is probably not going to declare himself lord unless doing so will save lives from chaos. M6, means he is not averse to managing supplies and logistic, but D3 means he is probably a bit crude. Possibly he is often drinking, spitting, cussing and otherwise having no patience for courtly bunk. He is probably born to the lower classes and got his position by merit raising in the ranks starting as a common solider.



His counterpart the high priest got these stats M9, D6, W1, P7

Okay with W1, I should probably give him a severe physical infirmity. I could make him blind, crippled or just really old. In my world, some priests and priestesses are divine spell casters and some are just clergy. With W1, he probably is not a spell casting, as even a little bit of magic can have a big effect on martial elements.

Both the warrior and the priest and united by a general respect for and by the common folk. This should let them work together despite their difference. With M9 he is great at managing the mundane details of leadership and with D6, he can adequate serve as the face of the realm. He probably also was common born.

I suppose I could detail the oldest woman and the oldest man not in jail, but they are farmers, so their traits are relative to other farmers. Farmer lady rolled amazing stats.

M 10, D 7, W 10, P 8, so even before she became part of the ruling council she was probably the unofficial matriarch of her home village or even a cluster of villages because she is smart, tough, likeable and fair.

Probably served in the militia in her youth or maybe she is even a retired adventurer.

With the oldest man in a jail cell as a vampire collaborator with minor brain damage from being hit by vampire mind control for over 30 years, I rolled out the second oldest man. He is also very badass for a farmer

M 10, D 10, W 8, P 6. Before being put on the nation's ruling council, he was probably a respected elder within his local village community that the locals come to when they need a wise impartial mediator for their disputes.

Now that I think about it, I think I will lean into the idea of elders who are well suited to be leaders, I think I will give the whole nation of Prophet's Pass a strong "listen to your elders" cultural value.

So I was able to take the stats of four people and extrapolate cultural character from it.

I thought about having a disgruntled merchant try to start a coup claiming that the so called "vampire" was just a hoax so the military leader and the upstart adventurers could seize all the merchants' wealth.

But given that the other four local leaders are so strong, said merchant's would-be would be squished without the adventurers needing to raise a finger.

Just for fun, lets see what his stats are

M9, D1, W3, P 8

Ouch. Even if I spot him some bonus points on diplomacy on account of his job requiring it, he is not qualified to lead a a coup. I don't know how a man with no diplomacy and no martial sense would have such a good relationship with the common folk. Maybe he truly believes that the adventurers are scheming con artists and that he is looking out for the community's best interest. Problem is with his unspeakably awful Diplomacy rating he is always right and cannot take "no" for an answer because he knows best.

If anything, with his low diplomacy rating, it's possibly he will accidentally drag the remaining merchants into a free-for-all battle to see which one of them will get a seat on the ruling council. Messy but unlikely to become the PCs' problem. Hopefully the other four members of the ruling council should be able to keep the merchants from tearing the kingdom apart. Prophet's Pass is along a major trade route, so there are a lot of them.

[Yakk]

I'd suggest less state. 1-10 is a bunch of state, and honestly a noble with a 7 or an 8 in a stat isn't going to be different in any important way.

I like your categories:
Minister (M): Administrative Skills and Book Smarts
Diplomat (D): Diplomatic Ability and Standing with Peers
Warrior (W): Martial and Tactical Prowess
Populist (P): Popularity with the masses and general charisma
but instead of 1-10, what about ... lower values.

Roll xd4 and get 1 "exceptionality" in the stat rolled.

Because "Populist 2 Warrior 1" provides a shorter, cleaner sketch of a noble's abilities than a bunch of 1-10 scale abilities.

You could even roll a weakness, which could match a strength. If you have Warrior strength 2 but also Warrior weakness, that isn't Warrior 1 -- it tells a story.

[sandmote]

He is probably born to the lower classes and got his position by merit raising in the ranks starting as a common solider.
...
Both the warrior and the priest and united by a general respect for and by the common folk...He probably also was common born.

I would move one of the two to the lower ranks of the nobility or otherwise having inherited some power to get their start. The warrior could be the child of some mercenaries keeping the trade route clear. Sending off extra children to become clergy was a common way to avoid fights over inheritance, so the priest could be one of those.

Alternatively, roll up a military or noble upstart who wants the knights/mercenaries to take over Prophet's Pass and charge tariffs for their own benefit. Maybe bringing up the dragon prophecy as "proof" that the nation needs to organize an effective military force to protect everyone (and that the current council is too soft/weak/etcetera). Dealing with scared mobs should press on those on the council with low Diplomacy and actually given the coup attempt a fighting chance.

I don't know how a man with no diplomacy and no martial sense would have such a good relationship with the common folk.

He has a 9 in Minister. He might just straight up make enough money to buy the favor of the people with parties and public works (the latter of which 'happen' to also help him turn a bigger profit).

I'd suggest less state. 1-10 is a bunch of state, and honestly a noble with a 7 or an 8 in a stat isn't going to be different in any important way.

I'd rather assign "weakness" based on job title and let the relationship between stats tell the story. A 7 in Diplomat isn't much, but if you also have an 8 in Warrior you can tell which tactic the character is going to favor. And if they're put on the back foot and forced to reply on diplomacy, the 7 still tells you the character won't be seriously inconvenienced.