NPC Parties

One of the most dreaded results on the random encounter table is the NPC party. Not for the players, but for me when I’m GM’ing. I am suddenly responsible for randomly rolling five or more characters right in the middle of a game. The best solution I’ve found, for wilderness encounter tables, is to pre-generate several NPC parties, and then randomly determine which one is met.

Nabonidas of Akhdar

Not every dungeon has an NPC party but some should, unless the GM has determined that the players are pretty much the only adventurers in the area. For dungeon encounters, it makes more sense for me to pregenerate one or possibly two parties of NPCs for that specific dungeon. Then they can appear by name on random encounter tables for dungeon levels appropriate to their abilities, or more rarely on other levels where they’re either passing through or in over their heads. You can also roll a check (1 in 20 works well) to have them be in a room the players are about to enter.

Below is a party of NPCs that I used in a slightly different way. I placed them in one of the rooms of the Temple Catacombs under the ruined temple at the corner of Castle Nicodemus. But then I put one member of their party on the random encounter chart for the Catacombs. That way they might run into him first (chasing a polymorphed but defeated green slaad), giving the players the opportunity to interact with him, trace his steps back to the rest of the NPC party, or some combination of the two (or ignore him altogether, of course). The players also might run into the main body of the NPC party first, thus hearing about their recent defeat of a green slaad who bolted and ran rather than giving over the soul gem embedded in its forehead. The players could then choose to interact with the NPC party, help them track down their “ranger” who chased off after the slaad, try to avoid them, attack them for their loot, or anything else the players might think of. (You might recognise the ranger, the green slaad polymorphed into a raven, and his party of companions. If you do, please let me know in the comments or on G+. The basic idea for them, though not their party composition, is lifted from some old pre-WOTC TSR product, but I can’t remember which one.)

The first question I addressed about them was “why are they there?” I decided they were a professional treasure hunting company hired to find a specific item. In addition to providing some variety from the usual simple lust for loot, this choice also snuck in some incidental information about the campaign world. Anglia and other nearby kingdoms and locales are rich enough in ruins to support a professional company of delvers. The ruins are known to hold highly valuable or powerful items, widely enough that multiple patrons would seek to hire delvers. The ruins are known to be dangerous; dangerous enough to warrant hiring professionals instead of delving on one’s own.

Another factor I consider when putting a party of NPCs into a dungeon is time. Just how long are they going to be in there? There’s obviously a limit (unless the dungeon is big enough to get lost in), but until the players have some clue they are down there, there probably isn’t any reason to start their clock ticking. For this party, the clock started when the players found their tracks heading down into the Temple Catacombs entrance. After that, they would be leaving the dungeon after a maximum of 1d10+14 days. (If I was stopping time between game sessions, I probably would have made that quite a bit less.) I had them camp in the temple ruins just above, but if the Catacombs had been larger I would probably have had them hole up in an empty room down below. Being professionals, they were fastidious campers who left no glaring evidence. Each day a game session occurred, they had a chance to notice the players, modified by how close the players got to the ruined temple, or how loud and obvious the players’ characters became.

The last question I wanted to answer before they encountered players was “how will they act toward another group of adventurers?” Even though I knew I wanted to come up with one or two basic character traits for each member, I wanted an overall party MO as well. Although their alignments differ individually, on the whole they will work toward good ends, beneficent to most of society and the innocent, and will do their best to limit the amount of chaos caused (or Chaos unleashed) in getting there. Being professionals working on a contract, they will do their best not to reveal their current employer, or what they’ve been hired to retrieve. If they can “foil some evil” without risking their contract, they’ll do it.

Jovaell the Monk

Now it was time for the individuals. The foundation here is that they are not player-characters. Just as I don’t allow players to choose “wyvern” or “bugbear” or “king” for their class, other things players can’t choose are open to NPCs. In essence they are all “monsters,” just like the Druids found in the monster section of the original 3 little brown books of OD&D. Thus, for players “ranger” is just a varied combination of background skill (e.g. the Secondary Skills table, page 12 of the 1e DMG) and flavour, potentially applied to several different character classes. However, for the NPC in this party “ranger” is what type of “monster” he is. He possesses and uses special abilities in the same way any other “monster” does. Since I had chosen an “off-standard” class to base this NPC on, I decided it would be amusing to do that for the other members of the NPC party as well. Thus: assassin, druid, monk, illusionist. 

The next big consideration for the individuals is what their hit dice should be. Again since I knew they were professionals, I decided they would have researched the item they’re after and its location as much as possible. Therefore, they’d be unlikely to be in over their heads in the Temple Catacombs. Other monsters down there included wights, wraiths, several areas where glyphs are set up to summon red slaad, a medusa, and at least one summoned green slaad. 6 to 8 hit dice (9 for the leader) sounded about right, while still making it difficult enough for them to progress so that they wouldn’t end up clearing the dungeon instead of the players. This would also determine things like their available spells and other special abilities.

• Darius Ravenwood, Ranger, 8hd. Jovial and boastful, which interferes with keeping contracts confidential.
• Nabonidas, Assassin, 7hd. Soft-spoken, pleased with himself. The “common peoples’” antics amuse him.
• Tasha, Elf Illusionist, 9hd. The Company Leader. Friendly, but all-business underneath.
• Jovaell, Monk, 6hd. Quiet and introspective. Hard to tell if she’s observing or meditating.
• Cormac O’ Connacht, Druid, 7hd. Old and sort of senile. Prone to confusion and revealing secrets.

I’ll give more details about some of these NPCs later on, as at least one has another function in Anglia. Tasha is one of several possible mentor choices for 1st level magic-users.

Rumours

It is night-time for Migellito’s caravan. They are camped outside of Antwerp, and many of the travellers have gone into the city. The caravan boss steps toward the fire outside a brightly painted coach. “Tarot Woman?”

She answers nearly unseen from behind the fire, and he moves to sit next to her. She asks “you are enjoying the benefits of the new route, yes?”

He is serious and unsmiling. “Yes. It is as you foretold. ‘You will find fortune beyond the fields we know.’ But now two men, they won’t return with us to the East. Another is crushed by one of those accursed devil statues. And I don’t really believe they were statues.”

She smiles. “The last one was sold in Brussels. They are gone now.”

He quickly stands. “It’s not about the statues! This route takes us too close to the Lich Stone! And what of this glyph? There has been no sign of it!”

The gypsy lady motions for Migellito to sit again. “The Lich Stone is on the other side of the Rhine Sea, miles away when we pass by. There is no worry. For other matters, there is patience. The tarot does not lie to me. It never has. And now that I possess these mystic plaques, I am one with it stronger than ever before. Is your man ready when the time is right?”

Migellito sighs. “Yes. He awaits for word in Ravensburg.” He stands and begins to walk away. “My patience will not last forever, Tarot Woman.”

E is for Erstwhile Ended Entry Effluvia

It's a good thing I had the presentiment to not sign up Explicitly for the daily post alphabet challenge. We've been in various stages of trying to get into a new Edifice for a little over two months now, and it's kept my output even more Economical than usual. But, it's finally at an End, and we Exchange money for keys later today! Excelsior!!

Although this Equivocally means that my Efficacy will actually further Erode for a while, it also means that after a week or so it will Escalate and Expand to a much greater, Even daily, proliferation.

Enyway..

In coming up with a couple more names for unplanned npcs in my Greyhawk game, I realised something enter.. er.. interesting. I like making non-player characters. It entertains me. My favourite part of making them, and generally the only thing I do to make them, is coming up with a name and personality.

I don't roll stats at all unless I absolutely have to. Even for a man-at-arms hired by the party, I eschew stats. He or she gets their attack roll based on their level, which is most likely zero-level-human, and that's pretty much it. In the incredibly rare instance that an ability check is needed, I assume it's an 11 unless I've already established there is something unusual about them. What about hit points? Well, level one fighting-men get a d6 in ODnD. Goblins are a d6-1. Goblins are able to drive peasants before them, whilst enjoying the lamentation of the women. Thus, here is the simple breakdown on ye common folke. Children, elderly, infirmed - 1hp; clerks, maids, typical townies - 2hp; farmers, laborers, healthy lads and lasses - 3hp; the burly blacksmith and other buff stereotypes - 4hp.

I got a little sidetracked, but it went in an acceptable direction. Back to names! I enjoy making up names and personalities. I have no trouble making up diverse personalities, and there are some great tables out there if I did. I should come back and edit this to give a ballyhoo to a couple of them.. With names, even though I love inventing them, I sometimes worry that since it's one person coming up with all the names of all the npcs, they will begin to sound like they're all cousins.

Today, while making two names for a couple hired spearmen that I hadn't foreseen, I thought "hey, I'm trying to make this as much a Gygaxian Greyhawk as possible.. how did he come up with names?" Easy - in addition to the much-discussed anagrams, he used lots of old obscure archaisms, oft times adjusted a bit. This has the added bonus of enjoying some synchronicity with Gene Wolfe's writing, so that makes it feel even better. Thus, I now share a few great links to aid in this method of coming up with proper nouns for a campaign.

Grandiloquent Dictionary

Luciferous Logolepsy

Strange and Unusual Dictionaries dead

Worthless Word FOR the Day dead

Enjoy!

Grumpy Greyhawk - An NPC

In my own PbP Greyhawk campaign, the goal is to visit a time some thirty years after the germinal tales of such legendary adventurers as Robilar, Tenser and Terik. Much as the current year in the real world was 2010 when the campaign began, the year in the campaign is 610. There were no 'Greyhawk Wars,' Rary never betrayed anyone, and the last twenty-some years of Sir Robilar's life would, I earnestly hope, be happily claimed by Mr. Kuntz.
The popular name of the City of Greyhawk has changed over the years to Yggsburgh, arising from the influx of so many adventurers and treasure-seekers from foreign lands coming to explore the rumors of Zagyg and the dungeons beneath his crumbling castle. As the campaign began, it had been nearly twenty years since ne'er-do-wells and would-be-heroes had streamed in taxable masses down into the bowels of the ruined pile.

Here is the first of what I intend to be a continuing view of snapshots from Grumpy Greyhawk. This time, it's an NPC from the back alleys of the gaming district. He's partly a mix of Fagin and Mackenzie Crook.

Limm Skellin - In the gaming district you find an urchin who indeed knows a likely party. He asks you several questions which you guess are aimed at weeding out members of the thieve's guild, as he guides you along a complicated path amongst the narrow streets and back alleys to an old place behind some of the gaming establishments. He knocks on a door, and a man looking to be recovering from a hangover opens it. The boy assures him you are 'ok' and comes back to you for his reward. The man, apparently around 20 going on 50, introduces himself with a formal bow, tipping a non-existent hat, and calls himself Limm Skellin. "What can I do for ye t'day, guv'nor?"

-Another quote..
"Right to business. I like that. It's honest, that is. 5 gold orbs. 8, if they're wanted by the authorities. 12 if they're a person of Higher Station, if you know what I mean. Half now, the rest when I show 'em to you. Mind, if it's a wizard, or someone in The Organisation, it might run extra. If I've got nuffing in 3 days, I'll give back half what you gim'me today, retaining the remainder for expenses and such, o' course."

-And another look..
He clears his throat from behind you as you near his lodgings, and steps out of the shadows. "It seems your friend, him of the hollowed out skull purse, has made an impression on the Society of Magi. I can tell you what I've nosed up so far for the remainder of our agreed upon.. but to keep at things, I'm afraid the wizardly entanglements demand a bit more than the average amount o' care." He smiles widely, displaying his ironic lack of care in the dental area.