Creating An NPC Party

Adventurers A party of NPC adventurers will usually consist of 4-8 characters, as follows: 1d3 Fighters, 1d2 Thieves, 1d2 Clerics, and 1d2-1 Magic- Users. Usually the characters will all be of similar levels; after deciding what average level the party should be, you may wish to make a few of the characters lower levels (to reflect the usual "replacements" brought in when some characters die). The Game Master must choose the race or races of the NPC adventurers to suit the region where they are found (or come from). Probably 80% or more of adventurers are Human, 10% are Dwarves, 6% are Halfling and the remaining 4% Elvish. If the NPC adventurer party is evil, the GM may choose to replace some party members with humanoid monsters such as orcs, hobgoblins, or gnolls. The party may be rivals with the player characters, vying for the same treasures, or they may actually be enemies, evil marauders that the player characters must defeat. It is, of course, possible that the NPC adventurers are allied or otherwise friendly with the player characters, but this may make things too easy for the players. Bandits, Brigands, and Highwaymen A party of bandits will generally consist of 2d12 1st level Fighters and 1d6 1st level Thieves, led by a Fighter or Thief of 2nd to 5th level (1d4+1) or by one of each class (if there are 11 or more 1st level members total). In the wilderness, bandits will generally have horses or other steeds appropriate to the terrain (stolen, of course) as well as light armor, swords and bows or crossbows. Determine magic items as given below for the leaders only; rank-and-file members will not normally have magic items. In their lair or hideout, a party of bandits will generally have type A treasure (with magic items omitted since they will have been generated using the rules below). Buccaneers and Pirates The difference between buccaneers and pirates is largely a question of what they wish to be called; whatever you call them, they are waterborne equivalents of bandits, attacking other ships or raiding coastal towns for plunder. A buccaneer party will consist of 3d8 1st level Fighters, led by a Fighter of 3rd to 6th level (1d4+2) and 1d3 Fighters of 2nd to 5th level. All will be experienced at handling ships, of course. They will be unarmored or armored only in leather, and will be armed with swords and bows or crossbows. Seagoing pirates may appear in larger numbers, but the number of leader-types will be similar to that given above. Generate magic items for leaders only as described below. A shipload of pirates or buccaneers will have a type A treasure, with magic items omitted (since magic items will already have been rolled for the NPCs); the treasure may not be aboard the ship, however, as pirates often bury their treasures on distant shores. In such a case, the Captain or one of his mates will have a map of some kind leading to the treasure. Merchants Merchants must often transport their wares through wilderness areas. About half of the time (50%), a landbound merchant party will be led by a single wealthy merchant; other merchant parties will consist of 1d4+1 less wealthy merchants who have banded together for their own safety. There will be 2d4 wagons (but at least one per merchant) drawn by horses or mules. Each wagon is driven by a teamster who is a normal man, usually unarmored and armed with a dagger or shortsword. The caravan will employ 1d4+2 first-level Fighters and 1d4 second-level Fighters as guards. If encountered at sea, a merchant party will generally consist of a single ship owned or rented by a single merchant. The ship will have a crew of 2d8+8 regular crewmen, who are normal men, unarmored and armed with clubs, daggers or shortswords; the Captain, First Mate, and other officers are taken from this number. Large ships may require larger crews. 1d4+2 first-level Fighters and 1d4 second-level Fighters will be aboard as guards, just as with a caravan. Besides the valuable but undoubtedly bulky trade goods transported by the merchant caravan or ship, such a party will also have a type A treasure, with magic items omitted; it may be in one chest, or spread out among the wagons. Nobles A noble party will consist of a noble (of course), possibly accompanied by a spouse (also a noble, of course) and/or one or more children. Each adult noble will have at least one attendant (assistant, lady-inwaiting, etc.). Lower-ranking nobles (such as barons) will have a single wagon or carriage, drawn by fine horses; higherranking nobles will have two or more wagons. The noble may be mounted on a warhorse, though they may choose to ride in a carriage part of the time. Each carriage or wagon will have a teamster, who in this case will be a 1st level Fighter in chainmail with a longsword. At least two mounted Fighters of 1st through 4th level will be with the noble as guards; again, higher ranking nobles will have more guards. Guards will generally be armed with longswords and possibly lances, armored in platemail, and their warhorses will usually be barded with chainmail. Determining the exact number of guards is left to the GM in this case. The normal chances for magic items apply, of course. A noble will usually be traveling with a little spending money; a type A treasure should be rolled to represent this. In this case, do not omit the magic items, as nobles will generally be more wealthy than the average party of men. Nobles are usually (70%) normal men; otherwise, roll 1d10: 1-6 indicates a Fighter, 7-8 indicates a Magic- User, 9 indicates a Cleric, and 10 indicates a Thief. (Clerical "nobles" are bishops, archbishops, and the like.) Roll 2d4-1 for the level of each "classed" noble. Pilgrims A party of pilgrims is on its way to (or from) a major religious locale or activity. Such a party will be led by a 1d4 Clerics of level 1-4 (roll for each). The remainder of the party is rather random in nature; most pilgrim groups include 3d6 normal men (or women if the religion allows women to go on pilgrimages), 1d6 Fighters of level 1-4 (roll for each) with chainmail and longsword, and 1d4 Thieves of level 1-4 (each of whom may be a genuine devout person, or possibly just on the lam). There is also a 50% chance of a single Magic-User of level 1-4 being with the party. Pilgrims usually travel light, carrying a single bag each and walking or riding mules or horses. The pilgrim party will most likely be bringing offerings of some sort to their destination; generate a type A treasure for this purpose. If magic items are indicated, they will most likely not be used by any of the NPCs as they have already been dedicated to the god or pantheon. Magic Items for NPCs NPCs will generally have magic items in proportion to their class and level; assume a 5% chance per level that any given Fighter, Thief, or Cleric NPC will have a magic weapon or magic armor (roll for weapon and armor separately for each NPC). Regardless of level, a roll of 96-00 should be considered a failure. Magic- Users will have a Ring of Protection (roll the bonus as usual for the item) on a roll of 4% per level, and a magic dagger or walking staff on a roll of 3% per level. In addition, assume a 2% per level chance that any given character will have a potion, and 3% per level that a Cleric or Magic-User will have a scroll of some sort. Finally, add up the levels of all members of the party, and use this number as a percentage chance that a Rare Item (as found on the table on page 169) will be found among them. If the roll is made, divide the number by two and roll again; if the second roll is made, two such items are found. If the party has more than 3 members, you might wish to divide the number in half again and roll for a third such item. Assign the item or items to whichever party members seem most appropriate, or roll randomly if you can't decide. Non-Human Parties It is assumed above that NPC parties will be Human, or predominantly so; but the Game Master may choose to present parties of Elves, Dwarves, or Halflings from time to time. In general, such a party will be homogeneous; an Elf party would consist of all Elves, for instance. If encountered in the territory of another race, the party might include a guide hired to lead them to their destination. For example, the Elf party mentioned above might hire a Human guide to help them when traveling through a Human country. The Game Master may simply use the figures given above when generating such parties. One thing that the GM must decide is whether or not the "normal men" rules apply to non-humans… are there "normal elves" for instance? This decision is left to the GM. If there are such characters, they will have the same racial abilities as others of their kind, but will fight with an Attack Bonus of +0 just as normal men do. If there are no such characters in the campaign world, then simply substitute 1st level Fighters for the normal men listed above.