SC2.0 Style NPC Generation For Modern

HeapThaumaturgist

First Post

• Jun 9, 2006

• #1

Introducing: "NPC Designer 1.0". It slices, it dices, it makes ... NPCs.

Spycraft 2.0 has a very interesting method for creating NPCs, one which involves choosing stats by "grades" ranging from I to X ... the grades scale to the average level of the Player Characters, meaning that an NPC, once created, always scales to the 'same' difficulty throughout the career of the PCs.

Of course, SC2 doesn't have to deal with things like CR and EL and whatnot, while the standard methodology for scaling combats in d20Modern does ...

Mostly, the idea and some of the tables are SC2.0 in origin ... pretty much everything else I had to put together since the two systems are rather far apart.

Hasn't been fully playtested yet, only been edited once by myself ... but its free.

EDIT: Down for revisions, name changes, etc.

--fje

 

Last edited: Jun 12, 2006

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Armistice

First Post

• Jun 9, 2006

• #2

It definitely looks interesting. Playtest this like crazy and you've got an excellent addition to the d20 Modern toolkit. Really liked your Zombies!, mooks example. I'd use this mostly as a quick and more detailed way to get Modern NPC's and Monsters into my PbS game. Might turn out to be better than my current eyeball guestimates. Good work!

 

buzz

Adventurer

• Jun 9, 2006

• #3

Very nice work, Heap!

 

Pbartender

First Post

• Jun 9, 2006

• #4

Very cool...

Makes me wonder how well it would adapt to some of the more popular fantasy games like D&D or Iron Heroes... Hrmmm... I might have to look into that.

 

buzz

Adventurer

• Jun 9, 2006

• #5

Pbartender said:

Very cool...

Makes me wonder how well it would adapt to some of the more popular fantasy games like D&D or Iron Heroes... Hrmmm... I might have to look into that.

Click to expand...

In a recent issue of Dungeon, Monte basically wrote up a similar system for D&D in his "Dungeoncraft" column. It was basically the same kind of "an NPC at CR X will have an average +Y in skills if a major villain". All someone needs to do now is put his data into some tables.

And IH's villain classes accomplish the same goal, to a certain extent.

 

HeapThaumaturgist

First Post

• Jun 9, 2006

• #6

It should, I think, translate easily.

I simplified things even further from SC2, and some complexities from SC2 don't translate anyway. I added a few things I'd thought of that I'd like to "do" with it like "Penchant For Destruction" and "Deadly, Unreasonably So".

For instance

Dragon (CR: ACL +8): Init III; Atk VII; Def II; Resilience VII; Hit Points X; Competence II; Skilled: Spot, Listen; Equipment: None; Qualities: Ability Increase (Strength 24), Ability Decrease (Dexterity 6), Attribute Focus (Penchant For Destruction), Darkvision, Easily Distracted (Gold in Excess of PDC 23), Energy Resistance (Fire 30), Flight (Poor), Frightening, Natural Armor 15, Natural Attack (Claw x2), Natural Attack 2 (Bite), Penchant For Destruction 10d6, Size Increase (Gargantuan), Skilled (Spot, Listen), Speed Decrease (20' Speed), Speed Increase (60' Fly).

Mmmmm. Scary.

--fje

 

SteveC

Doing the best imitation of myself

• Jun 9, 2006

• #7

<luggage salesman>May you live to be a thousand years old, sir!</luggage salesman>

In other words: this looks fantastic.

--Steve

 

Pbartender

First Post

• Jun 9, 2006

• #8

buzz said:

In a recent issue of Dungeon, Monte basically wrote up a similar system for D&D in his "Dungeoncraft" column. It was basically the same kind of "an NPC at CR X will have an average +Y in skills if a major villain". All someone needs to do now is put his data into some tables.

And IH's villain classes accomplish the same goal, to a certain extent.

Click to expand...

Well... It's close but not quite the same. The Iron Heroes villain classes are really no different than the "Creature Improvement by Type" progressions that D&D uses, but put into a more sensible format.

In D&D, and practically every d20 game except for SC, when you build an NPC that's good at one thing, he must be good at other things to a certain degree.

For example, in D&D if I wanted to build a 10th-level Expert scribe with thirteen ranks in the appropriate skills, then by default he must also have proficiencies in Simple Weapon and Light Armor, a +7/+2 BAB, +3/+3/+7 for saving throws, 30-odd hit points, two ability score increases and four feats... It doesn't matter how you describe the guy, is you want him to have the skills to be an expert scribe, then he must also be an innately competant combatant. Low level PCs picking a fight with this bookish librarian would find themselves in for a suprisingly tough fight.

The SC 2.0 system fixes that problem... You can build an NPC who's an expert at a specific skill set, but knows next to nothing about everything else (including fighting). It makes a lot more sense for the vast majority of NPCs you run across.

 

Last edited: Jun 9, 2006

I

Ilium

First Post

• Jun 9, 2006

• #9

Pbartender just described one of my few actual gripes with d20. You can't stat the "leading scientist" (or scholar) NPC legally.

Heap's wicked-cool PDF does let you do that, I think. Since you can just arbitrarily set a high Competence and low Hit Points and Attack, you're all set. I suppose you could do that anyway, as the GM, but it's nice to have something like this to codify it.

You know, this is just crying out to have a tool built around it. Maybe in my copious spare time...

 

V

Vascant

Wanderer of the Underdark

• Jun 9, 2006

• #10

Only question I have really is the name, mostly from a point of view not wanting to create any confusion for your obvious hard work or my own.