What level is your average local NPC?

[Celebrim]

Almost every NPC in my game can be roughly simulated by a 2nd level character. Even those with higher levels typically have lower than average stats, so that once you figure their attack bonus and hit points it as if they were 2nd level. While those that are 1st level are typically young and physically fit and therefore make up much of the difference with their elders. Only skills go up with any consistancy.

In theory most NPCs are commoners, but I rarely find the need to stat up commoners. Though, I have wrote up a 9th level commoner for my latest campaign (she's a 90 year old village matriarch), which is the highest level for any NPC I have a stat block for. The weakest NPC's I'll typically write a stat block for are 2nd or 3rd level Experts.

Generally only children are 0th level.

In general, characters in earlier editions were about one level lower although at no time have I ever had armies made up of 0th level men-at-arms (or 1st level warriors for that matter). The ability to use NPC classes and to easily manipulate bonuses with lower stats has freed up some space for NPCs to gain a little more compotence without making them more combat proficient.

Just as an aside, rural characters are assumed to be slightly higher level than their city dwelling comrades - quite the opposite of the view taken by another poster. Characters typically move from relatively safe Cityville out to the dangers of rural life, and eventually over the edge of the wild to the Terrible Lands Where There Be Dragons.

 

[jonesy]

"If it's such a horrible problem, your majesty, why don't you fix it?"

"You don't want the job, leave. There's twenty other adventuring groups I could call. And next time, maybe I won't call yours at all."

 

[aurance]

Regular people can do exactly what my plot requires them to do, which I don't put in stats. If that cranky old man needs to know what a frost giant baby eats, for some reason, he just knows. I don't try to figure out that he's X level with a +X frost giant baby check.

The only time stats need to come up is if the PCs become involved with the NPCs in a contest of some sort, whether skill or combat.

 

[S'mon]

In my current & planned 4e games, most people are either minions or '0th level' - like 1st level but minus a level's worth of hp and other stats. I'm looking at using more '1st level standard monster' rather than minion stats for regular humans in a higher powered setting, and maybe just translating them into minions when they encounter much higher level PCs (5th+).

Professional City Guard are typically 1st-3rd level soldiers.

 

[S'mon]

For typical soldiers, I have been using 4e minions of the following levels:

Novice: 1-2 - farmers, levy
Trained: 3-4 - trained levy
Experienced: 5-6 - typical professional 'men at arms'
Veteran: 7-8 - typical knights, veteran troops, Guards units
Elite: 9-10 - pirates!
Ultra-Elite: 11+

 

[Jan van Leyden]

The following statements are valid for my 4e game:

Regular persons will seldomly use rules to interact with the PCs and vice versa. If the PCs are higher than 1st level and want to treat Otto Normalverbraucher as antagonist, they succeed. Up to now I didn't suffer from a knights of the dinner table like group, so I don't need to obstruct my players in their dealings with regular folk.

If the PCs want some information from the people at large they can use skills like Streetwise. If they are asking some specific guy, I just roll a d20 and interpret the result freely.

In 3e games I would have whipped out the DMG with its NPC tables and somehow set the NPC's level. For run-off-the-mill folks this would have level 1.

 

[Asha'man]

My situation is exactly the same as Cerebral Paladin's.

 

[Jhaelen]

I voted for 0/1st-level since that's true for 'most' npcs.

In 3e I used the DMG demography rules to determine the number of higher level npcs.

In 4e I 'promote' npcs that accompany pcs to become minions of the pcs' level. Likewise for guards, should they engage in combat with or against the pcs.

For planned combat encounters, npcs will represent an encounter of the desired challenge level.

 

[delericho]

I play 3e. The overwhelming majority of NPCs are level 1 commoners, experts or warriors (with the former being most common, though not by much). There are far fewer NPCs with 'PC' classes, and almost no NPCs above level 7 or so (in any class).

However, I am inclined to think that the 4e model of not giving NPCs classes and levels in the same way is actually superior to the 3e model. Though I think the game perhaps still doesn't go far enough in streamlining NPC stats.

 

[Gilladian]

I said 2-4 level, but really I should have said 1st if I'd read the question carefully. The average NPC in the world is definitely 1st level. The typical ones that the PCs have much reason to interact with are 2-4th, usually. Nobody is over 6th, because I'm running E6...