Do you prepare bands of NPC adventurers?

[Crothian]

I've done it before. I had a few rival Adventuring groups for some of Thieves World campaigns or other games that the characters would run into the sme people over and over.

 

[Scott DeWar]

Ah yes, those repeat encounters. Play them like a pc group where they retur to fight another day and that makes for some interesting campaigns.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

One of my favourite things in some of the older D&D products (particularly for some of the 2E adventures for the Forgotten Realms) was the inclusion of bands or groups of NPCs with names and some background.

I've been wanting to spend a bit more effort on NPCs in my next campaign and I was wondering:

1. does anyone here prepare bands of NPC adventurers?

Absolutely. However a "band of NPC adventurers" aren't necessarily really "adventurers". Often I design NPC parties who may have very different goals. A rival team of adventurers could be fun too, but I've yet to do so.

2. how do you do it?

Pick an idea I want to use, then "graft" it onto a generic monster I design of the appropriate level.

3. where do you get the inspiration from?

Several sources.

Sometimes I take an older supplement (2e or 3e) and convert NPCs from there. I've used Enemies & Allies and several Dark Sun adventures for ideas.

In one case, I took an FR novel and "stole" the NPCs from it, creating not one but two NPC parties (one epic and good-aligned, one paragon and evil).

Sometimes I "steal" ideas I see online.

4. would you care to share some examples?

Posting from my index card collection would take time. I suppose if I had time, but at the moment I do not.

 

[Derulbaskul]

Thanks for everyone's responses. There's some great ideas here.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Always. It helps to have a set or two of rival adventurers that the PCs can interact with, either to cooperate with or compete against. Depending on how hte relationship evolves, you can have recurrign villains or allies as you level up the NPCs over the course of the campaign.

One way to build thme is to model them on one-offs of the PCs (see also: the Linear Guild of Order of the Stick). I've also used this approach as DM to play with individual character ideas I wanted to try out myself.

 

[Jhaelen]

I did it once in my 3e campaign. It wasn't such a good idea because it was a terrible amount of work for little benefit. For one or two session there was some fun roleplaying with several of the npc party and one even accompanied them for a while. But when a fight started between the pcs and the npc party it was one of slowest (and therefore longest) combat sessions we ever had.

 

[Scott DeWar]

But when a fight started between the pcs and the npc party it was one of slowest (and therefore longest) combat sessions we ever had.

there is always that problem. But it opens the minds of players of the toughness of themselves when faced with them selves.

 

[messy]

someday i hope to use the runewardens and the company of the black lanters.

 

[haakon1]

I did it recently. I ripped off the sample PC's from Paizo's Pathfinder adventure paths. The characters are so well done, my PC's assumed they were actual PC's from my other campaign (I run an email and a live campaign, with some overlap of NPC's and references to each other's parties).

The ones I chose were all from Pathfinder 3 "Hook Mountain Massacre" (to get the appropriate levels):
-- Valeros the Fighter (party leader)
-- Seoni the Sorceress
-- Kyra the Cleric
-- Merisiel the Elvish Rogue
-- Harsk the teetotaller Dwarvish ranger (actually from Pathfinder 9 "Escape from Old Korvosa")

The PC's ended up making a deal with Valeros' party and becoming allies.

The other party I'm running will likely go into the Shackled City Adventure Path soon, and face off with the Stormblades.

Note that Valeros' party doesn't have a name . . . I've never had a PC party wth a name, so it seems unnatural and pretentious to us to name a party -- perfect for the Stormblades.

 

[Scott DeWar]

OOC: Harsk the teetotaler Dwarvish ranger

A dwarf that takes drought naught? that is like some sort of paradox lost, is it not (or naught)?