D&D General NPC farmer & merchant levels by age

[kigmatzomat]

The various magic discussions have me thinking about the foundational aspects of d&d society. So, I want to ignore magic and think farmers and the fundamental artisans like millers, weavers, brewers, coopers, cobblers and smiths. These people should make up the vast majority of the populace in almost every community.

How much variability should there be in their capabilities, if any? And if so, how to express that?

If a human farmer/crafter is 1st level at around age 17, how much more skilled is a farmer/crafter pushing 40, with 20yrs of experience and not yet suffering the ravages of time and what does that look like on a character sheet?

Clarification: I want this to be how you expect the typical hale & hearty mature adult with 20yrs experience to be relative to a 1st level 17yro. This would be like 30% of your adult population.

I don't specifically care about rules for a peasant class as much as I am trying to suss out how much impact "lived experience" should be represented in the game using the most relatable possible example. This would be a way to come up with experience levels of a population that make the setting "feel right".

 

[Shiroiken]

I voted level 1, because you don't have a 0 level option. Very few NPCs in my Greyhawk ever achieve anything like a class level. They can, however, become better at a particular skill because I don't require NPCs to work the same way as a PC. A master weaponsmith might have a +10 modifier while still only having 6 HP.

 

[Tonguez]

I voted some but a level 4 peasant would be rare. I tend to keep Master level commoners (local Blacksmith, Village Apothecary, Head Farmer) around level 3.

 

[Minigiant]

The Apprentice gets 1HD and proficiency in their job's tools.
The Trained gets 2HD and proficiency in their job's tools
The Expert gets 4HD, Expertise in their job's tools and +2 in their job's primary ability score.
The Master gets 5HD, Expertise and Reliable Talent in their job's tools and +2 in their job's primary ability score..

Now most peasants ony have d4 HD and no Con bonus.

 

[kigmatzomat]

I voted level 1, because you don't have a 0 level option. Very few NPCs in my Greyhawk ever achieve anything like a class level. They can, however, become better at a particular skill because I don't require NPCs to work the same way as a PC. A master weaponsmith might have a +10 modifier while still only having 6 HP.

I didn't because afaik, 5e doesn't have level 0. I was trying to stay within the dnd 5e mechanics. I don't specifically care about rules for a peasant class as much as I am trying to suss out how much "lived experience" should be modeled in the game.

I assumed a peasant would be uniformly bad at combat. Something like d2 hp/level and they get maybe 1 weapon proficiency from sling (the quintesential shepherd weapon useful for hunting small game & driving off varmints attacking their herds), a club, and maybe javelin (the pointy stick used for hunting pests in the fields, spear fishing/marlin spike)

 

[Paul Farquhar]

None of the above: They have no stats unless they get involved in a fight.

At which point the acquire the Wilhelm Scream special ability.

 

[Cadence]

For NPCs I would entirely separate "combat levels" from "skill levels". Nothing annoyed me more about 3.5/PF than the world's greatest painter getting a bunch of hit dice and a decent BAB just because.

It feels like age can certainly help with acquiring more skill, but opportunity and will to take advantage of being pushed to improve seem more important. A motivated 20 year old with a wide variety of opportunities who takes it seriously can easily be more proficient than the 50 year old who never pushed themselves and has just done the same limited number of things as always.

 

[kigmatzomat]

I voted some but a level 4 peasant would be rare. I tend to keep Master level commoners (local Blacksmith, Village Apothecary, Head Farmer) around level 3.

I want this to be how you expect the typical hale & hearty mature adult with 20yrs experience to be relative to a 1st level 17yro. This would be like 30% of your adult population. (For things like smith maybe most apprentice smiths are in the city where there is enough work, and then they move to a village at master, but even then, 30% of smiths would be at this level.

 

[Umbran]

"Level" isn't really a concept to apply to most NPCs in 5th Edition.

Experience in a field will give NPCs higher bonuses or an occasional special ability in the relevant things to match what their narrative implies they should be able to do. But they don't get levels.

Old Farmer McGuckett will have have higher bonuses for farming and animal husbandry than McGuckett Jr. But their hit points and attack bonuses are about the same, unless the Old Farmer also has spent a few rounds in militias when raiders have come through town...

 

[Blue Orange]

The tricky thing is that game stats are built around combat--being a better crafter/artisan doesn't make you tougher or more able to resist poison. Shakespeare was a commoner with a 30 in Performance (playwriting). Farmers in particular ought to have reasonably high physical stats--their jobs are outdoors and physically strenuous.