God I LOVE NPC Hechmen!!

[Azure Trance]

Leopold, you did make the first book conversion, right?

Also, how are you going to roleplay so many henchmen? I was thinking about adding on interesting characters but wasn't sure if I could handle the load.

 

[Azure Trance]

Also, could you post the link to the NPC Generator? I can't find it. Thanks

 

[Azure Trance]

Blah blah blah ;D One more post.

One more thing - I was very interested in adding henchmen in, and one of my ideas was something from the Iron Kingdoms - a gobber armed with guns. (Gobber = Goblin). With big goofy goggles and a 6 shot pistol, with feats from Swashbuckling Adventures to help him out (Hip Shot = AoO w/ Pistol in 5' radius), I thought of him as a hybrid Jawa-Gnome. Tinkering with scrap metal and machines, wearing goggles and always covered in oil and grease.

But I saw your 3 Dwarves and thought, wait a minute ... why not three Gobbers? What can three gunmen do? Why, crew a bigger gun of course. Arm them with a pistol for self-defense, but like a machine-gun crew they each carry a part of larger weapon for the larger battles. The "big gun" would be a cannon or experimental rotary gun, I'm not sure.

(Not even sure if I have stats for a rotary gun; I think D20 SA has them though. I'm not sure if they could piece a light cannon together either. The only stats I have are from Hylars 12lb in the 3rd Book of the Witchfire Trilogy.)

They'd probably stay in the back of the party though, since they'd also have to bring barrels of gunpowder with them. Maybe like Desperado, and make them all eerily efficent gun-brothers.

-=-

Leo, wouldn't adding in 7 extra similarily equal level NPCs make the game to easy without adjusting the encounters? And again, how in the world will you manage so many? Give the players the character sheets to save time during combat, for example?

 

[S'mon]

For PC-class adventurers' hiring costs I'd suggest something like (Level squared)x10gp per month. This is n line with the relative power of the levels and the hiring costs in the DMG (eg 1st level Warriors 6gp/month). Higher levels on dangerous missions would want a reasonable loot share too, 1/3 sounds reasonable.

Level squared x 10 gp =

1st: 10gp
2nd: 40gp
3rd: 90gp
4th: 160gp
5th: 250gp
6th: 360gp
7th: 490gp
8th: 640gp
9th: 810gp
10th: 1000gp
11th: 1210gp
12th: 1440gp
13th: 1690gp
14th: 1960gp
15th: 2250gp

I think characters over 15th would rarely if ever be available for hire in a regular campaign. If available to be hired, costs would be:

16th: 2560gp
17th: 2890gp
18th: 3240gp
19th: 3610gp
20th: 4000gp

For Epic level NPCs (in a _really_ high-powered game) continue the progression but multiply costs by 100gp instead of 10gp.

 

[Sulimo]

They're NPCs, of course they don't have anything better to do... Or they wouldn't have that 'N'!

No wonder Henchmen have gotta union...

 

[Azure Trance]

For PC-class adventurers' hiring costs I'd suggest something like (Level squared)x10gp per month. This is n line with the relative power of the levels and the hiring costs in the DMG (eg 1st level Warriors 6gp/month). Higher levels on dangerous missions would want a reasonable loot share too, 1/3 sounds reasonable.

Level squared x 10 gp =

6th: 360gp
7th: 490gp
8th: 640gp
9th: 810gp
10th: 1000gp
11th: 1210gp

That's 90gp to 302.5gp a week. If using the above system for the current six (as one Dwarf is a PC) NPCs, the costs would be per month:

Fighter 9
-810gp
Fighter 10
-1000gp
Fighter 11
-1210gp
Rogue 10
-1000gp
Bard 9
-810gp
Wizard 11
-1210gp
Ranger 6
-360gp
Cleric 8
-640gp

For a grand total of - 7040gp per month. Or, 84,480 a year. Personally, I'd rather give them a full share (or at least half) then pay them in addition to the share. It would definetly be cheaper. That, or get rid of some.

 

[S'mon]

For a grand total of - 7040gp per month. Or, 84,480 a year. Personally, I'd rather give them a full share (or at least half) then pay them in addition to the share. It would definetly be cheaper. That, or get rid of some.

I guess if they had no equipment or were desperate they might be cheaper; but 10gp/m for F1 and 1000gp/month for an F10 seems reasonable to me; the F10 is certainly 100 times as powerful for most purposes. These are the kind of figures the PCs in my campaign expect to make; what works for PCs ought to work for PC-type NPCs also. The unmodified figures work for routine stuff like castle duty or long-term campaigning, for adventuring where the chance of death may be high I'd think a treasure share (1/2 or 1/3 PC's share) or a bonus equal to monthly pay per day of dungeon-delving would be required.

 

[Leopold]

1. Leopold, you did make the first book conversion, right?

2. Also, how are you going to roleplay so many henchmen?

I was thinking about adding on interesting characters but wasn't sure if I could handle the load.

1. I did and another gentleman beat me to it. He posted his and it's spot on same as mine except for a few stats differeneces. Mine makes Inzeldren much tougher and some of the other minions of much higher level since my PC's love the next to impossible challenge.


2. Roleplay is the easy part. I've played every race/creed/sex/class out there that the NPC's are so RP each one is not a problem. In battle I give control of the majority of the NPC's to the PC"s and let them play them as henchmen if and only if they play them accordingly. This way i am not running both sides all the time. It makes it allot easier for me to concentrate on bad guys.

Acting out each guy is fun. I have a very active imagination and I just let it go for each one of them. I play the part of the psychotic mage, the bubbling bard, the inquistorial cleric, and the carefree halflng in little parts. I remember each one and their manners and run with it. It's like multiple personality disorder but i find it rather fun to apply some of my random insanity into the game


Only advice I give you is that you have some sort of device (i use a laptop at all times) or notes that detail the motivation and goals of each NPC and how they would normally act. This allows me to reference how they would act toward certain situations and toward the party. I figure most will die anyway in the assault but hell who knows! Most certainly they will be asking for a raise!

Also, could you post the link to the NPC Generator? I can't find it. Thanks

do a search for "Jamis Bucks" and "NPCGen" and you'll find it quick in google...

 

[Leopold]

-=-

Leo, wouldn't adding in 7 extra similarily equal level NPCs make the game to easy without adjusting the encounters? And again, how in the world will you manage so many? Give the players the character sheets to save time during combat, for example?

The part they are going to (even in the book it says so!) requires more than just the 5 that they have. The party is not known for stealth but more for full frontal assaults and worrying about the rest later. The leader of the rockseers told them that they would die horribly if they didn't have help so they went on to recruit.

Combat-The NPC's are played by the PC's with a few execptions (the mage, the cleric, the rogue, and the bard) probably turn over the bard and rogue to the PC's in combat. This allows me to play the bad guys efficently and smoothly.

Management part is easy, Laptop!!! Everything is stored there, all NPC's are done in PCGen and that way i exported them to a plain ole statblock and just open them as they go. Makes life 10X easier than flipping through each Csheet when it's their turn. I would go insane if that happened...

 

[Leopold]

That's 90gp to 302.5gp a week. If using the above system for the current six (as one Dwarf is a PC) NPCs, the costs would be per month:

Fighter 9
-810gp
Fighter 10
-1000gp
Fighter 11
-1210gp
Rogue 10
-1000gp
Bard 9
-810gp
Wizard 11
-1210gp
Ranger 6
-360gp
Cleric 8
-640gp

For a grand total of - 7040gp per month. Or, 84,480 a year. Personally, I'd rather give them a full share (or at least half) then pay them in addition to the share. It would definetly be cheaper. That, or get rid of some.

i like that..going to send it to my players now to renogiate the contracts at hand!