High level NPC's and rarity

[Trainz]

Hello,

I DM a solo game for my best friend. His character was 20th level.

I wanted, for last game session, to do an all NPC's game, with no critters.

So I used a bunch of 15th level fighters and rogues, plus a BBEG of 18th level sorcerer.

To create a fun & challenging game, I had to put about 16 of the 15th level dudes.

Which made me think...

The core books sometimes talk about NPC rarity at high levels. However, it is not possible to make all-NPC's high-level games and respect those rules about rarity.

Your thoughts ?

 

[hong]

If there are 10 million people in the world, and 0.01% of them are 15th level or higher, that's still 1,000 15th+ level NPCs running around. I don't see the problem

 

[Piratecat]

While high-level NPCs are rare, they tend to hang out together. People gather into adventuring groups of 3-10 people, and they all tend to be about the same level. That makes it convenient for the over-worked DM.

Just remember that people of such level tend to be famous or well-known. It's fun to kill infamous NPCs, anyways.

 

[hong]

It's all about the networking, isn't it?

 

[Piratecat]

You say that now. Wait until I come to Austria and stay with you.

 

[Trainz]

Good input guys.

Oh, PC, did you mean Austria, or Oz ?

BTW, in my game, the 15th level dudes where the men-at-arms of the 18th Sorc... it's weird to think of a dozen 15th's as, basically, grunts...

But you have to when you come into the epic levels of play.

 

[Piratecat]

Running joke, Trainz.

The important thing to remember is that away from the places where high-lvl folks congregate, there are a lot of low-level people. Make sure you follow up with a zero level villain every once in a while!

 

[Trainz]

Wasn't aware of that PC, sorry

That's a thing I like to do IMC's. Throw a WAY under par critter at my PC's, one that doesn't give X.P.. Just to make the world feel more "real".

I also like to very rarely throw way above par critters. Like someone said earlier, PC's must learn when to walk away... or run.

 

[Nifft]

IMC, average NPC level is 10th. Journeyman is around 3rd level -- that's generally when people are allowed to adventure beyond the walls of their native city without supervision. Characters below 3rd level have very low survivability "in the wild".

The biggest differences between NPCs and PCs are that NPCs have:
- some Expert and Aristocrat levels instead of all PC class levels; and
- a sense of self-preservation.

Those NPCs with all PC class levels are generally important figures -- church leaders, named necromancers, etc.

To give you an idea of the power level IMC, the Royal High Guard are all 16+ level half-dragon (gold) Paladins, and there are twenty of them. That's just for one kingdom.

The city where the University of Magic sits survived a tsunami, not because one guy cast a Deus-Ex-Machina spell, but because there were enough people who'd prepared or had access to scrolls of Wall of Stone/Iron/Force that the city was temporarily domed.

The number of people above level 15 is much smaller, and those with 15+ PC class levels are rarer still. Epic-level people are very rare, but they do exist (even though the PCs are still under level 10).

-- N

 

[Skarp Hedin]

Make sure you follow up with a zero level villain every once in a while!

Zero-level? That is soooo Second Edition, man.

I've got the same problem, it seems weird to have so many high level NPCs all of a sudden. I'm using tough-ish monsters with class levels mostly instead.