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<blockquote data-quote="howandwhy99" data-source="post: 5041879" data-attributes="member: 3192">That was a hypothetical. It's not my campaign and it's a bit off topic.&nbsp; From my perspective, the number you're asking for is a distributive rule set up by the ref ahead of time.&nbsp; Essentially, it's the dungeon level matrix.&nbsp; I start with the most powerful NPCs in any particular dungeon and increase each layer exponentially as I go downwards, a demographics chart.&nbsp; At start, the &quot;lowest&quot; dungeon level has the most powerful NPCs.&nbsp; Neutral and Lawful forces might also populate areas, so I'd include these in the matrix.&nbsp; Neutral forces don't count for or against a level's difficulty while Lawful factions do count against.&nbsp; The important thing IMO is parity between Lawful and Chaotic forces in the overall campaign world.&nbsp; This is what keeps each group in check and the dungeons structured as they are. In the world Neutral forces tend to number vastly more than other two, but they form a counterbalance to themselves as well as to the other two.&nbsp; AD&amp;D suggests harpies are rare and found in plains, hills, and mountains in &quot;Fairie and Sylvan Settings&quot;.&nbsp; I wouldn't use their tables or dungeon matrix (on DMG 174), but they give a fair idea of how to randomly set things up, pick within a matrix, and alter or build around commercial products to fit.&nbsp; Almost all of that stuff is going to vary between campaigns anyways.&nbsp; So much of it was just Gygax's home rules.&nbsp; Anyways, to keep the rules hidden behind the screen using a published version is contradictory to me.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="howandwhy99, post: 5041879, member: 3192"] That was a hypothetical. It's not my campaign and it's a bit off topic. From my perspective, the number you're asking for is a distributive rule set up by the ref ahead of time. Essentially, it's the dungeon level matrix. I start with the most powerful NPCs in any particular dungeon and increase each layer exponentially as I go downwards, a demographics chart. At start, the "lowest" dungeon level has the most powerful NPCs. Neutral and Lawful forces might also populate areas, so I'd include these in the matrix. Neutral forces don't count for or against a level's difficulty while Lawful factions do count against. The important thing IMO is parity between Lawful and Chaotic forces in the overall campaign world. This is what keeps each group in check and the dungeons structured as they are. In the world Neutral forces tend to number vastly more than other two, but they form a counterbalance to themselves as well as to the other two. AD&D suggests harpies are rare and found in plains, hills, and mountains in "Fairie and Sylvan Settings". I wouldn't use their tables or dungeon matrix (on DMG 174), but they give a fair idea of how to randomly set things up, pick within a matrix, and alter or build around commercial products to fit. Almost all of that stuff is going to vary between campaigns anyways. So much of it was just Gygax's home rules. Anyways, to keep the rules hidden behind the screen using a published version is contradictory to me. [/QUOTE]

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