Neep Help: Determining what the NPCs do when the PCS aren't around..

[Three_Haligonians]

Hey all,

The PCs have entered into a "find all the lost McGuffins" quest. It is a contest that is open to all, they are not the only competitors. In fact, since it is so open, there could be any number of other groups out there trying to do the same. What I need is to come up with some sort of system that helps me determine how successful these "NPC groups" are.

Basically, I'm trying to come up with a way to avoid having the rest of the world "freeze" when the PCs aren't there to interact with it.

Here are some details

There are 7 McGuffins - strewn about the world.
I can't have endless groups of NPCs to worry about so I've concerned myself with 9 others (the rest are hand-waved into obscurity). These 9 other groups, I have randomly determined how many in the party, the classes, and their level - but that's it.

So, what kind of system could I create? I can't waste my DM prep time trying to play out all their attempts to track and obtain these items, that would take too much time and effort but at the same time an important part of this campaign will be the sense that while the PCs are out there searching and adventuring, others will be as well and that could change things for the PCs so I don't want to DM fiat the whole thing either.

I'd like to put together a system in which I can simply roll some dice and determine semi-randomly the success rate of these other teams? I say semi-randomly because if I need to, I can flesh out any given party a little more and give them some motivation which would help steer their choices.



Any input would be gladly appreciated,

J from Three Haligonians

 

[Random Axe]

My first reaction is to think, wow, NINE other searching parties is a lot to keep track of, but this is no criticism.

Regardless of the amount of other expert parties you have out in the field on this scavenger hunt, start with a 3x5 or 5x8 card for each party, to keep notes on what they've done or accomplished, or what you want to plan for them in the background.

Then, for each party, each week (for instance, or fortnight, or whatever you feel is a useful time interval for this kind of check) you roll d%. And depending on how detailed you have fleshed out these adventuring groups (for instance, if you know the stats?), then you would add +1 to the d% roll per collective INT bonus in that group. (ie, if the group is made of a bunch of dumb fighter types and one wizard of INT 18, then you add +4 to the d% roll. If you have three geniuses of INT 17 in the group, you add +9 [3 x +3] to the d% roll).

d% result Progress result
01 - 25 Following a Bad Lead (no progress, and get -10% to next week's check)
26 - 60 No progress
61 - 90 Following a good lead (get +10% bonus to next week's check)
91 - 100 FOUND a McGuffin

If a McGuffin is found, give it a 50-50 check to see if it's been undiscovered so far, or if it's one that already belongs to another group. If Group A rolls a 99 and discovers a thing, that you decide already is owned by Group B (or maybe even if you decide 2 different groups have found the same mcguffin at the same time), then you can have the 2 groups duke it out (which may result in the elimination of a group, and the stealing of their captured mcguffins!).

That's my simplest system, you can muck around with the d% result numbers as you require.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

I think I would give some thought to who the leader or brains behind each group is; and then operate from there. Give some thought to what differentiates each group and how they'll approach the quest, and for what reason. For example, a party made of of gnomes led by a Bard might tackle things very differently than a group sent by the Potentate of a powerful Church. One group might only actually need one of the seven McGuffins, for a purpose that has nothing to do with the overall goal of the Quest.

I'd also leave a couple of groups completely undetailed, or as undetailed as I could get away with - that way I could have wiggle room to make them whatever I want later on.

Then you can go to a kind of dice-based system like Random Axe proposes for the nitty gritty.

 

[Three_Haligonians]

Then, for each party, each week (for instance, or fortnight, or whatever you feel is a useful time interval for this kind of check) you roll d%. And depending on how detailed you have fleshed out these adventuring groups (for instance, if you know the stats?), then you would add +1 to the d% roll per collective INT bonus in that group. (ie, if the group is made of a bunch of dumb fighter types and one wizard of INT 18, then you add +4 to the d% roll. If you have three geniuses of INT 17 in the group, you add +9 [3 x +3] to the d% roll).

d% result Progress result
01 - 25 Following a Bad Lead (no progress, and get -10% to next week's check)
26 - 60 No progress
61 - 90 Following a good lead (get +10% bonus to next week's check)
91 - 100 FOUND a McGuffin

That's my simplest system, you can muck around with the d% result numbers as you require.

That is a very good system! It is now my base. I don't have the INT scores of all the NPCs worked out though.. but I do have their classes and so far have come up with:

Every Arcane Spellcaster gives the group a +2 [except Wizards and Bards who give a +3].
Every "major" Divine Spellcaster gives the group a +1 [major = clerics, druids etc.. not rangers and paladins].

A few more of these would be very good if anyone can think of some..

I think I would give some thought to who the leader or brains behind each group is; and then operate from there. Give some thought to what differentiates each group and how they'll approach the quest, and for what reason. For example, a party made of of gnomes led by a Bard might tackle things very differently than a group sent by the Potentate of a powerful Church. One group might only actually need one of the seven McGuffins, for a purpose that has nothing to do with the overall goal of the Quest.

I agree. I've actually worked out the general alignment of a few of these groups based solely on the classes. Ex: the Paladin, Monk, and Cleric team is a Lawful Good one, while the Fighter and two Warlocks are my "Team Evil". This will be important if they run into each other, or the PCs for that matter.

The only other thing I can think of is some kind of system to determine how well they overcome the challenges they would face during their adventure. It is possible that some of these groups may fail (or even suffer a TPK) while they are out in the field.

Any ideas on a "Survival" check system?

Thanks guys.. you've given me a great start.

J from Three Haligonians

 

[DrunkonDuty]

I'd go a flow chart for the encounters that lead to each macguffin. Give each encounter a rating for deadliness/trickiness. Stick with the percentile system you already have, giving bonuses for combat oriented characters for surviving deadliness and bonuses for rogues (etc) for getting past tricky situations. And maybe bonuses for trying again in certain situations. Maybe even define the situations a little more.

eg: Encounter 2a.
Trickiness: 50% (the score needed to pass) Social. (the questors must attend a masked ball and get an important clue from a beautiful, but normally reclusive, noblewoman who will be there.)
+2/ Cha bonus for party (a couple of bad Cha penalties can effect the group as a whole because they ARE a group)
+1/ Int bonus (pays to be clever)
+the highest Diplomacy skill for the party

Danger: 20% (there's some bad tempered noblemen who might not lke the questors hitting on the pretty girl)
+1 per fighter (or other martial combatant)

with maybe a catastrophic failure being a score less than half the target. Catastrophic failure will vary depending on the situation. For the above I'd say maybe one dead if failed the danger check. Run out of town if failed the social check.