NPC gear

[pawsplay]

What's the rule on NPC fear for characters with NPC class levels, such as warrior or adept? My inclination is to use CR-based treasure guidelines. I'm a little skpetical of giving a warrior full gear for its level, for both balance reasons and reasons of flavor. Equipment for level-1 might make sense, but has no basis in the rules and only slows, not stops, the accumulation of unusually powerful gear in the hands of non-heroic NPCs.

 

[aboyd]

Hmm. I can answer this, I think. I just had to do a lot of this for some NPCs my players hired. There are two systems I know of.

First, the DMG. On page 135 there is a "wealth by level" table for PCs... but on page 127 is the lesser-known wealth table for NPCs. They have less loot. In addition, the pages leading up to that table show examples of the kinds of gear such NPCs would have, and that's by level too. It really helps to get a flavor for how to do it.

I mostly follow those tables, but I never have them carrying around as much gold as the tables suggest. If they say that a typical 3rd-level character would have some masterwork equipment and 1500 gp cash money, I spend that 1500 gp and better protect them.

I do this because hirelings are game-breaking and economy-breaking. If your party is evil enough, they can hire a henchman for 3 gold, kill him away from town, and make an easy 2000 gp. So for me I have those NPCs spend that extra gold on things like a reserved just-in-case fund for body retrieval if dead. Or, a 1-charge wand that contains an escape spell. You know, some kind of contingency to offset the hire-moneybags-one-at-time-and-ambush-them-in-an-alley problem.

There is a second option. The Magic Item Compendium presents a revised method for determining what NPCs have. Page 227. This method is essentially a list of magic items at various levels of power. For example, a 5th-level NPC would have three items at power levels: 5, 4, and 3. These items have set ranges of power, listed on page 226. So for our 5th-level NPC, he might have a brooch of shielding, +1 chain armor, and a potion of Cure Serious Wounds.

Personally, I like the DMG way better. But this is your call. Good luck.

EDIT: crap. I just re-read your post and it appears that you do know the wealth-by-level tables. Instead, I guess you were asking if a 9th-level cleric should have a different amount of wealth than a 9th-level adept. I would say yes. And I would probably do multiple levels of downgrading. Maybe like this:

aristocrat: wealth by level as normal
adept/expert/warrior: wealth by level - 1
commoner: wealth by level - 2

PLUS, if the NPC has non-elite stats (or worse!) then I would knock off an additional level. So a 3rd-level commoner with non-elite stats would be the equivalent of a 0-level PC. In other words, basically no money.

A 1st-level commoner with non-elite stats would have a wealth level of -2, or probably in debt. I'm thinking of kids just starting out in life and with their first credit card already maxed out. Or a farmer who bought land on a loan and will spend the rest of his life toiling to pay it off.

 

[Runestar]

You may want to give npc warriors less gear, and adjust its cr downwards if you are afraid that PCs may end up getting too much treasure. This will likely be in addition to ad-hoc'ing the cr (as npc cr guidelines tend to be overinflated). For example, a human warrior 9 with just mundane armour, a sword and shield would likely be cr3-4 max (arguably still slightly weaker than a very young white dragon). Maybe give it the benefit of a consumable or 2 if you think it needs some boosting.

 

[akbearfoot]

I wouldn't let my PCs get away with dirty tricks like that Aboyd...The PCs could quickly end up as murder suspects, or thieves.

Is there no such thing as a wills or inheritance laws in your game world? Do the hirelings not have some sort of agency or organization that keeps records of such things? Don't the PCs have to agree to return the property that does not belong to them if said employee should die in the line of duty? PCs quickly make names for themselves, and a government would stand to make a LOT of money if they tracked down the thieving PCs and taxed them heavily on their thefts. If not, I imagine your game world as very dark and dreary place where nobody trusts anyone, and hirelings would charge about 100 times more because of the increased risks.

Not to mention, if they find a way to 'Steal' money or otherwise artificially inflate their coffers, then they no longer fall within the 'guidelines' and suddenly the modules might have no treasure until they are within the suggested wealth again.

 

[aboyd]

I wouldn't let my PCs get away with dirty tricks like that Aboyd...

I don't.

Is there no such thing as a wills or inheritance laws in your game world? Do the hirelings not have some sort of agency or organization that keeps records of such things?

This:

I have those NPCs spend that extra gold on things like a reserved just-in-case fund for body retrieval if dead. Or, a 1-charge wand that contains an escape spell. You know, some kind of contingency to offset the hire-moneybags-one-at-time-and-ambush-them-in-an-alley problem.

...Does what you are suggesting.

 

[akbearfoot]

lol...I apparently skipped that section of your post....I read right up to it and all the stuff after it. Skipped to the end of the paragraph after the bit about how it was game-breaking.


Similar issue is once PCs can cast 5th level spells....Wall of Iron creates a very LARGE amount of real iron...Iron has a specific value as a raw material. Wizards who cast lots of walls of iron every day can create more iron than a fully staffed mine/foundry, for a lot cheaper.


Or as soon as the PCs can afford the magic item in the DMG that costs like 8,000 gold that summons a Djinni that grants a Wish spell.....Wish for another summon item + pile of gold to total 25,000g...rinse/repeat/buy the continent.

 

[pawsplay]

PLUS, if the NPC has non-elite stats (or worse!) then I would knock off an additional level.

Hm, really? I'm not sure if I understand the rationale for furthering punishing the NPC. Also, I kind of assumed from the DMG that adepts and warriors would use non-elite stats, although of course the DMG II does not assume that with specialists.

 

[pawsplay]

Or as soon as the PCs can afford the magic item in the DMG that costs like 8,000 gold that summons a Djinni that grants a Wish spell.....Wish for another summon item + pile of gold to total 25,000g...rinse/repeat/buy the continent.

What item is that?

 

[Jhaelen]

First, the DMG. On page 135 there is a "wealth by level" table for PCs... but on page 127 is the lesser-known wealth table for NPCs. They have less loot.

That's what I'm using as well. I also use the npc wealth chart for starting treasure when a dead pc is replaced by a new one.

I'm doing this since typically the party keeps part of the dead pc's gear.

If I use encounters with large numbers of npcs or classed monsters, I make sure to invest a lot of the wealth in consumables which are used at first oppportunity.

 

[Starbuck_II]

What item is that?

Candle of Invocation: you must be right alignment to summon a Djinn though.