NPC Shorthand

77IM

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Some people like to fully stat out every single NPC down to the last detail. Others are perfectly happy improvising everything -- they don't even know what NPCs a town might have until the PCs go there.

I'm somewhere in between. I like to give NPCs a name, and have a general idea what they are about. I don't need a full stat block but I do need a modicum of mechanical information. But I don't want to spend much time or brain power coming up with the mechanical details since I probably won't need them, and I don't want to spend too much time in prep.

So I have come up with a sort of "NPC shorthand" that I can use to describe an NPC. I find it super useful so I though I'd share.


The Number: Prowess

Question: When do an NPC's stats matter? Answer: When they are an obstacle for the PCs. (In rare instances you might see NPC-on-NPC violence but a good DM will keep this to a minimum.) So most of the time, the mechanical detail I need for an NPC is, "how much of an obstacle are they?"

Prowess represents an NPC's overall mojo, skill, power, level, abilities, everything, but mostly, it represents how difficult it is for PCs to influence, manipulate, defeat, or otherwise overcome the NPC. It works like this:
  • If a PC needs to make a check to get past the NPC, the DC is 10+prowess.
  • If the NPC needs to make a check, he rolls 1d20+prowess.

Example:
When I write down an NPC's name in my notes, I just put the prowess after their name in parenthesis, like this:

Andronsius the Alchemist (+3)

If the PCs try to persuade Andronsius to give them a discount, the DC is 13. If a PC tries to Intimidate or Bluff Andronsius, the DC is 13. If a PC is hiding and Andronsius makes a Perception check to find them, he rolls 1d20 + 3. Overall, Andronsius is not a particularly interesting obstacle and probably not super-important to the plot, or his prowess would be higher than 3.


Further Detail: Trained Skills

Sometimes, I do like to notate a little more than just a single number. The most useful thing is trained skills, which have a modifier of +prowess+5. This is only relevant if an NPC has an interesting trained skill, or is going to be a recurring character (so I need to remember between sessions what skills he has).

I tend to invent whatever skills make sense for the NPC, not necessarily sticking to those in the book. I sometimes put an ability score (often Strength) or a defense (often Will) as a trained skill, too. This can produce a great discrepancy between defenses, but that's OK; a small discrepancy isn't worth worrying about. The goal here is not to be precise or follow rigid rules, but to remind myself of what the NPC is generally capable of.

Example:
Andronsius the Alchemist (+3; Arcana, Dungeoneering, Dwarf-Lore, Will +8)

So, Andronsius is the sort of NPC who can help with questions relating to Arcana and Dungeoneering, and he knows a lot about dwarves too. He's a stubborn bugger, though, so if you try to Intimidate him, the DC is 18 instead of 13 (because he is "trained" in Will).


Further Detail: Other Stuff

Some NPCs need more than just trained skills to do their jobs. For example, the Ritual Caster feat. I just note whatever is relevant after the trained skills. This info is often independent of prowess because it doesn't factor into the NPC's role as an obstacle.

Example:
Andronsius the Alchemist (+3; Arcana, Dungeoneering, Dwarf-Lore, Will +8; Alchemist level 8, Ritual Caster level 6)

Here, Andronsius is a better Alchemist than he is a Ritual Caster. This is impossible for a PC to achieve, and level 8 is way higher than Andronsius's prowess of 3 would suggest. It's OK -- clearly Andronsius is meant to be used as a player resource for alchemical and ritual needs.


Combat Stats

These sorts of NPCs aren't usually meant as combat obstacles, so they are treated as minions and have pretty feeble stats. They have initiative and attack bonuses equal to prowess, defenses of 10+prowess, and deal damage equal to prowess. They are minions, so only have 1 HP.

The idea here is that I can calculate these stats instantly because everything is equal to prowess.

Example:

Andronsius the Alchemist
Medium natural humanoid (dwarf)
Initiative +3 / Senses Perception +3
HP 1; a missed attack never damages a minion.
AC 13; Fortitude 13, Reflex 13, Will 18
Speed 5
:bmelee: Improvised Weapon (standard; at-will) * Weapon
+3 vs. AC; 3 damage.

For an NPC that is meant to be "combat-capable," e.g. not a pushover, I usually note that by giving them a weapon and possibly armor. When I calculate their stats, I increase their attack and AC by 3, damage becomes 1[W]+prowess, and hit points become their attack bonus x10. Such high hit points make the NPC most like the Brute role, but that's OK. It's easy to calculate x10, and it means the NPC will stay alive long enough for interesting things to happen (alerting the town guard, etc.).

Example:
Andronsius the Alchemist (+3; Arcana, Dungeoneering, Dwarf-Lore, Will +8; Alchemist level 8, Ritual Caster level 6, warhammer 1d10)

Andronsius the Alchemist
Medium natural humanoid (dwarf)
Initiative +3 / Senses Perception +3
HP 60; Bloodied 30
AC 16; Fortitude 13, Reflex 13, Will 18
Speed 5
:bmelee: Warhammer (standard; at-will) * Weapon
+6 vs. AC; 1d10 + 3 damage.


More Examples

Borb the Beggar (+0)
With a prowess of +0, the PCs can basically have their way with Borb.

Frampton Dougal the Rancher (+8)
A prowess of +8 is pretty good for a human peasant, and PCs may have trouble manipulating him (forcing them to achieve their goals in other ways). However, his lack of any trained skills or other stuff means he's probably not very important to the story.

Sune Quinn the Quarter-Orc Cook (+2; Cooking, Strength, Fortitude +7; falchion 2d4)
A low prowess means that Sune isn't much of a hindrance to the PCs. But since she has a falchion it means that she is actually capable in a fight and low-level heroes should not start any trouble in the kitchen.

Kartinex, City Guardsman (+5; Streetwise +10; halberd 1d10)
This guy could help the PCs out with his Streetwise skill, but if they cause trouble he may have to hit them with his halberd.

Iarchok Silverscale, Chief Constable (+7; Intimidate, Insight, Perception, Stealth, Streetwise, Thievery +12; Bastard swords 1d10, chainmail, twin strike, dragonborn breath)
With a bunch of trained skills and powers listed, Iarchok seems like an important recurring NPC, and one who might tangle with the PCs. At this point, I would probably stat up Iarchok as a fully-fledged NPC rather than rely on the shorthand.
 

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Not a bad idea. I like the concept of a simplified NPC.

I tend to use the generic skill check sheet to determine how easy or hard something is. You can assign a level to someone, determine if they are mindful or strong, and have them dish out damage based on the infamous page 42. You can have someone from a beggar to a Demi-lich on that page.
 

This reminds me how useful it was to be able to say "Greta the Com1", "Hans Grimm the Ari7" and "Wolf the Watch Sergeant War3"...
...in just four letters you encapsulate everything you need, with real combat stats as back-up in those relatively uncommon cases where you actually need them.

Myself, I generally use "level" for what you call prowess. I understand how you want to divorce this number from level (to make it possible to separate combat level from ritual caster level for instance, but generally the existance of minions mean I have no problems with having my sixth level ritual casters to be sixth level overall. They can still be pushovers if need be)

Is it just me, or have "Human Rabble Minions" become the new "zero-level peasant" / low-level commoner...?
 

I thought about calling it "level" instead of "prowess" but didn't want to confuse people since "level" already has a specific meaning. Also, this system is deliberately very similar to the old NPC summaries you used to get in modules. In earlier editions they were even longer: Jalissa (lv 4 lawful good female elf priest) was how it was notated in 2nd Ed.


A simplified version of the shorthand would apply a level and a "pseudo-class," like this:

Andronsius (lv 3 alchemist)
Frampton Dougal (lv 8 rancher)
Borb (lv 0 beggar)
Sune Quinn (lv 2 quarter-orc cook)
Kartinex (lv 5 guardsman)
etc.

The idea is that the NPC rolls 1d20+level for his checks and has defenses/passive skills of 10+level. EXCEPT for items relating to his pseudo-class, where he gets a +5 bonus. For example, Andronsius would be rolling 1d20+8 for any alchemy-related checks.

The simplified version loses some of the richness and flexibility in the notation but gives the DM more freedom to make stuff up during game play (he may decide Andronsius is stubborn and give him bonus to Will even though it's not listed and not really part of being an alchemist). I think it would work well for one-shot adventures. For recurring NPCs, I like to be able to notate more so that I don't forget between sessions.


If other people have similar notation that they find useful I would love to steal it^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H hear about it!

-- 77IM
 

When I need to pull out an NPC to be an obstacle for PC skills, I just use the simple Skill DC chart (make sure you download the revised one from WotC, the DCs in the DMG are way too high!) and give him/her a name.
 

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