Quick NPC Generation

[LostSoul]

I've been playing a bunch of 3.5 lately. One thing I notice is that it takes the DM a long time to generate a random encounter. She flips through books and looks for stat blocks over here and over there; it can take a while.

I think it should be possible to generate an NPC on the fly, as long as you have two things: concept and level (CR, I guess).

Are there any fan-made systems that do this?

 

[Water Bob]

I think it should be possible to generate an NPC on the fly, as long as you have two things: concept and level (CR, I guess).

I'm fairly new to 3.5 (long time gamer, though), playing the Conan RPG (a d20 3.5 clone). One of the things I dreaded coming to this system was creating NPCs.

To my surprise, it's been pretty doggone easy.

Now, I think some of the ease comes from two things that are not likely in a normal D&D situation, so my words might not be helpful. The first is that, in my game, since it's about a group of Cimmerians, I've only had to learn the Barbarian character class so far. The Conan game isn't about diversity in class as the D&D game is. All the PCs are 1st level Barbarians, and, so far, every enemy they've encountered are Barbarian classed (rival clan), as well.

Second, Conan is a magic-lite game. So, I don't have to learn spells and such that often. The PCs haven't encountered magic yet.

So, that right there, might be big part of the reason that I haven't found it hard to roll up NPCs on the fly. But, I can do that. Also, I've been rolling up 1st and 2nd level NPCs since my PCs are low level--that may have something to do with it, too.



Here's what I do:

1. I roll 3d6, six times, then arrange to taste. Then add in racial modifiers (for Cimmerians, it's +2 STR and -2 INT).

2. I throw in necessary stats, like initiative, hit points, and Dodge and Parry AC.

3. I give the character his Feats.

4. I don't spend a lot of time on skills. I may give the character a skill I think he should have, but I don't spend all of his points, usually. I do write down how many skill points he has left, though--in case I need to grow the character on the spot later.

5. I write down the character's equipment: stats on his weapon and armor (if any).

6. And, I write down some RP notes about the character. I might say: Sharpens all his teeth to a point. Has a small 5 leaf clover tattoo at temple. Wears a big, billowy, v-neck tunic with a knee-length kilt made of some type of reptile skin. No shoes. Has a pouch with 17 teeth in it--a mixture of animal and human.

And, then, I'm done. It doesn't take that long per character.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Well, [MENTION=537]hong[/MENTION] made Villain Classes, based on how it was done in a published work, referenced there I believe.

Is that the kind of thing you mean?

 

[LostSoul]

Those are helpful, but I mean something that you can generate in your head on the fly - the longest part of making the NPC is deciding on the concept and writing it down.

(When I say NPC I mean monsters in this as well, though that's easier to do since you can just open up the MM.)

Something like a CR-based chart that you look at when you need to know something about the NPC: when it's his turn, and he attacks, what's his bonus? How much damage? When he gets shot, what's his AC? Saving throws? That sort of thing. Baseline numbers for CRs, with five or so categories - Very Low, Low, Medium, High, Very High.

Special abilities - spells, feats, spell-like abilities, etc. should be easy - just have the NPC do what he can do based on concept. Forget about CR here except for things like saving throw DCs and damage.

The result would be something like... "Hobgoblins. Okay, these are a strange tribe of hobgoblins who eat a rare mushroom before battle that allows them to ignore pain and turns their blood into a hallucinogen. Their leader is a big brute - CR 3, while the rest are CR 1/2. This guy fights with a jagged spear that he uses to pin opponents from afar, then his allies cut themselves to poison the fallen."

Then I consult the chart for CR 3 and CR 1/2 when the numbers become necessary.

Something like...

CR 1/4 - 3
Stat	V Low	Low	Med	High	V High
HP	+5*CR	+6*CR	+8*CR	+9*CR	+10*CR
AC	8+CR	11+CR	14+CR	16+CR	18+CR
Saves	-2+CR	+0+CR	+1+CR	+2+CR	+4+CR
Avg Dmg	+CR	+2*CR	+3*CR	+3.5*CR	+4*CR
Atk	-2+CR	+0+CR	+4+CR	+6+CR	+8+CR
SA DC	10+CR	11+CR	12+CR	13+CR	14+CR

[sblock=Hobgoblins of the Silver Mushroom]Hobgoblin Chieftain (CR 3):
High HP - 27
Low AC - 14
Very High Fort, Low Reflex, Med Will - +7 F/+3 R/+4 W
Very High Dmg - 13 avg, or 2d6+6 (two-handed longspear)
Medium Attack - +10
SA - reach 10', pin - touch atk, opposed Str check (high, +6), opposed Str check to get free

Hobgoblin Shaman (CR 2):
Low HP - 12
Low AC - 13
High Fort, Low Ref, Very High Will - +4 F/+2 R/+6 W
Low Dmg - 4, or 1d6+1 (fetish staff)
Low Atk - +2
SA - call on the tortured souls trapped within the shrunken heads on his staff; their spirits assault the mind, stunning, with a will save DC 15 to avoid it; casts powdered mushroom dust into air, causing choking and sneezing, and confusing hallucinations for 1d6x10 minutes, fort save DC 13

Hobgoblins (CR 1):
Med HP - 8
Med AC - 15
High Fort, Med Ref, Med Will - +3 F/+2 R/+2 W
Med Damage - 4, or 1d6+1 (spiked mace)
Med Attack - +5
SA - cut self for 2 damage and release poison - touch attack, fort save DC 13 or confused[/sblock]

I can consult that chart and jot down the numbers when I need them.

Has anyone done anything like this before? I have no idea what the numbers should be like.

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

I've found the Pathfinder rules for monster creation to be helpful for things like this (see "Step 2: Target Statistics" for a nice table). It's close enough to 3.5e for most purposes, and I think it's presents much more explicitly than 3.5eSRD or WotC pubs exactly how the stats vary with CR.

Fwiw, I've also used The Gneech's table of CR vs DC, damage for traps, etc, to quickly generate non-monster encounters (traps & skilled tasks) on the fly. Again, it's aimed at PF, but probably close enough.

 

[Water Bob]

Something like...

CR 1/4 - 3
Stat    V Low    Low    Med    High    V High
HP    +5*CR    +6*CR    +8*CR    +9*CR    +10*CR
AC    8+CR    11+CR    14+CR    16+CR    18+CR
Saves    -2+CR    +0+CR    +1+CR    +2+CR    +4+CR
Avg Dmg    +CR    +2*CR    +3*CR    +3.5*CR    +4*CR
Atk    -2+CR    +0+CR    +4+CR    +6+CR    +8+CR
SA DC    10+CR    11+CR    12+CR    13+CR    14+CR

I suppose you could make something like THIS. These is a test sheet done for the Conan RPG showing Barbarian characters for quick use in a game. The final product featured a page like this for each of the core classes in the game.

It would take you some time, but once you got done, you'd have it to use for the entire campaign.

If you were really energetic, you could customize something like this for each region in your campaign.

 

[LostSoul]

I've found the Pathfinder rules for monster creation to be helpful for things like this (see "Step 2: Target Statistics" for a nice table). It's close enough to 3.5e for most purposes, and I think it's presents much more explicitly than 3.5eSRD or WotC pubs exactly how the stats vary with CR.

Fwiw, I've also used The Gneech's table of CR vs DC, damage for traps, etc, to quickly generate non-monster encounters (traps & skilled tasks) on the fly. Again, it's aimed at PF, but probably close enough.

That's perfect! Thanks!

 

[Thanael]

NPC Generator for D&D - Myth-Weavers

NPC Generator - dnd3.5 at Dingles Games