What Level is a Guardsman?

[S'mon]

Very small number. The typical watch were exactly typical "typical soldiers." Most wore leather aprons or mail shirts and carried a stout club. They were better than conscripts... your conscripts were basically 1st level Commoners with decent ability scores with a sprinkling of 1st level Warriors.

Yeah, but I would distinguish (as 1e does!) between

(a) civilian Watchmen, analogous to the modern 'security guard' or, at the high end, small-town policeman and

(b) City Guard - Soldiers permanently employed by city states (mostly in Italy and Germany) as the first line of defence and the core of the city's protection. Funded by the Guilds, only the very best veteran mercenary infantry (eg from the Landsnechte) could hope for permanent employment as such. If the city levied a citizen militia or hired individual mercenaries ad-hoc* in war time then the Guardsmen would act as Serjeants or elite units in the city's army.

*As opposed to hiring an entire mercenary army, as was common in Italy especially.

Edit: In an RPG setting, not all cities will have this sort of City Guard. A city deep within a powerful state will not, though it may have Royal garrisons or a noble's troops in residence. But a wealthy trade city like Greyhawk certainly should. The city relies on these guys to defend it! A lot of 1e-era cities especially have completely worthless 0-level guards, combined with typical detailed NPCs being 5th level Fighters and such.

 

[greatamericanfolkher]

When I run a game, it depends on where they are doing the guarding. If it’s a town in the middle of nowhere with few monster-type threats, then level 2-3, if it’s the king’s elite guard, then it will be 7-8, with maybe a 10-12 level sergeant if the king can afford to keep someone like that on the payroll. Other places will fall somewhere in the middle. Note that in the games that I run only children have 1 hit die, but only around 10% of the population will have PC levels.

 

[Prism]

For my 4e game:

If the players aren't fighting 'em, then it doesn't matter.

If my player's are fighting them, then the guardsmen would be close enough to party level to make a good encounter (as per the DMG).

this is what i would do too if it was a planned encounter. however if the players create their own unplanned encounter with the guardsmen its then that its important to firstly decide if it even should be a good encounter - or should it be one sided. if you decide one sided it becomes more of an exercise in how many of one side can escape.

i would feel i have shortchanged the players if they picked what they thought was an easy fight and i always made it a challenge. so if i didn't want it to be a challenge i reckon would aim for 3rd to 5th in 4e

 

[billd91]

I'm not happy with the 1e notion that city guards are just typical soldiers, the medieval equivalent of the WW2 conscript soldier. IRL the small number of permanently employed medieval city guards troops were veteran mercenaries, very well equipped.

Edit: Growing up in Ulster in the '70s I knew a few veteran Royal Ulster Constabulary, a semi-militarised police force. Those were some tough men! Calling them 0th level or War-1s would seem ridiculous.

There is, and probably should be, the chance for a lot of variety depending on the needs of the community and the environment. Recruits - low level most places. Out on the frontier with lots of dangers - fast advancement. In large urban areas - reasonably fast advancement and good equipment/sophisticated training (more fighters compared to warriors). And so on....

I imagine it wouldn't be that far from today's world where you have some areas with poorly trained cops and soldiers, and others with active (at the time in the case of Northern Ireland) insurgencies/thorny crime areas necessitating better trained and equipped troops and police.

 

[Ace]

In a typical 3e setting I put the typical city guardsman, a veteran professional soldier, at 3rd level Warrior.

same here

 

[drothgery]

Well, I always had somewhat nonstandard demographics in 3.x, but I figured you pretty much had to be at least 3rd level in an NPC class to look like a competent adult; anyone who was 1st or 2nd level in an NPC class other than commoner was a young adult or otherwise inexperienced and/or early in their professional training, and 1st-level commoners are usually children (or completely unmotivated people). Since city guards should usually be skilled, competent adults, but not extraordinary enough to get PC classes, that makes them 3rd-5th level NPC-class types (usually warriors).

In 4e, where level 1 PC class types are much tougher than normal people, I'd put a typical city guard as a level 3-5 minion, or a level 1 standard monster (soldier).

 

[Irda Ranger]

Levels 1 to 3, usually, with a mix of classes among the officers. Occasionally veterans of multiple wars might be 5-6. 6+ is reserved for NPCs with names.

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

Most guards are 0-level (normal men) fighters. A few might be 1st level (veteran) fighters. NCOs and officers are typically 1st-3rd level, with a rare few slightly higher.

I scale my campaign off the old model, where most people lack class and level. A first level Fighter is a "veteran." By fourth level, that fighter is a "hero," with some measure of fame and reputation. By eighth level, that fighter is a "superhero," approaching legendary status. By 9th level, the fighter is a lord-among-men, by the power of his arm, if not by birth. That's the start of the John Carter or Conan range.

 

[aurance]

I use this paradigm:

Roughly equal level to PCs, at PC level 1-4. Dangerous at equal odds.

One, two or three levels behind PCs, at PC level 5-15. Not a challenge at equal odds, but dangerous when PCs are outnumbered.

Generally no city guards above level 15, unless they are some sort of fancy specialists. It's a very rough guideline though, as I'm a narrativist DM at heart and I don't like to use level as an absolute measure of power. I scale monsters and NPCs up or down liberally.

 

[Irda Ranger]

If my player's are fighting them, then the guardsmen would be close enough to party level to make a good encounter (as per the DMG).

I know we've had this out before, but I still can't figure out why PCs over 10th level are wasting their time fighting city guards ...

If Paragon-tier PCs want a good encounter maybe they should go find some giants to fight.